Nowadays, themes related to the environment are already quite popular. Sustainability, ecology, the protection of endangered species, global warming and pollution are topics that have recently concerned part of the population.
Given the relevance of the issue, people began to put pressure on companies to show themselves increasingly socially responsible, demanding that there be regulatory entities that monitor the behavior of companies regarding the environment.
It worked. Companies have felt pressured to act and, to respond to this phenomenon, have adopted green marketing strategies.
But then, what is green marketing? Green marketing is a marketing strategy that focuses on the benefits of a product, its method of production or the company's stance, always with the vision of a marketing aspect with environmental appeal.
That is, the company sells an image that is based on ecological awareness; however, the image is nothing more than the perception that something exists. Unfortunately, what we perceive does not always correspond to reality... Green marketing draws attention to the existence of this ecological awareness in the company, however, in order to demonstrate that they really have it, the company's attitudes must correspond to what they advertise. And here greenwashing comes in.
The practice ofgreenwashhas been recurring in recent times, once again due to the population's growing concern about the scarcity of natural resources and all the alarm surrounding the environment. greenwashing thus consists of promoting that the products or services that a given organization offers are environmentally friendly. To increase the consumption of their products and/or services, brands use these strategies that give them more visibility among consumers.
With the recurrent use of these practices by brands, consumers are becoming increasingly skeptical of that they consume, particularly with regard to food products. On the other hand, as we find ourselves in an era of easy access to information, consumers have the possibility of looking for more details about products and production methods used by companies, without being fooled by what is advertised.
In this way, it is important to make the distinction between what are good intentions, what are excellent demonstrations and what are in fact actions that contribute to a more sustainable and green world.
Go green or go home
Zália Filipa, guest
