Sample Research Topic for Synopsis & Main Project for MAJMC: Advertising as a Tool for Social Messaging: A Study of Indian Advertisements and Social Contexts Since the 2000s

The term advertising is derived from two Latin words: ad + vertere. Its exact English translation is “to turn one’s attention to.” According to Dr. G.M. Rege (1984), advertising has its origin in the 15th century, as mentioned in his book Advertising Art & Ideas.

It has evolved throughout the years, starting from the 15th century to the present day. However, its messaging has changed over time. Especially in the context of India, advertisements and TV commercials now often come with social messaging, which have largely been helpful in creating awareness among the audience, besides publicising the product and reaching out to its target audience.

Advertising in India, especially through TVCs (Television Commercials), now acts as a platform for initiating social change for the betterment. Particularly over the last few years starting from 2000 AD onwards, TVCs have been vocal about raising societal issues, including gender equality, communal harmony, women’s empowerment, sanitation, public health, and more.

Be it Surf Excel’s iconic “Daag Achhe Hain” TV ad launched in 2005 or Red Label Tea’s 2014 commercial in which a Muslim lady prepares tea for her newly moved-in Hindu neighbors, the messages disseminated through these TV commercials went beyond traditional product promotion and fulfilled the broader aim of advertising—to inform, educate, inspire, and raise awareness about pressing social issues.

David Mackenzie Ogilvy (1911–1999), also known as the Father of Advertising, opined that advertising helps create a favorable image of the product or brand in the eyes of the audience, with the purpose of expanding its market base and sales. The American Marketing Association (AMA) took advertising a step further, defining it as any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of goods, services, or ideas by an identified sponsor. 

In the Indian context, most brands today not only aim at promoting their products but also at conveying social ideas that are innovative, socially relevant, and often previously overlooked or suppressed.

When Wheeler defined advertising as any form of paid or premium non-personal presentation of goods, services, and ideas aimed at persuading people to make a purchase, he essentially emphasized how the advertising message also serves to make people receptive to new ideas—many of which carry the potential for social impact. 

Advertising does not merely serve the objective of convincing people to buy the sponsor’s product; it also carries a social goal—creating awareness among people about new ideas or encouraging them to question the social malaise or evils that persist within society.

This research study will focus on ten Indian TV commercials broadcast between 2000 and 2025. The goal is to analyze how these advertisements have contributed to public awareness and discourse around subjects like health, social prejudice, gender dynamics, national unity, and behavioral change.

Background Statement

Social messaging through TV commercials in India has received a significant boost since the 2000s. According to Hacker (n.d.), “Every time a message seems to grab us, and we think, ‘I just might try it,’ we are at the nexus of choice and persuasion that is advertising.” 

Through aggressive TVC campaigns, brands have addressed nearly all aspects of social evils in India that warrant urgent attention—such as anti-smoking, girls’ education, sanitation, environmental conservation, and the promotion of government-initiated social schemes. The platform of Indian television, with its unmatched reach among various socio-economic segments, has been instrumental in disseminating such messages.

Indian TV advertisements between 2000 and 2025 have become an important tool for promoting social objectives. These efforts have been undertaken not only by government agencies (such as the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Women and Child Development) and public service broadcasters (such as Doordarshan), but also by corporate entities and non-governmental organizations.

The primary goal of social messaging through TV commercials in India since early 2000s to now has been to educate, inform, and shape public opinion on pressing issues such as female foeticide, dowry, domestic violence, drug abuse, cleanliness, road safety, and health awareness. 

The advertising environment in India has evolved from the traditional “4 P’s” (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) to include People, Process, and Physical Evidence. TV advertisements are no longer mere information providers; they serve as tools to influence behavioral change, leveraging storytelling, celebrity endorsement, emotional appeal, and culturally rooted messaging.

Successful television commercial campaigns such as Do Boond Zindagi Ki (1994) for polio eradication, Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (2015), and Tata Tea’s Jaago Re (2008) illustrate how television has served as a powerful medium for social messaging and influencing societal perception.

