Awareness Campaigns and Sustainable Marketing for an Efficient Use of Territorial Resources

Abstract

Economic development and population growth are clear signs of the progressive depletion of natural resources. It is, therefore, necessary to encourage more efficient use of territorial resources. Citizens need to be better informed on green issues to encourage a positive attitude about the conscious use of resources. Many companies are involved in the process of informing and raising citizens’ awareness of environmental issues. The use of green marketing strategies is becoming more and more widespread as consumers are intent on making purchasing choices such as to reward companies committed to the ecological front. This paper intends to propose a model through which to maximize the degree of utility that users of essential public services attribute to the green marketing strategies undertaken by private managers. To this end, the Cobb-Douglas function is used to estimate the optimal budget that the companies in the analysis should allocate to awareness campaigns on green issues to maximize consumer satisfaction and achieve an optimal level of corporate reputation. The model is applied to a private Integrated Water Service Manager in southern Italy. The application shows that more than 550 users are predisposed to perceive in a favourable manner the green marketing activity promoted by the Manager. Investments in awareness campaigns, green communication, and sustainable marketing can undoubtedly bring significant benefits for managers of essential services both in terms of reputation and financial sustainability.