Decoding Green Claims: A Sentiment and Visual Analysis of Eco-Advertising by Indian Corporations on Instagram

Abstract

As businesses emphasize environmental accountability, advertising has developed into a strategic tool for developing green marketing (Li, 2025; Ktisti et al., 2022). As public concerns about pollution, climate change, and resource depletion grow, consumers are calling for transparency and ecological consciousness (Rana & Rana, 2024). As a result, businesses purposefully promote eco-friendly themes, particularly on social media. Basic values are often highlighted, including cutting carbon emissions, ethical purchasing, conservation, and sustainable development (Nekmahmud et al., 2022). Businesses can bolster their environmental story and fulfill a green claim—the argument that their actions or products significantly improve environmental well-being—by utilizing eco-centric language and images (Zervoudi et al., 2025). When proven true, these assertions gain credibility and strike a deep chord with ethical buyers.
This study will look at the top 10 Indian companies’ green advertisement postings on Instagram between 2024 and 2025, concentrating on those with the largest CSR spending in FY 2022–2023, from a variety of perspectives, according to the Forbes India report published on January 27, 2025. It seeks to pinpoint the most prevalent verbal and visual components - such as eco-claims, tone, hashtags, and imagery - used in ads with a green theme. The study examines how these strategies have changed in several industries, including banking, technology, fashion, energy, automotive, and fast-moving consumer goods. It assesses whether the social media posts support the firm’s stated sustainability and corporate social responsibility objectives. Along with sector-specific differences, it also examines the level of user interaction these posts receive in terms of likes, shares, and comments. In order to better understand the emotional tone and themes in user responses, such as accusations of greenwashing, scepticism, or positive reception, sentiment analysis is employed in the study. In order to fully evaluate the effectiveness and validity of green advertising in India’s online public arena, the study’s ultimate purpose is to comprehend how Indian consumers view and react to eco-centric branding.
Instagram, which Statista (2023) has identified as one of the most prominent marketing platforms, is chosen for primary data collection due to its visual focus and growing relevance in brand communication. This mixed-methods approach provides valuable insights into the evolution of green advertising in India’s digital public realm. With a particular emphasis on India’s distinct socio-environmental context, it expands upon the paradigm developed by Kwon et al. (2023).