Green marketing – a new norm: A qualitative evidence of green marketing challenges and future perspectives in high-low context communication cultures

Abstract

This study aimed to explore current challenges and future perspectives of green marketing. The researchers interviewed nine marketing managers from arts, energy, hospitality, telecommunications, digital printing, cosmetics, and windows XXABSTRACT doors enterprises in Lithuania, which belongs to high-context communication culture, and Norway, which is a low-context culture. The interviewed marketing professionals who represented organizations with an environmentally conscientious cultural value identified many green marketing challenges, such as greenwashing, great resource demand, COVID-19, lack of society and employee awareness, insufficient or malfunctioning government support, shortage of ideas, and lack of supply. The findings indicated that the challenges of green marketing vary across industries and enterprises that differ in the number of employees. The study also found that increasing society’s awareness, promoting inspiring cases, recycling incentives, digitalization, and packaging innovations could be valuable inspirations to overcome these challenges. The research findings will be helpful for academics and marketing managers interested in understanding, implementing, and developing green marketing solutions for achieving business sustainability in high- and low-context communication cultures.