Tag: Awareness

The Chinese Invasion

The Covid-19 virus, the Ladakh standoff and the Indian Prime Minister’s stress on self-reliance have led to multiple calls for the boycotting of Chinese products and the Asian country in its entirety. With the government announcing a 20 lakh crore package and Sonam Wangchuk detailing the various reasons to boycott Chinese products, the call for self-reliance has only gotten stronger.

The Make in India campaign has so far been unsuccessful in fulfilling the vision that the BJP led Indian government had set out to accomplish. However, it was a step in the right direction as the much-needed impetus for the Indian economy. Yet a total boycott of a country and it’s products is not feasible for a country like India and will take time. The superior quality Chinese products at affordable pricing are what led to the invasion of Chinese products in almost all countries including India. The “Atmanirbhar Campaign” will act as a catalyst to the dwindling “Make in India Campaign” that has underperformed.

However, a total like to like replacement of the Chinese hardware and software will take a lot of time. The current Indian hardware and software fail to match up to the Chinese standards. Yet the Indian industries will fail to develop and mould itself quickly unless there is a surge in demand and a dire need to do so. Thus the exclusion of Chinese products is a necessity for the Indian industries to develop which in turn will lead to a creation of jobs that will serve the economy and aid in much faster growth.

Indian citizens have been quick to attack Chinese products and softwares from its creation of the, “Remove China Apps” app that removes Chinese applications installed in your phone. TikTok, a Chinese app that has 467 million Indian users has contributed substantially to the revenue generated by the Chinese application. Initially, Indian netizens had first attacked the Chinese application over a feud between a TikToker and a Youtuber which led to the app being downgraded to a 1.3 rating from its initial 4.9 ratings. However, Google was quick to remove all the recent one-star ratings from the application. With Google pulling down the recent 1-star ratings, Indians have started uninstalling TikTok along with other Chinese applications like UC Browser, CamScanner etc over the Ladakh feud and with Sonam Wangchuk leading the campaign to remove Chinese apps within a week and Chinese hardware in a year. India imports goods worth more than 50 billion dollars from China in contrast to a miserly 2.5 billion dollars in exports to China.

If India proceeds with putting a halt to the Chinese invasion in its market, India would suffer from a paucity with regard to capital goods, machinery, electricals, chemicals to go along with intermediate and consumer goods. India’s heavy reliance on China makes it difficult to put an end to imports cold turkey. India should focus on a gradual decline in imports while developing a sustainable infrastructure for the production of goods in their own country. A sound infrastructure and production in India will give a major boost that India is in desperate need of. India can then finally be independent and their over-reliance on FDI can diminish.

HOW TO CRACK THE CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION WITH RIGHT STRATEGY !

The Do’s and DONT’s To become an “IAS OFFICER”

Union public service commission India’s central agency , abbreviated as UPSC ,conducts civil services examination annually and recruits selected candidates for as much as 24 posts .Getting into the Indian civil services is a major hallucination for lakhs of aspirants .Those already on the expedition along with them who choose to be an IAS officer some day are all in the same boat .

Upsc preparation is a well structured combination of hard work in the right direction and a tackling strategy contemporaneously. However, great deal of doubts along with girdled exaggerating myths can leave you enervated and astray.

Strategy Is Figuring out what not to do

The right kind of strategy is all you need to witness your aspirations .Let’s have a look into the do’s and don’t you need to follow if you are a serious aspiration. By the end of the article you will be able to take an analysis on your overall preparation additional to the road map directed !

SAY YES TO THESE DO’S TODAY

1) Syllabus , Question paper and mock test is must

Your syllabus is the basis of your entire preparation make sure to by heart it .Start by simply jotting down the entire syllabus into points and divide them into sections according to your strengths and weaknesses, and then proceed with designing a study plan.Stop looking at the IAS curriculum as a whole – Divide and Conquer.Adding to this go through previous year question paper to get an idea about the kind and pattern of questions asked in the examination.Make sure you solve enough number of mock papers for both Prelims and Mains; this is a must before you step into the UPSC exam for your first attempt. Regular evaluations will help you keep a track of your weakness and progress at the same time .Indulge in quality discussions.
In an exam like the civil service mains, studying the syllabus is not the only important thing to do, How you write the exam is what counts the most. No matter how much you study prior to the exam, how skilfully you are writing the answers within three hours is what makes one topper and another failure. Hence having regular practice of essay/answer writing is highly necessary. Evaluate yourself before UPSC evaluates.

https://www.upsc.gov.in/examinations/previous-question-papers

2) Prepare A Schedule / effective plan

Draw out a timetable for yourself, and the time table should be a realistic one.Do not make a timetable which needs more than 8 -10 hours of your day to dedicate to your IAS preparations depending on your capacity. Once you have decided on the amount of time you will put in everyday and what topics you will cover when, make sure you follow it everyday.

