ISSN 2756-3367
African Journal of Ecology and Ecosystems ISSN 9428-167X Vol. 7 (2), pp. 001-009, February, 2020. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Green marketing or green wash? A comparative study of consumers’ behavior on selected Eco and Fair trade labeling in Sweden
Atiq Uz Zaman*, Sofiia Miliutenko and Veranika Nagapetan
Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Infrastructure, KTH, Sweden,
Accepted 13 October, 2019
Abstract
Green marketing is in the focus of present marketing strategy due to the pressure that comes from inclined environmental awareness in the global climate change. Different initiatives have been considered to support environmental programme and practices and one of the meaningful business initiatives is eco or fair trade labeling. Eco-label provides the information of product contribution in the context of environmental burden to the consumers. Different label initiatives are available in the present business market as a provider of ‘white goods’, however, the basic principles of the label initiative are ignored in most of the business practices. The study compared eight selected eco-brands which were used on the Swedish market. Comparison was based on environmental justice and ecosystem services perspectives. The study showed that most of the eco brands do not comply with environmental justice and ecosystem services in their label policy initiatives. Moreover, there is a gap between policy and practices. Questionnaire survey showed that environment is an important criterion for consumers while purchasing consumer products. Eco-label is an important tool; however, this tool is not communicating to consumers to its expected role.
Key words: Green marketing, eco-label, consumer behavior, environmental justice.