Promoting the green business - a pillar of the sustainable development

The evolutionary trends of the economic and social environment are increasingly associated with new forms of the economic growth and development, focused on the attention given to the relation with the environment and the impact on this. This orientation is also supported by the sustainable development strategies, which are increasingly active for the national business practices. By this paper, we aim to bring together, in a common vision, the approaches that support a balanced economic growth, in accordance with the requirements of the environmental protection and the natural resources conservation. Through a qualitative empirical research, we identify the green businesses as a pillar of the sustainable development that supports the evolution of the business environment in a consolidated and balanced pace. The analysis, descriptive-exploratory, is based on synthesis and exemplification and follows the evolution of green business in the last 10 years, at European and national level, starting from the European experiences in the countries that have supported and promoted the mechanisms to strengthen the green business. The results of the study are materialized in a synoptic presentation of the national business environment oriented towards the green business, arguing the need to connect the strategic requirements of the sustainable development, Horizon 2030, with the specific objectives of any form of business: profitability and stability. Thus, we present a general dashboard that groups the most relevant areas in which green businesses in Romania have demonstrated their sustainability, considering both economic and social objectives, as well as the ecological ones. Although the means of promoting such businesses are not very visible, sufficiently transparent or strongly supported, we draw some conclusions which support the hypothesis that the future of a solid and sustainable business environment requires the reconsideration of the economy-environment relationship and promoting the symbiotic perspective on which the green business it is based

Neuromarketing in the agri-food sector

The concept of neuromarketing, one of the most current and modern, is increasingly present in practical marketing research, being used mainly in the study of consumer behavior. The concept only appeared in 1983, but in 2020 over 150 profile companies were active. Neuromarketing combines the science of the brain with the science of marketing, and manufacturers and/or retailers use neuromarketing techniques to boost sales, encourage consumption, and make a profit. The present work addresses the specifics of neuromarketing techniques in the agri-food field. It starts from the fact that these techniques differ from the classic ones, in that purchase and/or consumption decisions are not made only on rational grounds, the emotional ones predominating. The most well-known neuromarketing techniques are: electroencephalography (EEG), eye tracking, facial coding, galvanic skin response (GSR), implicit association test (TAI), etc. All these provide information on the processing of marketing stimuli and the making of purchase and consumption decisions under the influence of a complex set of emotions, feelings, perceptions or values impossible to measure with traditional quantitative methods. The aim of the paper is to create a dashboard with neuromarketing techniques applicable in the agri-food sector, based on the foray into the literature regarding the validity and functionality of these techniques for agri-food consumption. The assumption on which the approach of this paper is based is that neuromarketing techniques have an extremely significant impact on the purchase and consumption decision, and promotional actions based on such techniques, especially those that generate compulsive purchases, contribute to the increase in unbalanced consumption

The development and diversification of the rural economy by financing the tourism projects

By this paper we plan to reconsider the touristic values by multiple perspective - economic, social, ecological - given that at national level were implemented many projects in the tourism area, some of which are strategic and of very large amplitude, with significant impact on the economic development in the rural areas. To this end, we take into account the issue of the rural economy development through value awareness and highlighting the programs for financing the tourism projects in the last 10 years for the North-East Development Region. The research, theoretical-empirical, is based on thematic description, analysis and synthesis. It considers the basic indicators of the rural economy development for the analyzed region and it concludes about the progresses obtained towards the diversification of the rural economy and the tourism contribution to this progress. The main result of the paper is highlighted by a dashboard built on the basis of the indicators that allow the quantification of the progress obtained in the rural areas through the economic diversification determined by projects funded in tourism. A main conclusion of the study is that, undoubtedly, a tourism project is a notable determinant of the economic development, with multiplier effects beneficial to the rural environment where was implemented

The modification of food consumption behaviour under the influence of promotional actions

