Green Marketing and Its Contribution to the Competitiveness of the Textile and Apparel Sector. Case Study in Cali

The objective of this research is to explore how green marketing, with its practices and strategies, allows companies in the textile and apparel sector to generate competitive advantages and migrate responsibly according to the proposal of the National Green Business Plan in force in Colombia (Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development 2022). This is of social and environmental relevance for the community and the territory, because today's consumers are more informed about the product and/or service they consume. Methodologically, the research was approached with a phased design and semi-structured interviews, applied to three entrepreneurs of the textile and apparel sector in Cali, whose organizations are medium, small and micro. The analysis process was to contrast green marketing strategies and techniques and the five competitive factors of the textile and apparel sector in Colombia defined by (Procolombia (2022) Moda del futuro: tendencias y comportamientos de los consumidores. https://prensa.procolombia.co/colombia-hoy/moda-del-futuro-tendencias-y-comportamientos-de-los-consumidores ). According to the results in the literature, the textile industry is a great driver of the Colombian economy, as it contributes significantly to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is concentrated in Medellín, Bogotá and Cali, so it generates employment there, but it also contributes negatively to the environment in terms of water pollution, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and waste. Hence the importance of green marketing strategies to contribute to the reduction of environmental problems of textile companies and, at the same time, help position them as environmentally responsible. According to the interviews carried out in the three companies studied, some coincidences were found: although they are aware of the fact that their production and marketing processes are environmentally friendly, a high operating cost for this is also observed. This indicates that the adoption of green marketing gives results in the medium term, based on the competitive possibilities that these strategies can provide.