3) Consistency is the key

No matter how much talented you are, how much hard working you are, how much smart you are – if there is no consistency in your preparation for this exam (UPSC civil services), you will either fail or unnecessarily prolong this journey making it stressful, burdensome and frustrating.
Being consistent i.e. being regular and steadfast in what you are doing – either making notes from newspapers or from books, writing answers daily, writing essays weekly, solving test papers from test series once in a week or ten days – is the ONLY solution to all your problems.

4) Revise more than you learn

Be wise ! Revise

When you plan your studies, make sure you have enough time on your agenda for a minimum of two revisions. Both general studies, as well as CSAT syllabus, should be reviewed twice – a week before the examination.Without revision,you cannot succeed in this exam.

DONT’ S ARE MORE IMPORTANT

1) Limit your Resources

Aspirants must not deviate from the UPSC syllabus as questions asked in the exam are on based on the given syllabus.
They should not ignore the basics and NCERT books, as some questions are based on fundamentals too.
One must avoid buying too many books or collecting too much material to study for the UPSC exam as it would be a waste of time.
One of the common mistakes UPSC aspirants make is ignoring the basics and NCERT books, which are important for IAS preparation as questions based on NCERT books and fundamentals may be asked in the exam.
Not solving sufficient practice papers and previous papers could affect their performance, too.Also, lack of consistent preparation, regular practice, and revision may impact their preparation process adversely.Spending time reading too many books may lead to confusionThough UPSC aspirants tend to consult various study material and books to prepare for different topics, going through too many books may create confusion and should be avoided.
UPSC syllabus is vast and candidates may need to refer multiple sources to cover it.
However, consulting too many books could be a waste of time. Instead, they should choose the right material/books and revise well.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.jagranjosh.com/articles/amp/upsc-iasprelims-subjectwise-study-material-important-resources-for-complete-preparation-1585745500-1

2) Don’t make lengthy notes

Avoid making lengthy notes as it will consume your time as well as distract you at the time of examination .
Too much of content in notes is unnecessary .Notes should be kept precise and intact .
Do multiple readings and then make notes of the most important topic out of the whole just to get to know the whole idea at the time of need.

3) Do Not Ever Skip Newspapers

If there’s a bible that can guide you towards success, it’s the ;Newspaper Readings’ that acts as an integral whole in your entire preparation process. Many questions that are asked in the examinations come directly from the newspapers. Therefore, it becomes prudent on your part to know ‘How to read a newspaper’, ‘what to read and what not to read’.

https://www.insightsonindia.com/the-hindu-news-analysis-videos/

Hard work + strategy = Success !

” Rowing harder doesn’t help if the boat is headed in the wrong direction .”-kenichi

#International Journal Of Research(Follow Eduindex news for more )

Assessing the Prospects of Green Marketing in India

Dr. Rouf Ahmad Rather

Lecturer

Department of Commerce and Management

Gandhi Memorial College  Srinagar , J & K

Abstract 

The word “eco-friendly” has become a slogan of today’s marketing practices of different companies throughout the world. Green marketing is gaining noteworthy attention from both marketers and consumers. Given that a cautiously crafted green marketing strategy can earn trustworthiness with customers and provide a stage for revenue growth, it’s an area worthy of additional reflection. This paper is an effort to present a picture of green marketing prospects in India.

Key words: Green marketing, Environmentally friendly product, Awareness, India

 

Introduction

Green marketing generally aims to promote eco-friendly products and a safe environment where people could stay. Right now green marketing is widely becoming a phenomenon throughout the world as concerns on our environment have begun to escalate in the past few decades. Every year, the population of people who are turning towards green brands or environmental friendly products are increasing, so, magnifying the phenomenon exponentially. Thus, businesses in almost every industry nowadays are flaunting the “green” features of their products and services in every chance they get. The success, however, of any green marketing strategy is heavily reliant on the consumers it would like to target.

