The role of green marketing: Insights from three airline case studies

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Accepted Manuscript (AM)
Author(s)
Mayer, Robert
Ryley, Tim
Gillingwater, David
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2014
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The purpose of this paper is to show how airlines incorporate green elements in their marketing mix and how these changes are communicated to the public. Based on an examination of airlines’ websites and publications as well as a review of academic and industry literature, three airline case studies on Virgin Atlantic Airways, easyJet and Flybe are developed. A multiple case design is applied that provides an in-depth review of the airlines’ environmental activities and enables differences between their green marketing activities to be identified. All three airlines have adapted their marketing mix to address the environmental ...
View more >The purpose of this paper is to show how airlines incorporate green elements in their marketing mix and how these changes are communicated to the public. Based on an examination of airlines’ websites and publications as well as a review of academic and industry literature, three airline case studies on Virgin Atlantic Airways, easyJet and Flybe are developed. A multiple case design is applied that provides an in-depth review of the airlines’ environmental activities and enables differences between their green marketing activities to be identified. All three airlines have adapted their marketing mix to address the environmental impacts of air transport. While there are some commonalities between the airlines (e.g. market communications addressing green credentials), there are also some differences in how the airlines approach the issue. Services are often seen as low-impact industries when it comes to environmental impacts, yet there are certain service sectors that have recognisable environmental impacts. The airline sector has received considerable attention regarding their emissions and they have responded to negative coverage of their environmental impacts. The paper presents an original multiple case study of the green marketing of three airlines. It provides a comparison between three airlines and highlights commonalities as well as differences in green marketing of the three airlines.
View less >
View more >The purpose of this paper is to show how airlines incorporate green elements in their marketing mix and how these changes are communicated to the public. Based on an examination of airlines’ websites and publications as well as a review of academic and industry literature, three airline case studies on Virgin Atlantic Airways, easyJet and Flybe are developed. A multiple case design is applied that provides an in-depth review of the airlines’ environmental activities and enables differences between their green marketing activities to be identified. All three airlines have adapted their marketing mix to address the environmental impacts of air transport. While there are some commonalities between the airlines (e.g. market communications addressing green credentials), there are also some differences in how the airlines approach the issue. Services are often seen as low-impact industries when it comes to environmental impacts, yet there are certain service sectors that have recognisable environmental impacts. The airline sector has received considerable attention regarding their emissions and they have responded to negative coverage of their environmental impacts. The paper presents an original multiple case study of the green marketing of three airlines. It provides a comparison between three airlines and highlights commonalities as well as differences in green marketing of the three airlines.
View less >
Journal Title
Journal of Sustainable Mobility
Volume
1
Issue
2
Copyright Statement
© 2014 Greenleaf Publishing. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in The Journal of Sustainable Mobility on 1 November 2014 available online: https://doi.org/10.9774/GLEAF.2350.2014.no.00005
Subject
Marketing Communications