These campaigns typically guide audiences through a series of psychological stages—from awareness to knowledge, then to attitudinal change, and finally to action or behavior change. This study seeks to examine the effectiveness, perception, and timing of well-framed social messaging as conveyed through Indian TVCs. 

This research study intends to examine the social messaging context and content of ten Indian television advertisements broadcast between 2000 and 2025, to assess how these commercials have tackled serious social issues like health, gender equality, oneness, harmony, and raised voices against social stigmas.

Rationale and Significance

In the context of Indian society, television has a far reaching impact connecting with people all across the country irrespective of their social status, age groups, economic statuses, and the level of education. India has a huge heterogeneous audience base, and TV advertisements act as potential vehicles for spreading social messages which not just raise awareness of people about particular issues but also bring or at least strive towards bringing necessary behavioural changes in people.

Indian advertisers, including top corporate brands, have preferred beyond going with straightforward commercial messaging to using socially relevant campaigns which revolve around social themes. 

From promoting communal harmony, peace, and gender equality to advancing sanitation and road safety, TV advertisements have become the most potential tool  to spread social values and disseminate social messages.

Thus, TV advertisements in India have both—commercial influence and social change. Through a careful examination of ten Indian TVCs from 2000 to 2025, this research will determine how advertisers have incorporated socially relevant content within their campaigns. It will also try to analyse if such attempts have only created awareness or also led to some significant social change in thought process or behaviour of the people.

This research study will also contribute to the general discussion on how public and corporate communication instruments increasingly find alignment with national development objectives and civic awareness. The results can be of use to communication scholars, advertisers, policy makers, and educators interested in knowing how advertising as a means for public good and tools of social messaging in a vast country like India.

Justification of the Study

This research study is important because though extensive literature exists on advertising strategies and consumer behavior, but there is a research gap in studies that specifically focus on Indian television advertisements, conveying social messages between 2000 and 2025. 

Scholars such as Belch & Belch (2018) and Kotler & Keller (2016) have emphasized the persuasive power of advertising in shaping public opinion, but socio-cultural analysis of Indian television commercials largely remains rare.

Pollay (1986) examined advertising not as a means of selling products or ideas but also a viable platform to transmit cultural values. In India, which has been going through rapid industrialization and socio-cultural transformations since the early 2000s, TV commercials and advertisements have been instrumental in shaping public perception and bringing in necessary attitude changes (Mazzarella, 2003). Through this study, I want to explore the impact of these TV advertisements and how the messages have been received by the audience. 

Furthermore, the research study also discusses government initiatives such as Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, and Digital India, all of which aimed at promoting public welfare. As pointed out by McQuail (2010), media including advertising can serve as an agent of social change and promote values. I want to study their storytelling strategies and thematic constructions so that this research study can contribute insights to researchers and the public.

By exploring storytelling strategies, visual techniques, and thematic frameworks used in these commercials, this study will provide insight into how emotional appeal, narrative structure, and brand positioning intersect with public discourse. The theoretical base draws from Goffman’s (1974) frame analysis and Hall’s (1980) encoding/decoding model, offering a grounded approach to examining the symbolic and cultural work done by advertising.

Review of Literature (Sample 2 ROLs. You have to write at least 20 ROLs within 100 words each)

Mehta, N. (2008). Television in India: Satellites, Politics and Cultural Change. Routledge.

In this book, Mehta (2008) examines the evolution of television in India starting from the early 1990s while focusing on its broader social implications for the masses. Before the 1990s era, television broadcasting, including TVCs (TV commercials), was mostly operated by state-run channels. But in later years, as the author rightly pointed out, India started witnessing a surge in satellite channels, and thus it marked a decisive shift from government-controlled broadcasting to privately owned broadcasting. The book further analysed how television content soon transformed itself to align with Indian realities, focusing heavily on showcasing social issues in Indian contexts. Indian films, advertisements, and TV serials started raising awareness about social issues among the audience and people at large.

Mohanty, S. K., & Sahney, S. (2015). Consumers’ Message Orientation in Television Advertising and Branding: A Study on Indian Consumers. Psychological Studies, 60(3), 275–291. ResearchGate.

