Abstract:

Today, it has become extremely important for sustainable fashion brands to use social media platforms effectively and interactively. Brands frequently use social media and plan their social media strategies to interact with their target audiences, promote their products/services, and announce their campaigns. Brands that can reach their target audiences more easily through social media platforms can create brand awareness and brand loyalty with the content they create. On the other hand, the fact that social networking sites, especially Instagram, have functions such as stories, referral links, hashtags, videos, pictures, etc. helps to increase brand image and brand awareness while increasing interaction to higher levels. As a result, brands have started to attach importance to sustainability actions, incorporate sustainability activities into their advertising and marketing strategies, and reach their target audiences through social media platforms. In this context, the aim of this study is to examine how sustainable fashion brands use Instagram as a marketing and advertising tool, and whether they reflect their sustainability promises in their posts. In the study, quantitative content analysis method was used. Instagram posts of ten brands that shape sustainable fashion were analyzed. As a result of the research, it was determined that the use of hashtags, emoji, captions and celebrity influencers were at the forefront in the posts of the brands. In addition, it was determined that emotional message strategy was mostly used in the posts of the brands. Another finding is that some brands do not have posts about sustainability. In this direction, it is recommended that fashion brands should use the features of Instagram more effectively and include more digital influencers and sustainability-related posts.

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