Page 271 - (DK) The Business Book

SUCCESSFUL SELLING 269

See also: Crisis management 188–89 ■ Avoiding complacency 194–201 ■ Morality in business 222 ■
Creating an ethical culture 224–27 ■ The appeal of ethics 270

he notion of “greenwashing” circumvented or public relations environmental angle, these
emerged during the rise problems to be solved. However, in companies frequently appeared in
T of the environmental 1985, news of the hole in the ozone the press. Their publicity made the
movement in the 1990s, and it layer led to a successful consumer adoption of green policies and
refers to the perceived practice by boycott of aerosols propelled by products even more alluring.
corporate and government sectors chlorofluerocarbons (CFCs), which At the same time, there was
of adopting an environmentally were considered one of the main growing evidence that consumers
friendly veneer. In the same way threats to the ozone layer. As the did not believe everything they
that public-interest issues are ground swell of consumer support read or saw and had developed
described as “whitewashed” when for the environmental movement a general scepticism about the
they gloss over difficult aspects or grew, marketers saw an advantage business world’s green intentions.
cover them up, so “greenwashing” in aligning their products and However, the corporate world still
is defined as putting a surface corporate identity with green issues. saw a commercial advantage in
gleam over environmental topics The marketing world first being green, and marketers began
to detract from any serious seemed to embrace the concept to adopt strategies to try to connect
discussion or definitive action. of safeguarding the environment with eco-aware consumers.
Environmental activist and New after the release of the Brundtland Greenwashing has appeared
Yorker Jay Westerveld was the first Report in 1987 (see box). The 1990s in surprising places. The nuclear
to use the word in print, in a 1986 were forecast as heralding a green industry has tried to dispel its
essay about the practice of hotels revolution, and businesses rushed reputation for being dangerous by
asking guests to avoid using too to associate themselves with presenting nuclear power as a
many towels, in order to reduce environmentally friendly products remedy for global warming. Arms
laundering and help the environment. and processes. manufacturer BAe announced in
Westerveld interpreted this as a ploy 2006 that it was making “lead-free
to save money rather than the planet. Green companies bullets.” Marketers need to
Businesses such as The Body Shop remember that the public is
Growing movement and Volvo had already adopted generally able to distinguish
Until the 1980s, business managers green strategies as early as the between policies and practices that
mostly treated environmental 1970s, and because the media are genuinely eco-friendly, and those
issues as potential obstacles to be were looking for stories with an that are simply greenwashing. ■

Shades of green By the mid-1990s, however,
several key studies revealed
In the years after the release that there was an inconsistency
of the 1987 United Nations between consumer intent and
Brundtland Report calling for consumer action when it came The incidence of …
protection of the environment, to paying higher prices for green greenwash—outright,
the volume of green advertising products. There were also
purposeful untruths …
and campaigns increased worries over the negative effect
dramatically. Between 1989 that green strategies might have is probably not that high.
and 1990, green product on the attitudes of shareholders. But there’s an awful
launches in the US doubled. These factors may have led lot … that gets close.
They continued to expand to a form of greenwashing where Andrew Winston
through the early 1990s, organizations make genuine but US environmental strategist
buoyed by market research minor changes to products or
showing that consumers were processes to present a green
interested in environmentally face, but do not let environmental
responsible products. issues dent the bottom line.