An Empirical Study on Green Marketing from the Indian Consumer Perspective with Special Reference to Bengaluru

An Empirical Study on Green Marketing from the Indian Consumer Perspective with Special Reference to Bengaluru

Prof. Angel Chakraborty

Prof. Sneha Singh

Dr. Gurusamy

Dr. Mahammad Rafee

PG department of Commerce & Management Studies, Brindavan College, Bangalore

Abstract: Penetration of digital services and ever increasing awareness of environmental issues has changed consumer behavior and way of go about their life in India.  Hence, the concept of Green marketing is in its initial stage and the people are putting sincere efforts to reduce their impact on environment.  On the other hand the business and organization in globalised era are looking to tap the benefits of digital revolution. Green marketing refers to the process of selling products and/or services based on their environmental benefits and environment friendly, sustainable and socially responsible behavior.  In this research study, the emphasis made on evolution of concept, significance of green marketing and its applicability and components of marketing mix.  The study is based on both primary and secondary data. The study concludes that environmental belief shows significant impact on the purchase intention of the consumers. The package and design adds a new facet in the marketing of green products which finds a significant impact on consumer behavior and purchase intention. Individuals are environmentally responsible and making sincere efforts to reduce the usage of plastic. The study also explored the challenges in adoption of green marketing and its better practices in India.

Keywords: Green Marketing, sustainable development, digital commerce, consumer behavior, globalization, marketing mix

I.INTRODUCTION

Green marketing is said to be practice of promoting products or services based on their ecological settlement. Such a product or service may be environmentally friendly in it or produced in an environmentally friendly way. This can include products Produced in a economic friendly fashion and not containing poisonous materials or ozone-depleting substance. Green Products are cast-off materials and or able to be recycled and made out of renewable materials (such as bamboo, etc.). More and More entities in the business are making an effort to implement sustainable business practices as they recognize that they can make their products more attractive to consumers and also reduce expenses in packaging, transportation, energy and water usage, and more. Besides, businesses are increasingly discovering that demonstrating a high level of social responsibility can increase brand loyalty among socially conscious consumers. The key barrier to sustainable business practices such as green procurement is the short-term cost. Going green will typically cost you more up front, but generate great rewards in the long run.

The assumption on green marketing is that potential clients will view a product or services "greenness" as a benefit and base their buying decision accordingly. They will have some kind of soft corner towards green products. The Nielson Survey points out 48% of U.S. consumers are ready change consumption habits to reduce environmental impact. Products with sustainable attributes have been steadily taking more shares of store sales, from 19.7% in 2014 to 22.3% in 2017, to an anticipated $25% in 2021. 90% of millennia’s, the age group leading the sustainability charge, say they are willing to pay more for products that contain sustainable or environmentally friendly ingredients. Hence green marketing is taking momentum and it can be dangerous, public tends to be skeptical of green claims to begin with, and companies can seriously damage their brands and their sales if a green claim is discovered to be false or contradicted by a company's other products or practices. Presenting a product or service as green when it's not is called green washing. There are as many companies following the Process of Green marketing few to mention:

• Grocers that advertise organic produce found sales have more than doubled from the time when 2010 as consumers gradually more prefer non-genetically modified foods.
• Restaurants that promote "locally sourced" meats, vegetables, fish, wines, and more. Local sourcing is attractive to consumers as it projects an image of sustainability and willingness to invest in the community.

·         Environmental Marketing satisfies human needs with minimal injurious on the national environment. Green marketing not only includes consumer goods and industrial goods but also the services sector. In the process of distribution of goods and services, both the manufacturing and the services balance contribute towards the ecological imbalance and loss of the ozone layer.

The role of the manufacturing sector is significant and the process of manufacturing is selling goods and services with the least threat to the environment are a big issue before the business houses. Green marketing requires awareness not only from the consumers but also from the manufacturers of such goods. Hence, green marketing requires extra cost but the stakeholders should be ready to bear that cost. Business firms have also started responding to environmental challenges by adopting and practicing green marketing strategies.

PepsiCo is the world’s largest food and beverage producers with annual revenues of more than $64 billion and product combinations that include brands like Quaker, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, and Frito-Lay. Over the last decade, PepsiCo has become a leader among corporations in water conservation and energy usage. In 2012, PepsiCo honored with Stockholm Industry Water Award in acknowledgment of its efforts to reduce water and energy usage across all of its business operations, from supply chains to factories. 

