International Journal of Business and Management; Vol. 9, No. 2; 2014 ISSN 1833-3850 E-ISSN 1833-8119 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education 7 Do Environmental Practices of Enterprises Constitute an Authentic Green Marketing Strategy? A Case Study From Mexico Andrea Trujillo 1 , Pilar Arroyo 2 & Lorena Carrete 3 1 School of Business, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe, Mexico 2 Industrial Engineering Department, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Toluca, Mexico 3 Management Sciences and Marketing Department, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Toluca, Mexico Correspondence: Andrea Trujillo, School of Business, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus SantaFe, Mexico. Ave. Carlos Lazo #100, 01389, Santa Fe, Delegación Álvaro Obregón, Distrito Federal, Mexico. Tel: 52-55-9177-8000 ext. 7765. E-mail: andrea.trujillo@itesm.mx Abstract Private enterprises have responded to the increasing concern about environmental deterioration by implementing green actions with different grades of efficacy in terms of environmental and business performance. The aim of this work was to outline how firms that operate in a context with weak social and governmental pressures like Mexico are considering environmental issues into their strategies. By using a qualitative research approach, this study collected information of multiple cases comprising multinationals, Mexican firms with international operations and Mexican firms with local operations. Information was analyzed to get a deep understanding about how 4Ps of product, price, place (distribution) and promotion (communication) of the traditional marketing mix are addressed via green practices. The two dominant greening strategies identified, “resource savings and waste reduction” and “certification and acknowledgment of environmental responsibility”, reflect a short-term perspective driven by immediate economic and legitimacy benefits. A well structured green marketing strategy was not identified even for large multinationals. Keywords: green strategies, marketing mix, environmental responsibility, Mexico, multiple case studies 1. Introduction The degradation of the environment has been a major topic of research in multiple disciplines. The interest in environmental issues in management journals increased notably during the 1989-1998 decade (Leonidou & Leonidou, 2011) and new research questions have been continuously addressed since then. Environmental management research has significantly transformed, going from exploratory studies and multi-disciplinary research including a multi-cultural perspective to more sophisticated research designs with a quantitative and conclusive orientation. The idea that satisfaction of human needs and economic growth justifies ecological detriment has been replaced by the concept of sustainability development. From the marketing perspective, concepts like social marketing (Kotler & Levy, 1969), responsible consumption and green marketing have contributed to increase the sensitivity toward environmental problems. In the 1970s, firms used marketing to communicate compliance with environment regulations. In the 1980s, the main issue was how to reduce environmental costs. Then in the 1990s, the interest turned to the development of the green market. These reactive environmental measures changed by 2000 to a more proactive strategy oriented to the creation of an environmental culture and the achievement of competitive advantage from being “green”. This historical evolution influenced marketing management, which advanced from a socially responsible perspective to the implementation of an authentic green marketing strategy able to contribute to sustainable development. The research on environmental marketing/management includes many topics. The main thematic areas are (Leonidou&Leonidou, 2011): marketing management aspects, environmental management, environmental corporate strategy, regulatory environment, environmental strategy implications, corporate environmental response and environmental advertising. Marketing management arose as the main category (40.4% of the total articles reviewed) covering these main topics: how the marketing mix (product development, communication, branding, pricing and eco-labeling) supports the enterprise’s financial and environmental objectives, the