 According to the American Marketing Association, green marketing is the marketing of products that are presumed to be environmentally safe. Thus green marketing incorporates a wide range of activities, including product modification, changes to the production process, packaging modifications, as well as changing advertising. Still defining green marketing is not a simple task where several meanings intersect and contradict each other; an example of this will be the existence of varying social, environmental and retail definitions attached to this term. Other similar terms used are Environmental Marketing and Ecological Marketing.

 According  to Polonsky (1995)’s definition, “Green or Environmental Marketing consists of all activities designed to generate and facilitate any exchanges intended to satisfy human needs or wants, such that the satisfaction of these needs and wants occur, with minimal detrimental impact on the natural environment”. Thus “Green Marketing” refers to holistic marketing concept wherein the production, marketing consumption an disposal of products and services happen in a manner that is less detrimental to the environment with growing awareness about the implications of global warming, non-biodegradable solid waste, harmful impact of pollutants etc., both marketers and consumers are becoming increasingly sensitive to the need for switch in to green products and services. While the shift to “green” may appear to be expensive in the short term, it will definitely prove to be indispensable and advantageous, cost-wise too, in the long run.

Green Marketing Practices in India

Nike is the first among the shoe companies to market itself as green. It is marketing its Air Jordan shoes as environment-friendly, as it has significantly reduced the usage of harmful glue adhesives. Kansai Nerolac Paints has been at the forefront of paint manufacturing for more than 88 years pioneering a wide spectrum of quality paints. Kansai Nerolac has worked on removing hazardous heavy metals from their paints – among this lead being the most prominent metal. Kansai Nerolac does not add any lead or other such heavy metals in its manufacturing process.

Dell has been one of the vendors who focus on producing green IT products. They have a strategy called “Go green with Dell” to sell these products in the market. It also comes in an eco-friendly packaging with a system recycling kit bundled along. Talking about the green commitments of the company, Sameer Garde, Country GM, Dell India, says, “Dell is also actively pursuing green innovations that will be of value in 2009 from data-center efficiency to the use of eco-friendly materials for everything from chassis design to product packaging.

Eco Hotels (Ecotels) is a certification system promoted by Hospitality Valuation Services (HVS) International. This system is based on 5 main criteria: environmental commitment, solid waste management, energy efficiency, water conservation, and employee education/community involvement. In India we have Eco-hotels like Orchid, Rodas, Raintree etc. believing and practicing green marketing. According to Harish Tiwari of Infinity Infomatic Pvt Ltd, a well known distributor, who says, “We don’t find any difficulty in selling green products because the knowledge for these products has increased in us as well in customer. They are ready to pay higher for these products once they convinced.” In May 2007, IBM launched Project Big Green to help clients around the world improve the efficiency of IT and better optimize their data center resources. IBM has software and services technologies to help businesses reduce data center energy consumption and cut energy costs by more than 40 percent.

The Introduction of CNG in New Delhi, the Capital of India, as it was being polluted at a very fast pace until Supreme Court of India forced a change to alternative fuels. In 2002, a directive was issued to completely adopt CNG in all public transport systems to curb pollution. The Gas Tech Electronic Products (Pvt) Ltd. has invented LPG Kit for motorcycles/scooters (4 stroke and 2 stroke).Can be fitted in 50 cc to 375 cc air cooled , single cylinder 2 stroke as well 4 stroke vehicles with cent % fuel efficiency, with clean exhaust and zero pollution.

Significance of Awareness in purchasing of green products

Generally speaking awareness comprises a human’s perception and cognitive reaction to a condition or event. Awareness does not necessarily imply understanding, just an ability to be conscious of, feel or perceive. To create more awareness for the consumers, many companies can be involved in programmes that support the environmentally friendly products. The consumers with respect to high to average level of green product awareness show high to medium level of green buying behavior and consumers having awareness to small degree and not at all show low green buying behavior. Hence there is an urgent need to make consumers aware about green products in order to speed up the green buying behavior among all consumers. (Rouf & Rajendran 2014)

The media are playing a significant role in creating awareness and educating people about the benefits of environment conservation to the society (Lalit & Kanokthip, 1998). In developing awareness of a green product, companies attempt to augment consumer knowledge of the product and its environmental attributes in the hope of bringing about purchase behaviour. But still now the exact nature of the relationship between environmental knowledge and environmentally sensitive behaviour is still to be established (Arbuthnott & Lingg, 1975). Consumer awareness might be useful when the manufacturer’s objective is to overcome resistance to new environmentally safe packages. Advertising of the new advantages and benefits of such products helps its consumers become more aware of the damage to the environment and they tend to change their buying habits. Unless consumers are aware of the advantages of green products, manufacturers‟ effort to introduce this product to the market will be wasted efforts (Kassaye & Dharmeda 1992).