1.1. THE CHALLENGES OF GREEN MARKETING

Green Marketing strategy provides more advantages to consumers as well the society. It also helps to create green environment by adopting eco – friendly marketing practices. Even though getting more benefits from green marketing, there is lot of challenges for its development.  Green products entail renewable and ecological material, which is costly, involves huge cost in Research and Development.

1.2. PROBLEMS IN GREEN MARKETING

Ensuring that marketing activities are not misleading to consumers or industry and do not violate any of the agreed regulations is the main problem in green marketing. Claims of green marketing must:

a) Clearly state ecological benefits

b) Explain how ecological benefits are achieved.

c) Justify proportional differences

d) Use only significant terms and pictures

The first part of the study gives the introduction to Green Marketing and its importance and world best practices by MNC’s, challenges and problems in Green Marketing. Second part is dedicated to analyse the literature review and objectives and limitations, methodology of the study. Third part of the study is consisting of Data analysis and interpretation. Forth part of the study gives Findings, conclusion of the study.

II. LITERATURE REVIEW

A Muthukumaran (2015) studied the emerging strategies of green marketing in India. The objective of the study was to analyze the evolution of green marketing across the globe and with reference to India. To know the reasons why green marketing important in today business world, to understand the benefits of having green marketing strategies of both company and consumers. The study adopted exploratory research on the basis of past literature and the study concludes that Green consumerism includes mainly “3R” like Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Green marketing is a tool for protecting the environment for the future generation. It has a positive impact on environmental safety. Because of the growing concern of environmental protection, there is an emergence of a new market which is the green market.

Jaya Tiwari(2016)  studied the phenomenon green marketing in India and says changing consumer behavior on green products and awareness to less harm the environment  has given the companies to tap the business opportunity to promote green products. Hence, the objective of the study is to familiarize the concept of Green marketing, its importance and challenges. The study adopted exploratory research approach using secondary data and literature review. The study concludes that the concept of green marketing is in its infant stage and people are ready to pay premium price for green products on the presumption that they are less affecting the environment. Therefore there is a need for green marketing and a need for a shift in the consumer‘s behavior and attitude towards more environment friendly life styles.

R.Balaji (2014) analyzed the enhancement of global environment through green marketing using its opportunities and challenges. Have been discussed the concepts like consumer ignorance, Eco-labels and lack of standardization, discussed few case studies on green marketing. He concludes that the view of the consumer is significant to understand the concept and not in illusion consumers are conscious and sensitive towards green products.

Mamta Goyal (2015) had observed the opportunities and challenges in green marketing in the Indian perspective. The objective of the study is to examine the opportunities and challenges, measures taken by the government in this regard and the study concludes that there will be a drastic change in the world business if it is implemented strictly. Green marketing presumes that consumers “Think Green, Think Eco-friendly” i.e. they want a cleaner environment and are willing to “Pay” for it, possibly through higher priced goods, modified individual life styles, or even Government intervention.

Mihaela Kardos et.al (2019) studied the role of Green Marketing’s & Sustainability and Ecopreneurship. The study provided an integrative vision on green marketing roles in informing, raising awareness, educating, and changing consumer behavior towards maintainability and Ecopreneurship and to feature the after effects of research with respect to Plant Bottle green bundling's effect on the natural obligation of youthful customers. The exploration of the subject was directed based on a study, and information was prepared with measurable techniques. Significant discoveries that were watched are shoppers' absence of data prompting natural obligation; the effect of ecological data and mindfulness on green capable conduct; and the need to increase endeavors towards natural duty. Additionally, plots that the upsides of natural bundling ought to be conveyed to change the disposition and conduct of the purchaser towards manageability, considering the long haul sway that non ecological bundling has on the earth and human wellbeing.

Shaheed Sukhdev (2014) identified three particular segments of green consumers and explores the challenges and opportunities businesses have with green marketing. The paper inspects the present patterns of green marketing in India and depicts the motivation behind why organizations are embracing it and eventual fate of green advertising. The paper depended on reasonable investigation of cases identified with worldwide patterns of green promoting across different nations.  Significant discoveries incorporates green advertising is fundamental to spare world from contamination, how shoppers can be engaged with showcasing. It ought not to be considered as a solitary measurement rather it has an ecological and social measurement to it. Reusing of paper, metals, plastics, and so on in a safe and ecologically harmless way should turn out to be substantially more systematized and all inclusive. It needs to turn into the general standard to utilize vitality proficient lights and other electrical merchandise. Advertisers likewise have the obligation to cause the customers to comprehend the requirement for and advantages of green items when contrasted with non green ones. Furthermore, how buyers are eager to pay more to keep up a cleaner and greener condition.

