Exploratory results on the antecedents and consequences of green marketing

In this article the authors develop and test a model that incorporates exte rnal and internal antecedents and consequences of the integration of enviro nmental issues in marketing. The external antecedents of green marketing in clude consumer environmental sensitivity, competitive intensity and regulat ory intensity. The internal antecedents consist of marketers' environmental consciousness and business sensitivity towards environmentalism. The integ ration of environmental issues in marketing is made manifest through the de velopment and commercialisation of green products and the incorporation of environmental issues in marketing communication. The consequences of this s o-called green marketing are reflected in the performance of a business. Th e model is tested on a sample of 138 Dutch manufacturing businesses using p artial correlation analysis. The results indicate that environmental regula tion is still the most important reason for marketers to adopt environmenta lly friendly marketing programmes. The results further show that businesses that voluntarily adopt green marketing are able to exploit green market op portunities and improve their business performance.