Green Marketing Practices of Medium and Large Supermarkets in Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

This study sought to establish the level of green marketing practices adopted by medium and large Supermarkets in Nairobi Kenya. In terms of methodology, the study adopted a descriptive cross sectional survey. The target population of the study consisted of fiftyeight (58) large and medium sized Supermarkets in Nairobi out of which forty (69%) responded. Primary data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires with both close-ended and open-ended questions. The target respondents of the study were selected from the top management level at the head-office. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data collected from all the forty responding supermarkets. Measures of central tendency such as the mean scores and measures of dispersion such as the standard deviation were computed. Cross tabulation was done to relate the various variables under the study. The analyzed data were presented in the form of tables using frequencies, percentages, mean scores and standard deviation. The results revealed that green marketing practices were applied to some extent by the medium and large supermarkets. Some of the Green Marketing practices that the Supermarkets attached a lot of importance to are product packaging (with a mean score of 3.98 on scale ranging from 1 to 4 where 1= not important and 4 = very important), and disposal of product waste (mean score = 3.73). The results also revealed that the Supermarkets frequently engaged in various green marketing practices. Again product packaging (mean score =3.90) is the practice the Supermarkets most frequently engaged in. It was also found that the supermarkets face various challenges in their attempts to adopt green marketing. The study recommended that the government should intervene to assist the Supermarkets to turn green in their operations.