Polonsky et.al (1994) studied the degree and significance of the connection among business and the earth, and a review of the traps and misuses. This paper endeavored to present the terms and ideas of green advertising and to see how it is becoming environmentally viable. It has analyzed a portion of the explanation that associations are receiving a green marketing reasoning. The study was based on both primary and secondary data along with case studies to understand the importance, impact of green marketing and sources of problems. Significant discoveries of this investigation was It creates the impression that purchasers are not excessively dedicated to improving their condition and might be hoping to lay a lot of duty on industry and government. An ecological submitted association may not just create products that have diminished their hindering effect on the earth; they may likewise have the option to compel their providers to carry on in an all the more naturally "mindful" design. Last purchasers and mechanical purchasers additionally can constrain associations to incorporate the earth into their corporate culture and in this way guarantee all associations limit the hindering ecological effect of their exercises.

Pavan Kumar P S (2017) examined what Green showcasing fuses a wide scope of exercises, including product adjustment, changes to the creation procedure, packaging changes, and altering publicizing. Paper centers to research the degree of consciousness of Indian buyers about green items and practices, also quantifies the green estimations of the clients to recognize the brands, shopper partner with green showcasing rehearses. The study  explores the inclinations of Indian buyers about green items to distinguish the components that impacts the client influence to purchase green items and to comprehend the issues and difficulties of green advertising rehearses. It  was a survey based research where convenience sampling was used to collect the primary data alongside secondary data from other journals, articles etc. Significant Findings incorporate respondents surveyed knew about the green items and practices. Anyway the majority of the respondents didn't know about the activities taken for advancing green promoting rehearses by focal/state government, NGOs and business houses in India recommending requirement for better advertising correspondence from these substances and need to unequivocally impart to the clients about their green activities. News Paper and Television were seen as the most known wellsprings of data with respect to green items to the buyers.  The study concludes that Green marketing ought not to be considered as only one more way to deal with advertising, rather ought to be sought after with more noteworthy energy as it has cultural and natural measurements. At long last, buyers, modern purchasers and providers need to strengthen the endeavors to limit the negative impacts of nature inviting advertising with regards to green promoting expecting considerably more significance and pertinence in creating nations like India. This examination finishes up with a call to different parts other than car division additionally to seek after eco cordial activities to encourage long haul development in the economy.

Mary Wanjiru Kinoti (2011) studied and illustrated green marketing intervention strategies and sustainable development with an emphasis on green showcasing intervention methodologies to natural issues confronting the present reality. Additionally, people and associations can profit by green showcasing procedures and simultaneously ensure the earth to accomplish manageable improvement. The purpose of this paper was to review marketing responses to environmental concerns facing the world today through green marketing intervention strategies to achieve sustainable development. The study concludes that green marketing has a role to play in looking for solutions to these environmental problems. The paper further suggests that marketing through green marketing and specifically green marketing strategies is addressing the challenge with positive outcomes of improved organizational performance, better physical environment which will lead to sustainable development.

Dr. Shruti P Maheshwar (2014) examined the purchaser convictions and mentality on condition insurance and their buying conduct of eco-accommodating items and spotlights on the accomplishment of endeavors put by advertisers in bringing green brands mindfulness in shopper's psyche. Likewise, proposes that the Indian market for greener items could be misused more inside buyer bunches that have master ecological qualities. This paper examined how consumers’ values/beliefs and attitudes, as well as their exposure to influences and information, shape their behavior and perceptions of product performance, with a particular focus on the influential role of marketing. The objective of the study was to analyze Consumer beliefs and attitudes on green products and Consumer awareness on the availability of environmentally friendly products and to see the influence of marketing efforts put by marketers. Both secondary and primary data have been collected and analyzed. The research was a based on survey and convenience sampling design was followed. The study concludes that there exists an environmental value-action gap i.e, a gap between consumers’ beliefs and behaviors over being green and eco friendly. The current low levels of consumer awareness about global warming are a concern. India’s brands need to help raise consumer consciousness and there is greater use of marketing brands to sell green products that are genuinely environmentally friendly.