This research study examined Indian audience and consumers’ perception of TV Commercial messages in cultural context in this research work. Making use of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, they found that there are five factors that influence consumers perception and attitudes when they are exposed to message-oriented TV commercials: social values, individual opinions, product information, logic, and entertainment. The research study further emphasised that TV commercials depicting social realities or raising issues of social concerns resonate well with Indian audiences.

Identification of Research Trends

a) Thematic Area

Television advertising in India hasn’t just been about product promotions anymore. Since 2000 AD, there’s been a noticeable shift in TV advertising messages. Commercials started acting as a tool for social messaging and began talking about social realities and issues that need urgent attention or a change in perception. Slowly, slowly, TV advertisements started discussing values, social norms, and even taboo topics like menstruation and sanitary pads, which people usually avoided until then. Various research studies on this issue have noticed a clear shift—brands moved from doing plain sales pitches to including social messages alongside positioning their products.

In the early 2000s, most research studies from India were straightforward. Indian researchers mainly focused on consumer behaviour and advertising techniques, including music, celebrities, humour, and emotional appeal. The goal was to find what convinced the Indian viewer best to buy a particular good or service. But after 2005, researchers started paying attention to the content itself. They started questioning like, why are women always shown in kitchens? Why is fair skin shown as superior? Why do voters need to be more cautious, etc.? For instance, Suman Lal’s study (2022) scrutinised the blatant objectification of women in Indian advertisements. Though there were societal advancements, TV commercials would still depict women in regressive roles. But later on, some advertisement campaigns like Fair and Lovely positively showed women and focused more on their ambition and success in life.

Another common question during this period was whether Indian ads were merely copying Western formats or if they had a distinct flavor that suits Indian TV viewers. Various studies analysed how Indian families, festivals, or moral codes get represented in television commercials, and whether these TVCs come with positive social messaging or not. Studies by Limbu and Mukherjee (2024) emphasised that the use of regional languages, religious motifs, and familial structures in TV ads are more successful in resonating with the Indian audience emotionally and can challenge deep-rooted irrational thoughts or preconceived notions. 

By the 2010s, ‘cause marketing’ became a recognisable trend, with many popular FMCG brands began producing advertising campaigns, focusing on themes like environmental sustainability, gender parity, LGBTQ+ inclusion, and mental health awareness. Campaigns such as Ariel’s “Share the Load,” Dove’s “Real Beauty,” and Tata Tea’s “Jaago Re” were widely praised for their initiative.

Ghosh and Singh (2019) analysed Indian television commercials using Critical Discourse Analysis and found that many ads effectively use language and visuals to address current social and political issues to raise public awareness and dialogue. Furthermore, the research study by Chandak and Kayal (2021) found that when the social issue was embedded authentically within the brand narrative, viewers responded positively. 

Likewise, a research study by Dr. Anuj Narwal (2023) emphasized that public service advertisements in particular have been instrumental in raising awareness on issues such as health, women’s rights, and national development in India, highlighting the positive role of advertising in promoting social change.

Thus, the thematic evolution of Indian television advertising from 2000 to 2025 reflects a shift from pure commercialism to message-driven TV commercials. Whether driven by ethics, economics, or image, the trend signals a broader recognition among advertisers of their role in shaping not just consumer behaviour, but also public thought and cultural awareness.

b) Theoretical / Conceptual Framework

Several key theories on research about Indian TV advertising and its social messaging have been used over the years. One of the most commonly used frameworks is Stuart Hall’s Encoding/ Decoding Model. This model is useful as it shows how a TV ad’s meaning isn’t fixed and advertisers might encode a message with a certain intention. However, different viewers and audiences decode the same TV ad differently depending on their cultural background, social class, gender, or age. For example, a TV commercial showing a woman doing household chores might be accepted as normal by some audiences, but questioned by others. This model helps explain the gap between the intended message and what people actually understand.