The consumption behaviour represents one of the main attractions of the marketing study area which sparks a lot of interest. Within the enterprise marketing mission, the food consumption behaviour is a particular sub-category, given the significant realignments of production and food consumption. The statistics from the last 10 years indicate a strongly ascending trend for all product categories. The hypothesis of the current research is that this increase is due mostly to the simultaneous increase in the number and intensity of promotional campaigns and actions, to which consumers respond with pro-comsumption favourable reactions. The analysis from this paper is performed for Romania with data from the period 2010-2020 by means of the following methods: observation, data analysis, processing and interpretation. The research results confirm the increase in food consumption under the influence of promotional actions, which does not always favourably support a stable, socio-economically healthy and sustainable market. An atypical situation, which invalidates the correlation hypothesis of an increased food consumption directly influenced by promotional actions, is that of fruit and vegetables consumption in Romania, products for which there is no consumption increase registered, at least compared to other products (meat, sugar products, tobacco, beer etc.), but also have not been observed significant promotional actions

Reconsidering the marketing mix from the perspective of circular economy

Circular economy, a modern and current concept, represents a concrete solution to practically support sustainable development. Moreover, circular economy is considered as one of the most representative answers to the need to efficiently and sustainably manage the problem of resources and waste generated by the production and consumption processes. The current paper which is prevalently theoretical and empirical, aims to identify the existence and meaning of the relationship between marketing mix and circular economy, starting from the hypothesis that the traditional marketing mix needs an adjustment to the requirements of circular economy. In fact, we propose to reconsider the traditional marketing mix by adding a 5th component to the established 4Ps: product, price, promotion, placement. By means of the analysis and synthesis of the literature, correlated with the authors’ proposal, the new component added to the marketing mix is the ”return” and refers to the new sustainable and responsible way to use the waste resulted from consumption. Thus, the main outcome of the paper, the 5th component that is ”R”, is analysed and developed based on the specialty literature and of the studies that support circular econom

Eco-anxiety and consumer behavior: mutual influences

The economic and social problems facing today's global society are increasingly varied. One of these is the concern about the environment status, which has as main directions, in the future, especially the following: the depletion of resources, the decrease of their quality, the increase in the level of pollution and in the prices of basic resources, the negative impact on human health, etc. All these forms of concern are found in a new concept: eco-anxiety, considered an emotional disorder. Specific studies and research show that the most affected segment is that of young people, especially from developed or developing countries. Paradoxically, regarding the presence of this disorder, an inverse relationship proportional to well-being and progress is identified: the higher the level of development of a country, the more present this state of eco-anxiety is. From another perspective, today's society has predominantly become a consumer society, and the interest of individuals to buy more and more has almost become normality. This phenomenon also prevails in developed and developing countries. In addition, in the last 3 years or so, the orientation of purchase and consumption, towards ecological or at least more environment-friendly products and services has been observed. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the mutual influence between two issues of major interest for today's society: ecoanxiety and consumer behavior. It starts from the hypothesis that these two concepts influence each other. The research methods are: observation, literature review, synthesis and interpretation. Thus, it follows that the manifestation of ecoanxiety stimulates interest in the purchase of environmentally friendly products, and the compulsive buying style - a socalled emotional remedy - generates hyper consumption and, implicitly, has negative consequences on the environment, such as: pollution, resource depletion and impressive amounts of waste difficult to manage

The influence of E.A.F.R.D. on the access infrastructure of a town in the north-east region and on the economic sector in its vicinity

The paper aims to emphasize the influence of an 996,027 Euros investment from non-reimbursable European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (E.A.F.R.D.) grants on a local community and the local economic environment. The working methodology consisted in the analysis of the documents that were the basis of the financing, including budgets and specific documentation. Data from the reports published by the Rural Investments Financing Agency under Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development were also used. The EU's rural development policy, aligned with the Common Agricultural Policy, aims to achieve three long-term strategic objectives: stimulating the competitiveness of agriculture; guaranteeing a sustainable management of natural resources and combating climate change favouring a balanced territorial development of rural communities, especially by supporting local economies and creating and maintaining jobs. Through this investment, it was proposed to modernize a network of agricultural exploitation roads with a total length of 11,349 m that serves an agricultural area of 1,178 ha, on the territory of the town that is the beneficiary of the financing. The number of modernized road sectors was 21. By implementing the project, access to a number of 11 economic agents from the agricultural field was facilitated and ensured, and 7 nonagricultural economic agents became directly accessible