MS Jeevandas et.al (2019) examined on how green marketing leads to purchase intention of the products and then towards sustainable development. Objective was to determine how green marketing tools improves purchase intention of the customers, trust of customers towards eco labeling and also to understand how green marketing and sustainable development are interrelated. With the time, the need of customers will also increase. And this makes firms, business owners, corporations focus on green marketing more to withstand the competition. The author also pointed 4Ps of marketing can be well defined in green perspectives.  Both primary and secondary data have been collected and  a  sample of 200 was collected and analyzed using average percentages, correlation and chi-square tests.

The study concludes that Sustainable development is the responsibility of every individual and they have to take the step forward for the environment, Green marketing is one of them. Using green products not only benefit the nature but also for us. So, it’s up to the government to frame green policies that should be accepted and implemented by the organizations and involves customers active participation.

Devakumar G et.al (2016) explored the green marketing strategy for accomplishing upper hand in business condition. Experimental examination is led on green advertising procedures for natural products. The objective was to discover the connection between different promoting blend methodologies and their effect on showcasing supportability. Both primary and secondary data were used to get to the results where it shows that there should be added online and social media promotion to increase awareness and creation of pull in the market place, which is the need of the hour for creating mass awareness on the usage of green products. The key findings of the study reflects consumers have a strong positive attitude towards Green Marketing, Consumers are more aware of environmental issues, Consumers agreed that in future more consumers would prefer organic products and Majority of consumers expressed that identifying organic products on the shelves of the store is slightly difficult.

Ajeet Verma (2015) indicated the World-wide evidence how people are becoming concerned about the environment and are changing their behavior accordingly. As a result, there is a growing market for sustainable and socially responsible products and services. The objective of this paper was to introduce the terms and concepts of green marketing and to find reasons why organizations are adopting a green marketing philosophy and its problems. The study was based on secondary data and case studies. An empirical study is conducted wherein  the components of green marketing mix is studied as per Indian consumer perspectives, to identify and differentiate the aspects of green washing using pilot study, self-administered questionnaire and observation methods for collecting the primary data and perform analysis using statistical tools like SPSS. The secondary data is collected through other journals, articles, case studies, newspapers and internet sources. Few Indian advertisements were observed and interpreted by random participants to study green marketing mix. Likert scale technique is used in questionnaire and through convenience sampling the questionnaire was filled.  Percentage analysis, F- test and ANNOVA test were done to study the green marketing mix and its relationship with Indian consumers. The major findings suggested green marketing is about systemic change in society that includes consumers, producers and the general commercial structure within which they negotiate. It will lead to economic boom for all the relevant actors of market. Based on the analysis suggestions and conclusions were provided for future research.

2.1. Objectives of the study

·         To analyze the behavior of consumers towards Green Marketing and its products.

·         To understand the level of awareness about green products and consumer’s willingness to pay extra.

·         To find the influencing elements of green products.

2.2. Limitations

·         The study confined only to analyze the behavior pattern of consumer’s in Bangalore and selected section of individuals using convenience sampling as per the methodology.

·         The analysis is partial as it is based on sample survey.

2.3. Research Methodology

An empirical study is conducted using both primary data, secondary sources of scholarly articles wherein the components of green marketing mix is studied as per Indian consumer perspectives with reference to Bangalore. The study is intended to differentiate the aspects of green marketing practices, purchase behavior and purchase intention of consumers using pilot study. As per the methodology 381 sample respondents data has been collected and performed analysis using the analytical software i.e. SPSS. The secondary data is collected through other journals, articles, case studies, newspapers and internet sources. Likert scale technique is used in questionnaire and through convenience sampling with 5-7 scales. The questionnaire measured the impact of the green marketing belief, price of products, consumer awareness, influencing elements of green products and green marketing practices etc.  Data collection is done using Google forms and analysis carried out using SPSS. The Percentage analysis, F test and ANNOVA test were done to study the green marketing mix i.e., purchase behavior and purchase intention of consumers in Bangalore. Based on the analysis suggestions and conclusions were provided for future research.

