Green marketing: The case of Greece in certified and sustainably managed timber products
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the possibility of promoting certified timber coming from sustainable managed forests, in order to support Greek enterprises and the institutions of the Greek timber sector involved to apply effective green marketing methods and policies.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a prototype questionnaire, specifically structured for the aim of the research, 55 responses were collected from Greek timber enterprises in April 2009. The questionnaires were processed and analyzed with the statistical program SPSS of ver17.0, using descriptive statistics and correlation analysis. The main purpose was the investigation of knowledge, use and promotion of certified timber that emanates from forests under sustainable management, thus planning the green marketing.
Findings
The Greek enterprises of the timber sector expressed a great interest in the protection of forests all over the world, ranging from illegal loggings to their rational management. At the same time, in their overwhelming majority, they strongly support the certification of the sustainable management of Greek forests. These enterprises believe that the movement of green buildings has also reached Greece, albeit at a slow pace, and forecast that green consumers are prone to offer an additional percentage of about 6 per cent on price, in order to buy certified timber products. Companies trust to a high degree most institutions of higher education (universities and technological institutions) for the promotion of certified timber products and propose their publicity through newspapers and magazines, as well as through internet portals of close contact. Finally, the paper discusses reflections and forecasts on the growth of this new market of timber.
Practical implications
The results offer precious knowledge on the market of certified timber and its future developments in the following five years, which can assist both enterprises and the institutions involved in strategy forming and decision making, in order to gain an important share of the market of green consumers. The paper also proposes effective green marketing applications.
Originality/value
This is the first research on green marketing and the promotion of certified products of timber in the Greek market, while similar work is very limited even at an international level.
Keywords
Citation
Papadopoulos, I., Karagouni, G., Trigkas, M. and Platogianni, E. (2010), "Green marketing: The case of Greece in certified and sustainably managed timber products", EuroMed Journal of Business, Vol. 5 No. 2, pp. 166-190. https://doi.org/10.1108/14502191011065491
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2010, Emerald Group Publishing Limited