Scale Development Study on the Problems Faced By Smes in the Green Marketing Implementation Process

The escalating severity of global environmental issues has rendered green marketing a strategic imperative for businesses. For Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), however, this transition presents numerous barriers, including financial constraints, a lack of expertise, and technological inadequacies. This study develops and validates a psychometrically sound scale to measure the attitudes of Turkish SMEs concerning the problems they face during the implementation of green marketing practices. Using a descriptive and exploratory research design, data were collected from 387 managers in the Ankara Ostim Organized Industrial Zone. Construct validity was established through Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses (EFA/CFA), resulting in the 11-item Green Marketing Problems (GMP) Scale. The scale exhibits a two-factor structure with strong psychometric properties (χ²/df=2.800, CFI=.965, RMSEA=.068). The first factor, "Perceived Consumer Barriers" (5 items), addresses issues such as insufficient customer awareness and the price perception of green products. The second factor, "Operational and Competitive Inadequacies" (6 items), covers challenges like difficulties in reverse logistics and competition with larger corporations. The study contributes by conceptualizing these barriers not as isolated problems, but as a systemic vicious cycle that fosters strategic inertia. In providing a standardized instrument to empirically measure these challenges, the research addresses a methodological gap in the existing literature.