Analysis of the romanian rural agri-food potential

In Romania, agriculture is the most vulnerable part of the economy, as about 30% of the country's population works in this sector. What minimizes the overall performance of the agricultural sector are subsistence farms, so that labor and land are used below their economic potential. The lack of competitiveness is generated by the excess of the agricultural labor force, to which is added the lack of capital and the inadequate training of the farmers. This results in an imbalance in the ratio between very low incomes and activities. The paper is based on statistical research on the degree of rural development of the commune under analysis, the diagnosis of the mentioned rural area, the SWOT analysis of the commune and the 2030 vision from the point of view of rural development. Regarding rural development, the policy focuses on three key points: environment, agri-food economy, extended rural economy. For this reason, the seven criteria of rural development representative for the diagnosis of the rural area were taken into account, according to which the Banca commune, Vaslui county was included in a specific category from the rural development point of view. The SWOT analysis of the rural area complements the highlighted characteristics and makes possible an overview, summary, of the agri-food potential, development opportunities and combating the existing problems. Finally, the 2030 vision captures the need to implement an agri-food strategy in order to develop economically, ecologically, territorially, socially in order to ensure agri-food safety and security

Dynamic of Ecological Agriculture Certification in Romania Facing the EU Organic Action Plan

Approaching the ecological agriculture topic in the context of European Policies to accelerate the conversion to those policies is an interdisciplinary challenge. The motivation to develop this subject is based on the longitudinal observation that the ecological agriculture evolution in Romania has been very slow, despite the policies aimed to accelerate the transition from the conventional to the ecological agriculture have been supported since the 2000s. The goal of the paper is to reframe the available data to evidence the slow dynamics of the organic farms’ certification. The methods used are descriptive and numerical analysis, supplemented by a qualitative-transversal interpretation. The research work has been carried out on the dynamic analysis of the ecological agriculture progress in Romania, based on the data with the ecological certification of the specialized companies (2019–2021). The main hypothesis: the slow dynamics are caused by subjective barriers. The results confirm the slow dynamics of ecological certifications due to some limits and barriers to understand the real role and benefits from the ecological agriculture. In this context, the European Union Organic Action Plan for 2021–2030 proves to be a stimulus for the Romanian ecological agriculture

The Relationship between Environmental Factors, Satisfaction with Life, and Ecological Education: An Impact Analysis from a Sustainability Pillars Perspective

The paper analyzes the link between three concepts: environmental values, ecological behavior, and satisfaction with life. Various studies indicate the links between environmental values and ecological behavior, satisfaction with life, and pro-ecological behavior, but no connection between these three concepts. The paper aimed to develop such a research direction, namely sustainability as an integrative concept. The existence of a complex conceptual model between three specific constructs is analyzed. A questionnaire to 267 students from the universities of Iasi, Romania, was applied. To identify the existence of some equations between components, PLS-SEM and PLS-MGA methods were used, through SmartPLS3.9 and SPSS 18. The final model was a reflective-formative one on two hierarchical levels, being made up of 5 latent variables and 18 observed ones. Only the existence of significant equations between knowledge of environmental values and pro-ecological behavior and between knowledge of environmental values and satisfaction with life was highlighted. The multi-group analysis: although higher values are obtained among students from the rural compared to urban, there are no significant differences. The influence of knowledge of environmental values and ecological behavior on life satisfaction among students was highlighted. The results encourage the continuation of research on a larger population, from an extended area