Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Stoll to examine green marketing vs. green wash
Contact for more information:
Wendy Knipe Bredhold Media Relations Specialist, News & Information Services 812/461-5259 Stoll′s colloquium is titled, "Green Marketing or Green Wash? Moral Guidelines for Marketing Corporate Sustainability Initiatives." Her abstract states: Awareness of the perils of global warming has affected not only stump speeches on the campaign trail, but also the advertisements flashing across television screens. Businesses as diverse as coffee shops advertising eco-cups to Chevrolet advertising biofuels litter the media landscape. According to a Financial Times survey in December 2007, all major advertising agencies it interviewed anticipated a wave of environmental marketing (Grant 21). While business efforts to achieve corporate sustainability are indeed laudable, businesses must also be careful to market those efforts in ways which are themselves morally acceptable. Gaining deserved moral praise and wooing consumers whose moral values dictate their purchasing choices is all well and good. Advertising efforts to make corporate policy seem responsible despite a well documented history of past injustice or advertising business initiatives that sound environmentally sound, but which really make the problem worse, are something else altogether. While green advertising efforts have gone up considerably, so has consumer backlash. Newsweek, Time, the Guardian, and CNN, for instance, have all recently run stories educating consumers on how to spot greenwash. In fact, the Federal Trade Commission was so worried about greenwash that the agency decided to update its environmental marketing guidelines in 2008, one year ahead of schedule (MacDonald, 70). It continues: A clearer account of moral guidelines for green marketing is likely needed. To that end, I begin by pointing out several common moral mistakes made in a series of recent corporate advertising campaigns. I discuss not only general guidelines for marketing good corporate conduct, but specifically address the special dangers faced by those who attempt to market the development of corporate environmental sustainability. I argue that distinguishing between moral evaluations of right or wrong action from moral evaluations of corporate character can help both companies and consumers to navigate the complexities of green marketing verses green wash. By examining cases of green marketing gone awry as well as more successful cases, I hope to suggest how companies can continue to develop corporate sustainability with the support of their consumers and investors while at the same time meeting their moral duties to be honest with stakeholders and to remain competitive in the marketplace. The College of Liberal Arts Faculty Colloquia is a free lecture series featuring faculty research in the College of Liberal Arts. For more information, call Dr. Wes Durham, assistant professor of communication studies, at 812/464-1739. |
Copyright © 2013 University of Southern Indiana. All rights reserved.
