**1. Introduction**

Under current complex business conditions, the traditional attitude towards marketing practices becomes insufficient to face serious competition, rising concerns of customers, stakeholder requirements, rapid technologic development, public regulation, and strict environmental policies [1–4]. The intense evolution of global markets raises a demand to involve the pillars of sustainability (environment, society, and economy) in marketing decisions when aiming to satisfy the needs of the digitally empowered customer [2,4,5]. Fluctuation of marketing towards the pillars of sustainability has given rise to efforts to meet customer needs with lesser damage to the environment and future generations [1,2,6]. Thus, marketers are induced to use limited resources efficiently in accordance with individual and organizational aspirations by embracing green marketing solutions. These solutions in current circumstances become imperative for organizations rather than a matter of choice in order to combat sustainable development problems.

During the past decade, green marketing has attracted extensive attention among marketing scholars and practitioners. The increasing number of academic publications on the topic is evident [1–6]. However, the measurement of green marketing is not yet well-established. Researchers have measured the performance of green marketing and

**Citation:** Vilkaite-Vaitone, N.; Skackauskiene, I.; Díaz-Meneses, G. Measuring Green Marketing: Scale Development and Validation. *Energies* **2022**, *15*, 718. https:// doi.org/10.3390/en15030718

Academic Editors: Donato Morea and Wadim Strielkowski

Received: 5 December 2021 Accepted: 17 January 2022 Published: 19 January 2022

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its components using various methods. In numerous studies, interviews with experts [7] or managers [8–11] were conducted. Researchers have also used direct observations of business environments [12,13], case studies of progressive companies [14,15], and customer surveys [1,2,4,6,16–19]. Although the value of these techniques comes from insights into the context of green marketing, scholars [20–25] have argued that perceptions of marketing managers offer exhaustive information about business experience. Marketers' perceptions of green marketing performance are based on their professional and experiential knowledge. There are several measures of green marketing practices in organizational settings based on marketers' perceptions. However, in most cases, measures of green marketing have not undergone essential procedures of scale development and validation (e.g., [7,20,26]). Consequently, there exists a gap of certainty related to the accuracy of the measurement, as the scales lack either construct or/and content, discriminant validity. The lack of a specific measurement scale for green marketing indicates a vital knowledge gap. It suggests the most appropriate investigation to assess the concept of green marketing in organizational settings applicable in the energy industry.

Given the absence of a valid scale to measure it, the theoretical and empirical development of green marketing could be stunted. Marketing discipline cannot advance scholarship on green marketing without solid conceptualization and well-founded measures. A valid instrument for evaluating green marketing is expected to allow scholars and practitioners to conduct a more direct and systematic examination. Hopefully, it will assess the current level of green marketing and determine the issues and risks that prevent a progressive practice in the field. Therefore, a primary goal of the present research is to develop a measure of green marketing that could be easily applied in organizational settings.

To this end, the paper is divided into several classic sections. First, we reviewed the literature on green marketing scales. Second, we explained the methodology and described the surveys that were carried out. Third, we analyzed the results intending to come up with a new validated green marketing scale. Finally, we acknowledged limitations and put forward new lines of research.