2.4. Methodology for green marketing

The model shows green marketing as independent variables which influence the consumer behavior. Other factors as like occupation, age, gender, educational level are moderating or dependent variables.

Independent Variables                                                                     Dependent Variables

Green Marketing Elements                            Consumer intention & Behavior towards Green Products

a. Green Products belief                                     Occupation

b. Price for Green Products                               Age

c. Consumer awareness                                      Gender  

d. Influencing elements of green products     Educational level

e. Green marketing practices                             Price

2.5. Hypothesis

H₀- There is no significant relationship between belief of customers on green products and Consumer intention, behavior on green products

H₀- There is no significant relationship between price of green products and Consumer intention, behavior on green products

H₀- There is no significant relationship between consumer awareness and Consumer intention, behavior on green products

H₀- There is no significant relationship between influencing elements and Consumer intention, behavior on green products

H₀- There is no significant relationship between green marketing practices and Consumer intention, behavior on green products

On the basis of the literature review and identification of dependent and independent variables the above hypotheses are made to do the data analysis.

III. DATA ANALYSIS

Summary of Demographic variables

Demographic variables		Percentage
Gender	Male	54.1%
	Female	45.9%
Total		100%
Occupation	Student	39.4%
	Private Employee	39.4%
	Govt.Employee	9.7%
	Business	6.3%
	Others	1.0%
Total		100%
Age Group	15-20 yrs	19.2%
	21-25 yrs	33.1%
	26-30	13.6%
	31-35	15.2%
	35 & above	18.9%
Total		100%
Educational level	Secondary level	3.1%
	Under Graduate	20.7%
	Graduate	21.8%
	Post Graduate	7.1%
	Post Graduate & above	47.2%
Total		100%

3.1. Descriptive statistics:

The study shows the enthusiasm of people about green products and their contribution towards environmental sustainability directed towards their willingness to pay more on the green products. Marketing elements such as product type, package and availability etc., found to be more influential for the consumer choice towards green products. Count of how they became aware of green products is through television is 55.1%, news papers 15.5%, social media 1.3%, magazines 8.7%, class lectures 13.9%.

Count of green marketing factors which influenced to buy green products promotion 5.5%, packaging 6.8%, product 27.8%, price 12.3% and all the above is 44.4%. The survey says 20.5% of people affected by the phenomenon of green washing, 49.9% say not cheated by name of green products and 29.7% say they are not aware of green washing.

3.2. Inferential Statistics: Testing of Hypotheses

1.       Knowledge of green products (Package and design)  and the attitude of consumers

The following table shows the analysis of knowledge of green products and the attitude of consumers- Means are computed with standard deviation.

Report
Green Marketing Practices I have knowledge about Green Marketing
Consumer Attitude I appreciate the package design of eco friendly products	Mean	N	Std. Deviation
strongly disagree	2.130	23	1.6870
Disagree	3.448	29	2.1972
somewhat disagree	3.538	26	1.6058
Neutral	4.796	54	1.3924
some what agree	4.927	41	1.0097
Agree	5.330	112	1.2476
strongly agree	6.115	96	1.0748
Total	4.950	381	1.7290

The table gives the comparison of means of both the knowledge of consumers and their attitude, out of the 381 respondents 112 are agree that they are impressed with package and design of green products and they have a knowledge of existence of green products.

ANOVA Table
			Sum of Squares	df	Mean Square	F	Sig.
Green Marketing Practices I have knowledge about Green Marketing  * Consumer Attitude I appreciate the package design of eco friendly products	Between Groups	(Combined)	447.754	6	74.626	40.549	.000
		Linearity	424.761	1	424.761	230.802	.000
		Deviation from Linearity	22.992	5	4.598	2.499	.030
	Within Groups		688.299	374	1.840
	Total		1136.052	380

The outcomes of the study was as expected where as the knowledge about green products  has significant impact on the consumer attitude .The significant  value(P-Value) for all statements is 0.00, which is less than 0.05 which indicates the significance of the statement.

Measures of Association
	R	R Squared	Eta	Eta Squared
Green Marketing Practices I have knowledge about Green Marketing   * Consumer Attitude I appreciate the package design of eco friendly products	.611	.374	.628	.394

As per the measures of association the R-square value says knowledge of green products explain the consumer attitude up to 37%.

