Green Marketing Strategies in the Indian Automotive Sector: A Hybrid MCDM Analysis

Abstract

The Indian automotive sector is under mounting pressure to transition toward sustainable practices, yet there is a lack of structured guidance on which green marketing strategies are most effective in this unique market. This study employs a hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) framework combining Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) to evaluate and rank nine key strategies against five criteria: environmental impact, consumer acceptance, cost-effectiveness, regulatory compliance, and long-term sustainability. Data were gathered through structured surveys and interviews with industry experts, marketing professionals, and academics. Results indicate that consumer awareness campaigns, green product innovation, and green branding and positioning emerge as the top three strategies for driving green vehicle adoption in India’s price-sensitive and regulation-driven landscape. These findings offer actionable insights for manufacturers and policymakers, demonstrating that engaging and educating consumers, alongside technical innovation and strong branding, are pivotal for sustainable market transformation. The study also validates the applicability of AHP-TOPSIS in complex, sustainability-focused strategic decision-making and highlights avenues for future research, including integration of real-time consumer data and exploration of hybrid MCDM models.