Green frustration: emotional tensions of sustainable marketing among greenfluencer followers
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- Tomás Zapata-Soto+−
- Nataly Guiñez-Cabrera+−
- Catalina Leal-Leal
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17979/redma.2025.29.1.11962Abstract
This qualitative study examines the ambivalent emotions experienced by followers of greenfluencers on Instagram in the context of current sustainable marketing. Using a thematic analysis of 13 semi-structured interviews with users in Chile, the study identified emotions such as frustration, concern for the environment, guilt, unattained aspiration, and moral discomfort in the face of sustainable discourses. These feelings arise when content projects ecological ideals perceived as difficult to achieve, normative, or inconsistent with followers’ daily reality. The results show that while greenfluencers can act as mobilising agents of change, they also generate emotional problems that affect commitment to sustainable practices. This research offers a more complex understanding of sustainable marketing and proposes an emotionally responsible approach to content design and strategies on social media, concluding that sustainability must be communicated from a perspective of authenticity, empathy, and accessibility.
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References
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