Cultural Studies approach looks at TV ads not just as isolated texts but as parts of larger social and cultural systems. Researchers use this approach to see how TV commercials make use of traditional Indian cultural symbols with modern consumerism to drive social change. For example, festivals like Diwali or Independence Day are often used in commercials to evoke patriotism or community values, besides advocating for social harmony, peace, and secularism, in an intelligent manner.

Some research studies use Semiotics as a tool for analysis, drawing on the ideas of Roland Barthes. By examining signs, colours, gestures, camera angles, and slogans, researchers uncover the deeper social messages embedded in television commercials. For instance, the Moov “Meri Kamar (My waist pain)” TV ad conveys the unacknowledged physical and emotional burden women face while managing household chores. In contrast, the popular Imperial Blue “Men Will Be Men” TV advertisement series uses humor to portray men as impulsive and flirtatious. These examples show how TVCs communicate cultural attitudes without stating them outright.

Furthermore, Audience Reception Theory also plays a role in some research studies, focusing on how different social groups perceive TV ads. It considers the active role of viewers in interpreting, resisting, or re-appropriating messages. Some studies also used Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) method to highlight how power relations and ideologies are embedded in advertising language and imagery, even though the advertisement content focuses on social empowerment or raising awareness of the audience about an issues of concern. CDA helps uncover how ads contribute to maintaining social hierarchies related to caste, class, gender, or religion by reinforcing dominant narratives.

Finally, some research incorporates Media Effects Theory, though cautiously, to explore whether ads influence public attitudes or behaviours. While it’s challenging to prove direct cause and effect, researchers try to measure shifts in awareness or conversations around issues like health or gender equality following major campaigns. For example, Lifebuoy’s handwashing campaign during health outbreaks used storytelling and repetition to drive behavioural change around hygiene. Another notable example is the Whisper “Touch the Pickle” campaign, which broke taboos around menstruation by urging young women to openly talk about this natural biological aspect of womanhood as they reach puberty.

c) Research Methodologies

Content analysis remains the most widely used research method in this field. Researchers collect a broad range of TV advertisements, mostly from television archives, YouTube channels, or brand campaign repositories, and then classify these ads into thematic categories. These categories might include gender representation, caste and class portrayal, regional diversity, or environmental messaging. 

Surveys are another common tool, often designed to gauge audience reactions and perceptions regarding specific advertisements or campaigns. These surveys sometimes focus on particular demographic groups to understand how factors like age, gender, socioeconomic status, or urban-rural location influence interpretation and acceptance of social messages embedded in ads.

Focus groups and in-depth interviews provide qualitative insights by allowing researchers to explore the meanings viewers attach to ads in their own words. These methods reveal how different social groups negotiate or resist the messaging. For instance, some studies have shown that rural women interpret gender role portrayals differently from urban women, or that young audiences may be more skeptical of cause marketing campaigns compared to older viewers.

An emerging approach combines content analysis with audience research. First, researchers analyze the ad content itself—identifying the themes and symbols. Then, they conduct audience studies to find out whether viewers receive the intended message or if interpretations vary widely. This dual method is especially useful in studying the actual influence of ads on public conversations and behaviours, as it recognizes the gap between media production and audience reception.

There is also a growing emphasis on placing advertisements within wider social, political, or economic contexts. For example, analyzing a Lifebuoy handwashing campaign alongside national public health initiatives during disease outbreaks offers insight into how advertising contributes to government messaging efforts. Similarly, studies on menstrual hygiene ads often discuss them against the backdrop of ongoing public debates about menstrual taboos and women’s health rights in India. This contextualization helps move beyond surface-level content analysis to understanding ads as part of larger societal processes.

d) Research Findings

Research findings on Indian television advertising and social messaging shows a variety of perspectives—sometimes even conflicting ones. Many scholars opined that socially aware ads do have a positive impact on audiences. They may not completely change attitudes overnight, but often creates small, slow shifts in how people are thinking about things like gender equality, health or environmental stuff. These ads often sparks conversations among the public and slowly shift the trend from just promotional ads to cause-driven campaigns where the audience is not just passive but also feel like doing something on the message shown.