2. Consumer attitude and purchase intention:

The following table shows the analysis of consumer’s willingness to pay premium for green products and purchase intention even if they are more expensive- Means are computed with standard deviation.

Report
Consumer Attitude I am willing to pay a premium for green products
Purchase Intention I buy green products as environmentally friendly even if they are more expensive	Mean	N	Std. Deviation
strongly disagree	1.955	22	1.3266
Disagree	2.351	37	.9194
somewhat disagree	3.345	29	1.1109
Neutral	4.213	61	1.3554
some what agree	4.817	71	1.1870
Agree	5.409	88	1.0682
strongly agree	6.411	73	1.1647
Total	4.646	381	1.7794

The table gives the comparison of means of both consumer’s willing ness to pay premium and purchase intentions, out of the 381 respondents 88 are agree that they ready to pay premium price for green products even if they are costly than the normal goods available in the market.

ANOVA Table
			Sum of Squares	df	Mean Square	F	Sig.
Consumer Attitude I am willing to pay a premium for green products  * Purchase Intention I buy green products as environmentally friendly even if they are more expensive	Between Groups	(Combined)	695.433	6	115.906	85.377	.000
		Linearity	689.147	1	689.147	507.632	.000
		Deviation from Linearity	6.286	5	1.257	.926	.464
	Within Groups		507.732	374	1.358
	Total		1203.165	380

The outcomes of the study was as expected that consumer’s willing pay premium for green products  has significant on impact on the purchase intention i.e. they are ready to pay extra .The significant  value(P-Value) for all statements is 0.00, which is less than 0.05 which indicates the significance of the statement. The deviation from linearity found to be 0.46 which has insignificance.

Measures of Association
	R	R Squared	Eta	Eta Squared
Consumer Attitude I am willing to pay a premium for green products* Purchase Intention I buy green products as environmentally friendly even if they are more expensive	.757	.573	.760	.578

As per the measures of association the R-square value says knowledge of green products explain the consumer attitude up to 57%.

2.       Awareness of green products and purchase behavior (efforts made by consumers)

The following table shows the analysis of consumer’s willingness to pay premium for green products and purchase intention even if they are more expensive- Means are computed with standard deviation. Report
Green Marketing Practices I am aware of green products
Purchase Behavior I make special efforts to buy products that are recycled	Mean	N	Std. Deviation	Std. Error of Mean	Variance
strongly disagree	2.100	20	1.6190	.3620	2.621
Disagree	3.947	38	1.9857	.3221	3.943
somewhat disagree	4.103	29	1.5663	.2908	2.453
Neutral	5.137	95	1.0479	.1075	1.098
some what agree	5.264	53	1.4163	.1945	2.006
Agree	5.430	86	1.3594	.1466	1.848
strongly agree	6.333	60	.7051	.0910	.497
Total	5.052	381	1.6375	.0839	2.681

The table gives the comparison of means of both awareness of green products and special efforts made to buy recycled products. Hence, out of the 381 respondents 86 respondents are agreeing that they make special efforts to make recycled products. 95 respondents are neutral.

ANOVA Table
			Sum of Squares	df	Mean Square	F	Sig.
Green Marketing Practices I am aware of green products  * Purchase Behavior I make special efforts to buy products that are recycled.	Between Groups	(Combined)	360.628	6	60.105	34.146	.000
		Linearity	309.119	1	309.119	175.614	.000
		Deviation from Linearity	51.509	5	10.302	5.853	.000
	Within Groups		658.322	374	1.760
	Total		1018.950	380

The significant value (P-Value) for all statements is 0.00, which is less than 0.05 which indicates the significance of the statement. That confirms there is significant relationship between awareness of green products and special efforts made by consumers to buy recycled products. Measures of Association
	R	R Squared	Eta	Eta Squared
Green Marketing Practices I am aware of green products  Purchase Behavior I make special efforts to buy products that are recycled	.551	.303	.595	.354

As per the measures of association the R-square value confirms awareness of green products explain the efforts of the consumers to buy recycled products up to 30%.

3.       Purchase habits and changing consumption pattern due to environmental concerns

The following table shows the analysis of environmental impact of individual actions and change in the consumption patterns due to environmental concerns- Means are computed with standard deviation.