Challenges in adopting Green Marketing 

Implementing Green marketing is not going to be an easy job. The firm has to face many problems while treading the way of Green marketing. Challenges which have to be faced are listed as under:

  • Green marketing encourages green products/services, green technology, green power/energy; a lot of money has to be spent on R&D programmes. So practicing green marketing initially will be a difficult and costly affair.
  • The customers may not believe in the firm’s strategy of Green marketing, the firm therefore should ensure that they convince the customer about their green product, this can be done by implementing Eco-labeling schemes. Eco-labeling schemes offer its “approval” to “environmentally less harmless” products have been very popular in Japan and Europe. In fact the first eco-label programme was initiated by Germany in 1978.
    • in the beginning the profits will be very low since renewable and recyclable products and green technologies are more expensive. So Green marketing will prosperous only in long run.
    • Many customers may not be willing to pay a higher price for green products which may affect the sales of the company.
    • The firms practicing Green marketing have to strive hard in convincing the stakeholders and many a times there may be some who simply may not believe and co-operate.

The Future of Green Marketing

There are many things to be learned to avoid green marketing myopia, the short version of all this is that effective green marketing requires applying good marketing principles to make green products desirable for consumers. The question that remains, however, is, what is green marketing’s future? Business scholars have viewed it as a “fringe” topic, given that environmentalism’s acceptance of limits and conservation does not mesh well with marketing’s traditional axioms of “give customer what they want” and “sell as much as you can”.  Evidence indicates that successful green products have avoided green marketing myopia by following three important principles:

Consumer Value Positioning

  • Design environmental products to perform as well as (or better than) alternatives.
  • Promote and deliver the consumer desired value of environmental products and target relevant consumer market segments.
  • Broaden mainstream appeal by bundling consumer desired value into environmental products.

Calibration of Consumer Knowledge

  • Educate consumers with marketing messages that connect environmental attributes with desired consumer value.
  • Frame environmental product attributes as “solutions” for consumer needs.
  • Create engaging and educational internet sites about environmental products desired consumer value.

Credibility of Product Claim

  • Employ environmental product and consumer benefit claims that are specific and meaningful.
  • Procure product endorsements or eco-certifications from trustworthy third parties and educate consumers about the meaning behind those endorsements and eco-certifications.
  • Encourage consumer evangelism via consumers social and internet communication network with compelling, interesting and entertaining information about environmental products.

Conclusion

 Green marketing covers more than a firm’s marketing claims. While firms must bear much of the responsibility for environmental degradation, the responsibility should not be theirs single-handedly.  Green marketing requires that consumers want a cleaner environment and are willing to “pay” for it, possibly through higher priced goods, modified individual lifestyles, or even governmental involvement. Until this occurs it will be difficult for firms alone to lead the green marketing revolution. It must not be forgotten that the industrial buyer also has the ability to pressure suppliers to modify their activities. Thus an environmental committed organization may not only produce goods that have reduced their harmful impact on the environment, they may also be able to pressure their suppliers to behave in a more environmentally “responsible” fashion.

Green marketing should not be considered as just one more approach to marketing, but has to be pursued with much greater vigour, as it has an environmental and social dimension to it.  And thus green marketing assumes even more prospects and relevance in developing countries like India.

References

Arbuthnott, J. and Lingg, S. (1975). A comparison of French and American environmental behaviours, knowledge and attitudes. International Journal of Psychology, 4(10), 275-

Kassaye. W. Wassen and Dharmeda V.(1992). Balancing Traditional Packaging Functions with the New Green Packaging Concerns. Advanced Management Journal, 57 (4), 15.

Polonsky, M.J. (1995). A stakeholder theory approach to designing environmental marketing

strategy. Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing.10 (3), 29‐46.

Lalit M. Johri and Kanokthip S. (1998). Green marketing of cosmetics and toiletries in       Thailand. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 15(3), 265 – 281.

Rouf Ahmad Rather and R Rajendran (2014). A Study on Consumer Awareness of green products and its Impact on Green Buying Behavior, International Journal of Research (IJR), 1 (8), 1483-1493