For example, Tropicana’s 2017 ‘Gift a Tree’ campaign pledged to plant a tree for every festival gift pack sold, aiming to raise awareness about environmental conservation and promote consumer participation in afforestation efforts. The campaign included a digital film titled The Man Who Planted a Forest, which portrayed the story of Jadav Payeng, famously known as the ‘Forest Man of India,’ who single-handedly transformed a barren land into a 1,360-acre forest in Assam. In addition to this, Tropicana collaborated with the Smile Foundation and celebrity chef Vikas Khanna to organize a tree plantation drive in New Delhi, involving over 250 children. While this campaign is not a formal research finding, it shows how brands can integrate commercial objectives with social and environmental messaging for a meaningful cause. 

Some critics argue that many such campaigns are primarily marketing tactics aimed at enhancing brand image rather than driving substantive social change. This phenomenon, often referred to as ‘purpose washing’ describes brands that publicly champion social causes without meaningful commitment or action behind their messages. According to Kotler and Sarkar (2017), purpose washing undermines consumer trust as companies “claim to address social issues superficially while prioritizing profits over genuine social responsibility.” Similarly, Banerjee (2021) notes that cause-related marketing often “risks being reduced to a branding exercise that lacks follow-through and measurable outcomes.” This skepticism highlights the ongoing challenge in evaluating the real-world effects of socially conscious advertising.

Still, one point most agree on is that ads today are not just about selling products. A lot of them carry layered messages which reflect or shapes cultural values, norms, and sometimes even political opinions. Like whether it’s about men doing housework or women and periods, TV ads are also getting involved in bigger social discussions.

So yeah, if we look at the research of the last 20 years, it’s pretty clear that focus is shifting. People now study ads not just for what they sell but what kind of social stuff they’re saying about India—like identity, values, even rights. Nobody is saying ads totally change behaviour always, but many do agree that ads are now trying to do more than just sell something. They’re actually part of our cultural conversation now.

Research Statement

Advertising has long been understood as more than just a tool for product promotion; it serves as a cultural text that both reflects and influences societal values and behaviors (Jhally, 1990; McQuail, 2010). In the context of India, television commercials from 2000 to 2025 have increasingly incorporated social messaging, addressing issues such as gender roles, environmental awareness, health, and social inclusion (Chandak & Kayal, 2021; Ghosh & Singh, 2019). These campaigns do not merely promote brands but engage with public discourse, shaping perceptions and sometimes challenging traditional norms (Banerjee, 2003). However, the effectiveness of these ads in creating tangible social change remains debated. The reception of social messages is mediated by diverse audience factors including socio-economic background, gender, and geography, highlighting the active role of viewers in interpreting and negotiating meaning (Hall, 1980; Limbu & Mukherjee, 2024). This study aims to analyze ten impactful Indian TV commercials over 25 years to explore how advertising has operated as a vehicle for social messaging, examining both content and audience response in relation to evolving social contexts.

Research Gap

While considerable research exists on advertising’s role in shaping consumer culture and social values globally (Jhally, 1990; McQuail, 2010), and some studies have focused on Indian advertising (Banerjee, 2003; Ghosh & Singh, 2019), there remains a lack of comprehensive, longitudinal analysis covering a broad time frame such as 2000 to 2025. Most existing studies either focus on short periods or narrow thematic areas, without connecting shifts in advertising content to wider socio-political changes in India. Additionally, the growing importance of digital media in transforming audience engagement with TV commercials has not been sufficiently integrated into earlier research frameworks (Chandak & Kayal, 2021). Furthermore, discussions about ‘purpose washing’ and the authenticity of cause-related marketing in Indian advertising are relatively recent and underexplored (Korschun et al., 2014). This study addresses these gaps by combining content analysis of selected commercials with audience interpretation theory, contextualized within India’s socio-cultural and media evolution, to better understand how advertising functions as a tool for social messaging and its potential impacts.

