Green Marketing: A Study of Communicative Practices Adopted by IndianCompanies and Awareness Level among Youth

Abstract

Discourses regarding environmental issues, including sustainability, started in the 70s.
Eventually, environmental concerns became part of many brands' and companies’ business plans
and communicative strategies. Companies and brands aim to reduce carbon emissions and foster
sustainable initiatives and policies. It led to many brands and companies adopting sustainable
practices; one such practice is Green Marketing. Paettie and Charter (1994) defined Green
Marketing as a "holistic management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and
satisfying the needs of customers and society, in a profitable and sustainable way”. This study is
two-step in nature and involves a mixed-method approach. Firstly, using a systematic random
sampling technique, researchers selected six Indian companies: Reliance, HDFC, TCS, LIC,
Bharti Airtel and Hindustan Unilever. Secondly, the researchers studied the youth’s awareness
level of Green Marketing. Content analysis and survey methods were used to analyse the
websites of the selected companies, and a survey was conducted to study the awareness level of
sample units. Content analysis revealed that out of six, four selected companies are actively
publishing their annual sustainability reports, and content published by these companies is
statice. The survey found that out of 100 respondents, 49% were aware and well-versed with the
concept of green marketing, while 51% were unaware