The efficacy of green package cues for mainstream versus niche brands: How mainstream green brands can suffer at the shelf

Mainstream brands are increasingly introducing environmentally-friendly lines to compete with successful niche "green" brands, but are there unique challenges for mainstream brands that go green? The authors posit that mainstream brands' green offerings can suffer when the environmental-friendliness of the product is promoted through visual cues at the point of purchase.

MANGEMENT SLANT

  • For mainstream brands, customers may equate green qualities with lower performance.
  • Mainstream brands adopting green cues in packaging for their environmentally friendly products may suffer loss of share as a result.
  • Mainstream brands losing share in this scenario will lose it to niche green companies’ products rather than other mainstream competitors.

INTRODUCTION

Once the purview of niche specialty brands, environmental friendliness has moved to the mainstream. In a growing number of product categories, green options are not relegated to one or two fringe brands but are a sizable and legitimate subcategory with...

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