Research Problem

Indian television advertising has evolved significantly over the past two decades, increasingly embedding social messages alongside traditional product promotion. Despite this shift, there remains limited understanding of how these commercials function as tools for social messaging, how they reflect and influence societal attitudes, and the extent to which they achieve meaningful social impact. Additionally, the complexity of audience interpretation, the rise of digital media, and concerns about the authenticity of cause-related advertising (‘purpose washing’) complicate the assessment of these campaigns’ real effects. This research seeks to address these issues through a detailed examination of ten influential Indian TV commercials from 2000 to 2025.

Aim

• To analyze how Indian TV commercials from 2000 to 2025 incorporate social messaging alongside brand promotion.

Objectives

• To identify recurring social themes such as gender equality, health awareness, environmental protection, and inclusion in selected commercials.
• To examine how these social messages are woven into the narrative and advertising techniques.

Aim

• To understand audience perception and interpretation of social messages in Indian TV commercials.

Objectives

• To explore how factors like age, gender, socio-economic status, and location influence audience reception.
• To assess the influence of digital media platforms on audience engagement and discussions around these advertisements.

Aim

• To evaluate the authenticity and impact of social messaging in Indian TV advertising on public awareness and behavior.

Objectives

• To investigate critical views on ‘purpose washing’ and sincerity of social cause campaigns in the selected commercials.
• To examine any observable effects of these campaigns on public conversations or attitudes toward social issues.

Research Methodology

In line with the research aims and objectives of this study, I intend to explore the role of advertising as a tool for social messaging in Indian TV commercials from 2000 to 2025. The study will focus on a case analysis of ten carefully selected commercials known for their impact and relevance to social themes such as gender equality, health awareness, environmental protection, and social inclusion.

The selection of these commercials will be based on their popularity, critical acclaim, and visibility in public discourse, accessed through online platforms such as YouTube, official brand websites, and advertising archives. These commercials will be analyzed qualitatively to identify recurring social messages, narrative techniques, and the way social issues are integrated with brand promotion.

To understand audience reception and interpretation of the social messages, an online survey will be conducted targeting diverse demographic groups across India. The survey will gather data on perceptions of the social messaging embedded in the commercials, considering variables such as age, gender, socio-economic background, and geographic location.

Data Collection and Sampling:

• The commercials will be selected through purposive sampling, focusing on advertisements that have demonstrated significant social impact or visibility over the last 25 years.

• The online survey will use convenience sampling, aiming to collect responses from at least 100 participants representing various demographic backgrounds to provide a broad view of audience reception.

Data Analysis:

• A qualitative content analysis will be conducted on the selected commercials, focusing on visual and verbal elements, symbolism, and the overall communication strategy of social messages within the ads.

• Survey data will be analyzed quantitatively using basic statistical methods, such as frequency distribution and percentages, to evaluate audience awareness, attitudes, and interpretation of the social messages.

Ethical Considerations:

• Participation in the survey will be voluntary and anonymous, with clear communication to respondents about the purpose of the research and assurance that their responses will be kept confidential and used solely for academic purposes.

Limitations:

• Given the constraints of conducting fieldwork, this study relies primarily on online data sources and self-reported audience feedback, which may limit the depth of insight into audience behavior and broader societal impact.

• Convenience sampling in the survey may not fully capture the diversity of the Indian population but will offer a practical snapshot of audience perceptions relevant to the study.

In Conclusion

This research aims to examine how selected Indian television commercials have functioned not just as promotional tools, but as carriers of social messages between 2000 and 2025. By focusing on ten specific advertisements, the study will explore how visual storytelling, brand positioning, and emotional appeal have been used to engage with issues such as gender equality, public health, nationalism, and environmental responsibility. The case study approach allows for a close reading of each advertisement within its cultural and temporal context, while also addressing shifts in audience perception, media ethics, and advertiser intent. The findings from this project are expected to contribute to discussions around media influence, the blurred line between commercial and social agendas, and the evolving expectations placed on mass media content in India.

Disclaimer:

This research synopsis is shared strictly for informational and entertainment purposes. Neither the writer nor the publisher shall be held responsible for any academic rejection, financial expense, or other loss arising from the use of this sample for academic, institutional, or professional purposes.

We strongly discourage copying, plagiarism, or any unethical use of this content. Submitting it as your own work, in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited. Don’t do it.