Green Marketing Capability: A Missing Link in Environmental Quest

Academic and practitioner literature shows that all firms do not achieve similar outcomes in formulating and pursuing green marketing strategy. Hence, what makes some firms more successful than others is of crucial importance. Green marketing capability (GMC) is one of the important factors that can explain the performance difference. This study develops a theoretical framework to explain (1) what constitutes GMC, (2) how firms differ in the way they approach GMC, (3) what is the ideal GMC configuration to achieve the best possible green performance. We propose that firms can be classified into three groups based on how they approach GMC: opportunity seekers that excel in both sensing and execution capabilities and act as green market prospectors; conservative compliants that lag in both these aspects and act as green market defenders; and critical adopters that lay medium emphasis on green market sensing and execution activities and maintain a balanced “wait and see” approach.