Nhung Vu THE APPLICATION OF GREEN MARKETING IN VIETNAM Case Study: Cocoon Vietnam Thesis CENTRIA UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES Business Management September 2023 ABSTRACT Centria University Date Author of Applied Sciences September 2023 Nhung Vu Degree programme Business Management Name of thesis THE APPLICATION OF GREEN MARKETING IN VIETNAM. Case study: Cocoon Vietnam Centria supervisor Pages Marko Hoikkaniemi 46 Instructor representing commissioning institution or company The goal of this thesis is to provide the general theories and the development of green market the world and in Vietnam. The thesis focuses on studying the application of green marketing in Vietnam. In addition, this study also examined Cocoon Vietnam's marketing strategy, one of th well-known vegan cosmetics companies in Vietnam, to determine how green marketing is use their advertising campaign.
This thesis’s theoretical dimensions focus on Vietnam market analysis after the COVID-19 pandemic The primary method to conduct information and data from public sources is qualitative and lite reviews. The thesis is divided into five parts. The first part provides information about thesis’s background. In the second and third part, the theoretical framework provides the definition and the application green marketing of Vietnam.
The fourth part is the analysis of green orientation and green ma strategy of Cocoon Vietnam. The final part is the conclusion and the outcome of the thesis. Key words Green Marketing, Green Marketing Mix, Marketing Strategy CONCEPT DEFINITIONS CGMP Cosmetic Good Manufacturing Practices 4P’s Product – Price – Place – Promotion ABSTRACT CONCEPT DEFINITIONS CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION .1 The Green Marketing Definition .2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Green Marketing .3 Five Elements of Green Marketing .2 Green Brand Positioning .5 The Life of the Product is Environmentally Friendly .2 The Green Marketing Mix 4P’s. 13 3 GREEN MARKETING IN VIETNAM .1 Trading between European and Vietnam .2 Environment Protection in Business and the Activities of Green Marketing in Vietnam .3 The Corporate Sustainability Index Programme (CSI).
43 PICTURES PICTURE 1: The evolution of green marketing (Open Economics 2019, 53-62). 4 PICTURE 2: Cocoon's product categories (Cocoon 2023). 2 PICTURE 3: “Discovering Vietnam” X COCOON (2020). 35 PICTURE 4: COCOON x SUBOI "The Quality Queen" (2022).
36 PICTURE 5: Combo deal “Buy 2 get 1”. 37 PICTURE 6: COCOON x AAF "Work together to rescue and protect Moon Bears” campaign (2022a). PICTURE 7: COCOON x AAF " Work together to end the riding of elephants, developing and an elephant’s friendly tourism mode in Dak Lak” campaign (2022b). 38 TABLES TABLE 1: Age segmentation.
2 TABLE 2: Income segmentation. 2 TABLE 3: Cocoon's SWOT Analysis. 27 1 1 INTRODUCTION Environmental protection issues are receiving an increasing amount of attention in the modern world. Especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, the term “green” is popping up and is gradually emerging as a new development trend for businesses.
Consumers today are increasingly conscious of environmental protection; they are willing to spend more money for green products and are also ready to boycott businesses that pollute the environment. A “Sustainability at turning point” survey with the participant of 14,000 people from nine countries said: more than 90% of surveyed people answered that Covid- 19 has changed their view on issues related to the environment and sustainable consumption (IBM Study 2021). The survey found that many consumers are increasingly likely to alter their shopping, travel, employment, and even where they place their personal investments habits owing to environmental sustainability concerns. Nowadays, not only consumers, but also corporations to large enterprises and companies in the world have begun to pay more attention to sustainable development.
Environmental protection through the purchase of green products is a global phenomenon that is thought to improve society through the efforts of organizations by reducing the impact on the environment while purchasing goods and services (Har et al. Businesses are defining clear sustainability goals to build long-term value and benefits for consumers and society, in this case, protecting the environment. The link between corporate ethics and the greening of marketing activities is a positive one, clearly demonstrating the corporate social responsibility. In addition, sustainable marketing also helps brands connect with increasingly environmentally and socially conscious consumers.
In Vietnam, the idea of “green marketing” is still quite new and has not been used frequently. However, “green marketing” will undoubtedly become more popular in Vietnam. Vietnamese businesses should pay attention to and invest in it if they want to keep up with global environmental development. According to a Nielsen Vietnam report (2021), companies that make a commitment to being "green" and "clean" see comparatively rapid growth rates of roughly 4% annually.
The growth rate of the food and beverage sector was 2.4% more than that of the whole market. At the same time, sales of brands committed to prioritizing sustainability quadrupled compared to non-committed competitors. 2 Green marketing includes not only promoting things in an eco-friendly way but also the process of creating and packaging products in a manner that is beneficial to the environment. Cocoon Vietnam – one of the most well-known local vegan cosmetic brand – is a prime example for sustainable development and green orientation.
Cocoon is trusted by consumers with products derived from nature, helping to protect the environment. All products are made using natural ingredients. The "Vietnamese Factor" is prominently marked on every Cocoon product. Users of Cocoon can feel a ma of the typical goods from each country region, experience everything from Ben Tre coconuts to Cao Bang roses, from Dak Lak coffee to Tien Giang cocoa butter.
