EMERGENCE OF GREEN MARKETING CAPITALISM IN SOUTH AFRICA: IMPLICATIONS FOR GREEN ECONOMY AGENDA.

Abstract

This conceptual paper discusses the emergence of green marketing capitalism in South Africa and its implications on the green economy agenda. The research methodology employed involved a systematic review and synthesis of extant literature and secondary data sources. It analyses the underlying contradictions of green marketing and how it is situated within the green economy agenda. It argues that green marketing, as a key lever of the transition to green economy, is immersed within a capitalist hegemony and is failing short in its potential roles of enhancing environmental sustainability, economic growth and social justice. The paper concludes pessimistically that big multinational companies dominating the green marketing discourse tend to cherry pick green marketing initiatives that are skewed towards enhancing profitability often at the expense of environmental sustainability. Organic food, plastic bag levy, eco-labels, ISO 14001 environmental management systems and green marketing metrics are identified as forms of green marketing capitalism and symbols of the commercialisation of green marketing in South Africa. This paper advocates for a transformative approach that allows for a holistic migration to a green economy. It concludes that the opportunities accorded by the transition to a green economy are more likely to be missed if green marketing practices continue on a neoclassical economic pathway. In order to address the challenge of marketisation and commodification of green marketing, It suggests a co-regulatory green marketing governance approach, which includes key stakeholders such as government, environmentalists and consumers.

Keywords

• green marketing,green economy,green marketing capitalism,forms of green capital.

References

1. Aravind, D. & Christmann, P. (2011). Decoupling of standard implementation from certification: Does quality of ISO 14001 implementation affect facilities’ environmental performance? Business Ethics Quarterly, 21(1), 73-102.
2. Baldassarre, F. & Campo, R. (2016). Sustainability as a marketing tool: To be or to appear to be? Business Horizons, 59, 421-429.
3. Belz, F. & Peattie, K. (2009). Sustainability marketing: A global perspective. West Sussex: John Wiley and Sons.
4. Brand, U. (2009). Environmental crises and the ambiguous Postneoliberalising of nature. Development Dialogue, 51, 103-118.
5. Brockington, D. & Ponte, S. (2015). The green economy in the global South: experiences, redistributions and resistance. Third World Quarterly, 36 (12), 2197- 2206.
6. Buseth, J. T. (2017). The green economy in Tanzania: From global discourses to institutionalization. Geoforum, 86, 42-52.
7. Castka, P. & Prajogo, D. (2013). The effect of pressure from secondary stakeholders on the internalization of ISO 14001. Journal of Cleaner Production, 47, 245-252.
8. Chothia, A. (2016). SA’s plastic bag tax diverted. https://www.iol.co.za/businessreport/economy/sas-plastic-bag-tax-diverted-2045284. Accessed 20 June 2018. Cock, J. (2011). Green capitalism or environmental justice? A critique of the sustainability discourse. Focus, 63, 45-51.