Report
Green Marketing Practices I consider the environmental impact of my actions
Purchase Behavior I have changed products for environmental reasons	Mean	N	Std. Deviation	Variance	Std. Error of Mean
strongly disagree	2.000	17	1.2247	1.500	.2970
Disagree	2.000	19	1.0541	1.111	.2418
somewhat disagree	3.429	28	1.4254	2.032	.2694
Neutral	5.212	52	1.2885	1.660	.1787
somewhat agree	5.301	73	.8610	.741	.1008
Agree	5.456	103	1.3704	1.878	.1350
strongly agree	6.337	89	.9408	.885	.0997
Total	5.123	381	1.6884	2.851	.0865

The table gives the comparison of means of environmental impact of individual actions and change in the consumption pattern due to environmental reasons.  Hence, out of the 381 respondents 103 respondents are agreeing that they are ready to change their consumption pattern due to environmental concerns.

ANOVA Table
			Sum of Squares	df	Mean Square	F	Sig.
Green Marketing Practices I consider the environmental impact of my actions  * Purchase Behavior I have changed products for environmental reasons	Between Groups	(Combined)	576.861	6	96.143	71.015	.000
		Linearity	504.245	1	504.245	372.452	.000
		Deviation from Linearity	72.616	5	14.523	10.727	.000
	Within Groups		506.341	374	1.354
	Total		1083.202	380

The significant value (P-Value) for all statements is 0.00, which is less than 0.05 which indicates the significance of the statement. It says there is a significant relationship between environmental impact of individual actions and changing consumption pattern.

Measures of Association
	R	R Squared	Eta	Eta Squared
Green Marketing Practices I consider the environmental impact of my actions  * Purchase Behavior I have changed products for environmental reasons	.682	.466	.730	.533

As per the measures of association the R-square value confirms environmental impact of individual actions explain the change in the consumption pattern due to environmental concerns up to 46%.

5. Environmentally responsible and efforts to reduce the usage of plastic

The following table gives the comparison of means and calculated standard deviation for the statements – individual’s responsibility towards environment and effort of the individual to reduce the usage of plastic.

Report
Green Marketing Practices I would describe myself as environmentally responsible
Purchase Behavior I make every effort to reduce the use of plastic	Mean	N	Std. Deviation	Std. Error of Mean	Variance
strongly disagree	1.333	18	.6860	.1617	.471
Disagree	3.048	21	1.9099	.4168	3.648
somewhat disagree	3.000	20	1.0761	.2406	1.158
Neutral	5.179	28	1.3348	.2523	1.782
somewhat agree	5.404	52	.9953	.1380	.991
Agree	5.522	115	1.2659	.1180	1.603
strongly agree	6.252	127	.8995	.0798	.809
Total	5.257	381	1.7036	.0873	2.902

The table gives the comparison of means of individual’s responsibility towards environment and efforts to reduce the usage of plastic.  Hence, out of the 381 respondents 115 respondents are agreeing to make every effort to reduce the use of plastic and 127 respondents strongly agree.

ANOVA Table
			Sum of Squares	Df	Mean Square	F	Sig.
Green Marketing Practices I would describe myself as environmentally responsible * Purchase Behavior I make every effort to reduce the use of plastic	Between Groups	(Combined)	616.581	6	102.764	79.047	.000
		Linearity	559.747	1	559.747	430.564	.000
		Deviation from Linearity	56.834	5	11.367	8.744	.000
	Within Groups		486.211	374	1.300
	Total		1102.793	380

The significant value (P-Value) for all statements is 0.00, which is less than 0.05 which indicates the significance of the statement. It says there is a significant relationship between individual’s responsibility towards environment and every possible effort to reduce the usage of plastic.

Measures of Association
	R	R Squared	Eta	Eta Squared
Green Marketing Practices I would describe myself as environmentally responsible * Purchase Behavior I make every effort to reduce the use of plastic	.712	.508	.748	.559

As per the measures of association the R-square value says responsibility of individual’s towards the environment and efforts of the individuals to reduce the usage of plastic up to 50%.

3.3. Reliability Testing:

To determine the reliability of statements grouped to test the hypothesis, cronbach’s alpha, Spearnman-Brown coefficient and Guttman Split Half coefficient has been calculated, the reliability test confirms the statements are having excellent reliability between different items.

Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's Alpha			Part 1		Value	.887
					N of Items	5a
			Part 2		Value	.905
					N of Items	4b
			Total N of Items			9
Correlation Between Forms						.901
Spearman-Brown Coefficient			Equal Length			.948
			Unequal Length			.949
Guttman Split-Half Coefficient						.940
The scale statistics is also found to be significant i.e Mean Variance and standard deviation.
Scale Statistics
	Mean	Variance		Std. Deviation			N of Items
Part 1	24.764	52.097		7.2178			5a
Part 2	20.446	36.579		6.0481			4b
Both Parts	45.210	167.377		12.9374			9

IV. FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION

The findings of this study necessitate rejecting the null hypotheses and accepting the alternative hypotheses. It considers and further validates knowledge of green marketing and the individual’s awareness of green products (package and design of eco friendly products) has a significant relationship as per the analysis.  On the other hand consumer’s attitude towards paying a premium price for eco friendly products and purchase intention to pay more price than non- green products found to be significant. Aware of the green products and special efforts to buy products that are made from recycled material- environmental impact of individual’s actions and changing consumption pattern for environmental reasons found to significant. Finally individual’s responsibility towards the environment and efforts of the individual’s to reduce the usage of plastic has a significant relationship.

An enquiry on the selected variables representing the significance of environmental belief shows significant impact on the purchase intention of the consumers. The package and design adds a new facet in the marketing of green products which finds a significant impact on consumer behavior and purchase intention. Individuals are environmentally responsible and making sincere efforts to reduce the usage of plastic.

AVENUES FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

The study is partial, have analyzed only the Percentage analysis, F-Test & ANOVA. By using the same set of dependent and independent variables Spearman and Logit regression modeling can be done to draw some more inferences towards the awareness of the Green marketing practices, consumer attitude to purchase eco-friendly products as well as purchase intention and behavior.

REFERENCES

Swati Agarwal . (2014). GREEN MARKETING IN INDIA IN 21st CENTURY-ROLE AND OPPORTUNITIES. International Journal of Education and Science Resear Review , 186-192.

A Muthukumaran. (2015). Emerging Strategies of Green Marketing in India. international journal of applied research , 553-556.

Babita Saini. (2017). Green Marketing In India: Emerging Opportunities And Challenges . IOSR Journal of Business and Management (IOSR-JBM) , 67-73.

D.N.V.Krishna Reddy . (2017). A study on Impact of Green Marketing on Sustainable Development (With Reference to Khammam District) . National Conference on Marketing and Sustainable Development , 86-106.

Dominika Moravcikova et.al. (2017). Green Marketing as the Source of the Competitive Advantage of the Business. MDPI-SUSTAINABILITY , 2-13.

green marketing. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.businessmanagementideas.com: https://www.businessmanagementideas.com/marketing/green-marketing/20101

green marketing. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/: https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/132672/10/10_chapter%202.pdf

Harendra Pal Singh Chauhan&Ramesh Chaturvedi. (2015). GREEN MARKETING INITIATIVES IN INDIA: AN OVERVIEW . International Journal of Management Research & Review , 834-844.

J. Bharanitharan. (n.d.).

Jaya Tiwari . (2016). Green marketing in India: An Overview. journal of business and management -IOSR , 33-40.

Mamta Goyal. (2015). Green Marketing In India :Opportunities And Challenges. international journal of Business Management , 880-887.

P.Aswani et.al. (2016). GREEN MARKETING IN INDIA CONTEXT . ICRISICM , 1039-1045.

R.Balaji . (2014). Enhancing Global Environment through Green Marketing . International Journal of Innovative Research in Science, Engineering and Technology , 15130-15133.

Ravinder Kaur . (2017). Green Marketing in India –An Overview. Biz and Bytes , 203-208.

Shrestha, S. (2018). Analysis of Green Marketing Tools towards Consumer Purchase Intention in Kathmandu . Rosebay Consulting limited , 37-57.

Shruti Garg and Vandana Sharma. (2017). Green Marketing: An Emerging Approach to Sustainable Development . International Journal of Applied Agricultural Research , 177-184.

SNEKHA&SASIKALA. (2017). Green Marketing in India-A Conceptual Study . INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH REVIEW IN ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT , 45-57.

Swapnil D. Kharde . (2016). Indian Scenario of Green Marketing. joural of research , 37-41.

the balances mb. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.thebalancesmb.com: https://www.thebalancesmb.com/green-marketing-2948347