The objective of this thesis is to study the application of green marketing in Vietnam. The thesis is divided into two parts: the theoretical framework and the case study with three goals. The initial goal of the theoretical part is to provide knowledge about the development of green marketing in the world as well as in Vietnam market. The second part will focus on analyzing Cocoon’s marketing strategies to learn how the company has applied green marketing to its business activities and the brand's development orientation.
The motivation for this thesis is from the author’s interest in sustainability, especially in beauty and cosmetics industry. The author also has experience in using the products from Cocoon Vietnam and feels attracted by their green promotion campaigns, such as promoting custome to recycle product bottles, grow plants from these bottles, etc. In detail, this thesis will focus on finding the answer for the question: How has Cocoon built a green orientation for sustainable development and used communication campaigns to inspire green living of the customers? 3 2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Based on the research study, the theoretical framework describes the basic principles of green marketing in the world. This chapter will clarify what is green marketing, its pros and cons, and the components of a green marketing strategy.1 Green Marketing When mentioning “green marketing”, many people will immediately think of communication, and advertising activities about products related to sustainability.
Terms such as recycling, reuse, and environmentally friendly are associated with green marketing. However, in reality, green marketing is not only used in product advertising but is also applied more in business activities, such as product design, product packaging, production lines, etc. This chapter will provide an overview, and the global historical development of green marketing, along with an examination of a green marketing strategy.1 The Green Marketing Definition The term “green marketing” became prominent in the late 1980s and early 1990s as businesses began to realize its importance in increasing competitive advantage. The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines "green marketing" as a sustainability advertising strategy that focuses on sustainable corporate practices in environmental protection.
This term has introduced a new change in traditional marketing thinking by Kotler (1997). Many researchers have given different definitions of “green marketing” through research periods from the 1980s to 2018. The term green marketing - also called environment marketing, eco-marketing, or sustainable marketing - is an approach to marketing from an environmental perspective (Polonsky, 1994). In 1987 the term “green marketing” first appeared in the World Commission on Environment and Development’s report, and it was defined as the type of development that calls for long-term sustainability and meets the needs of present-day generations without compromising those of future ones.
According to Charter (1992), "green marketing" is a responsible management process that enta identifying, anticipating, meeting, and implementing stakeholders' needs with the goal of not causing 4 negative effects on the environment. Polonsky (1994) defined green marketing as a combination of activities including changes in products, production lines, packaging, and advertising to satisfy customer wants and need on the basis of minimizing negative impacts on the environment. Kotler and Armstrong (2009) agreed with the above point of view, and they argued that green marketing is a strategy for satisfying the needs of consumers and companies today while preserving and enhancing our capacity to meet the needs of future generations. According to Delafrooz et al.
- The first phase, “Ecological” green marketing was concerned to solve environmental problems. The researchers focused on most damaging and toxic industries and only limited to the front-line polluters (Papadas et al. - The second phase, “Environmental” green marketing became explosive in the late 80s when social and businesses started to pay more attention to environmental issues. Businesses noticed that products related to environmental issues was a core competitive factor (Papadas et al.
In this stage, the scope of green marketing has been expanded from the most toxic industries to other industries such as electronics, tourism, and clothing. - The third phase, “Sustainable” green marketing focused on the sustainable development in marketing, and it created a huge impact on economy. This phase focuses on specific requirement for products and meet the goal of creating sustainable economy. The sustainability phase raises awareness of meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the quality of life of future generations (Peattie 2001, 129-146).
PICTURE 1: The evolution of green marketing (Open Economics 2019, 53-62) 5 Green marketing is a collection of various actions, such as product adjustments, production process improvements, packaging changes, and advertising changes that promote a more ecologically friendly lifestyle. The goal of green marketing is not limited to business behavior, it also aims to change consumer behavior and habits (Schaltegger et al. Green marketing can play an educational ro to help consumers be more responsible in their purchases. It encourages consumers to buy products that are less harmful to the environment and reduce the generation of pollutants in order to protect the planet's future.
Green marketing is not just a passing fad to appease those who wish to preserve the environment; it also seeks to promote sincere acts, significant messages, and actual benefits to the environment. In general, green marketing can be considered as a branch of sustainable marketing.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Green Marketing a) Advantages - Enhanced brand reputation: Green marketing activities bring a lot of benefits to pioneering companies in providing green products or services. Customers' trust in a business will increase if the business has fulfilled legal requirements and met social and environmental responsibility requirements (Porter & Van de Linde, 1995, 120-133). - Expanded customer base: With green marketing campaigns, businesses will be able to reach new markets.
These consumers are eco-aware and favor green goods over those that are harmful to th environment. Nielsen’s global survey (2020) about Socially Responsible of Businesses with the participant of 30,000 consumers from 60 countries showed that most of them are willing to pay for green marketing. Customers are willing to buy green products at high prices, thereby increasing profits and revenue for businesses (Porter & Van der Linde 1995, 120-133). - Competitive advantage: Companies that are successful in "going green" may draw interest and capital from investors seeking socially responsible investments, which is an investment strategy focused at acquiring shares in businesses committed to social responsibility, sustainable development, and good governance.
In addition, green products help businesses reach new potential customers, thereby giving businesses a competitive advantage over direct competitors.