9. Dangelico, R. M. & Pujari, D. (2010). Mainstreaming green product innovation: Why and how companies integrate environmental sustainability. Journal of Business Ethics, 95, 471-486.
10. Dauvergne, P. & Lister, J. (2012). Big brand sustainability: Governance prospects and environmental limits. Global Environmental Change, 22(1), 36-45.
11. Delai, I. & Takahashi, S. (2011). Sustainability measurement system: A reference model proposal. Social Responsibility Journal, 7, 438-471.
12. Department of Environmental Affairs (2017). Department of Environmental Affairs strives to improve plastic bag recycling in South Africa. https://www.environment.gov.za/mediarelease/deaonimproveplasticbagrecyclingi nSA accessed 20 May 2018.
13. Dikgang, J., Leiman, A. & Visser, M. (2010). Analysis of the plastic bag levy in South Africa, ERSA Working Paper, University of Cape Town.
14. Dlwati. V. (2017). Death lurks in Eskom’s murky air. https://www.fin24.com/Economy/Eskom/death-lurks-in-eskoms-murky-air20171008-2.
15. Epstein, M. J. & Buhovac, A. R. (2010). Solving the sustainability implementation challenges. Organisational Dynamics, 39, 306-315.
16. Evers, S., Seagle, C. & Krijtenburg, F. (2013). Introduction: Contested landscapes. Analysing the role of the state, land reforms and privatization in foreign land deals in Africa. In: Evers, S., Seagle, C., Krijtenburg, F. (Eds.), Africa for Sale? Positioning the State, Land and Society in Foreign Large-Scale Land Acquisitions in Africa. Brill, Leiden/Boston, pp. 1-33.
17. Fairtrade International. (2017). Annual Report 2016/2017. https://www.fairtrade.at/newsroom/aktuelles/details/fairtrade-internationalpresents-annual-report-20162017-2202.html accessed 2 Frebruary 2018.
18. Gosling, S. (2012). ESKOM out of green scorpions’ grasp, but not for long. Cape Times, p. 5, 23 November.
19. Heras-Saizarbitoria, I., Dogui, K. & Boiral, O. (2013). Shedding light on ISO 14001 certification audits. Journal of Cleaner Production, 51, 88-98.
20. Horne, R. E. (2009). Limits to labels: The role of eco-labels in the assessment of product sustainability and routes to sustainable consumption. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 33(1), 175-182.
21. Husted, B.W., Russo, M. V., Meza, C. E. B. & Tilleman, S. G. (2013). An exploratory study of environmental attitudes and the willingness to pay for environmental certification in Mexico. Journal of Business Research, 1, 1-9.
22. Iatridis, K. & Kesidou, E. (2016). What drives substantive versus symbolic implementation of ISO 14001 in a time of economic crisis? Insights from Greek manufacturing companies. Journal of Business Ethics, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007.
23. Jalil, A., Mian, N. & Rahman, M, K. (2013). Using plastic bags and its damaging impact on environment and agriculture: An alternative proposal. International Journal of Learning & Development, 3(4), 1-14.
24. Jensen. D. (2009). Forget short showers: Why personal change does not equal political change.
25. https://macaulay.cuny.edu/eportfolios/environmentnycfall2013/files/2013/11/Jens en-2009-Orion-Magazine.pdf
26. McLellan, H. (2014). Banning the plastic shopping bag in South Africa: An idea whose time has come. Proceedings of the 20th WasteCon Conference 6-10 October 2014. Somerset West, Cape Town. Pp.248-255.
27. Mishra, P. & Sharma, P. (2010). Green marketing in India: Opportunities and challenges. Journal of Engineering Science & Management Education, 3(1), 9-14.
28. Muralidharan, S. & Sheehan, K. (2016). Tax and fee message frames as inhibitors of plastic bag usage among shoppers: A social marketing application of the theory of planned behaviour. Social Marketing Quarterly, 1, 1-18.
29. National Treasury. (2017). Environmental levy products. http://www.sars.gov.za/ClientSegments/Customs-excise/Excise/EnvironmentalLevy-Products/Pages/default.aspx.accessed 15 February 2018.
30. Oosterveer, P., Adjei, B. E., Vellema, S. & Slingerland, M. (2014). Global sustainability standards and food security: exploring unintended effects of voluntary certification in palm oil. Global Food Science. 3, 220-226.
31. Papadas, K., Avlonitis, G. J. & Carrigan, M. (2017). Green marketing orientation: Conceptualization, scale development and Validation. Journal of Business Research, 80, 236-246.
32. Pickett-Baker, J. & Ozaki, R. (2008). Pro-environmental products: Marketing influence on consumer purchase decision. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 25(5), 281-293.
33. Polonsky, M. J. (2011). Transformative green marketing: Impediments and opportunities. Journal of Business Research, 64, 1311-1319.
34. Ponte. S. (2008). Greener than Thou: The Political Economy of Fish Ecolabeling and Its Local Manifestations in South Africa. World Development, 36(1), 159- 175.
35. Prudham, S. (2009). Pimping climate change: Richard Branson, global warming, and the performance of green capitalism. Environment and Planning A, 41, 1594- 1613.
36. Russell, D.W. & Russell, C. A. (2010). Here or there? Consumer reactions to corporate social responsibility initiatives: Egocentric tendencies and their moderators. Market Letters, 21, 65-81.
37. Shafie, F.A. & Rennie, D. (2012). Consumer perceptions towards organic food. Social and Behavioural Sciences, 49, 360-367.
38. Singh, R. K., Murty, H. R., Gupta, S. K. & Dikshit, A. K. (2009). An overview of sustainability assessment methodologies. Ecological Indicators, 9(2), 189-212.
39. Terrachoice. (2010). Green-washing report. [Online]. Available at: http://sinsofgreenwashing.org/findings/greenwashing-report-2010/. Accessed: 20/02/2018.
40. Tienhaara, K. (2014). Varieties of green capitalism: Economy and environment in the wake of the global financial crisis, Environmental Politics, 23(2), 187-204.
41. UNEP (2014). The Trade and Environmental Effects of Eco-labels: Assessment and Response. https://unep.ch/etb/publications/ecolabelpap141005f.pdf accessed 3 March 2018.
42. Vílchez, F. (2017). The dark side of ISO 14001: The symbolic environmental behaviour. European Research on Management and Business Economics, 23, 33-39.
43. Wanner, T. (2015). The new passive revolution of the green economy and growth discourse: Maintaining the sustainable development of neoliberal capitalism. New Political Economy, 20(1), 21-41.