Sustainable fashion consumption : theory of planned behavior and the influence of self-identity, perceived consumer effectiveness and fashion consciousness
Lambert, Etienne (2019)
Pro gradu -tutkielma
2019
School of Business and Management, Kauppatieteet
Kaikki oikeudet pidätetään.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2019103136001
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2019103136001
Tiivistelmä
Consuming fashion has a strong environmental and social impact. Despite the size of the fashion industry, consumer’s choices have a great influence on the practices of the industry. In a fast-changing environment, different factors influence the consumer. Therefore, new researches are needed to explore the changing relationships between individuals and fashion consumption. To improve the impact of the industry, consumers need to change their consumption pattern and favor sustainable consumption. Eco-fashion greatly improves the impact of clothing production and new ways of consuming fashion allow longer clothing utilization and generate less waste. The interest of industry players and consumers for a better fashion consumption is growing. In this context, this study will investigate the different factors influencing eco-fashion purchase intention and better fashion consumption (BFC) models’ adoption.
The research was conducted on the French market among 404 individuals. The data collected comes mainly from young Millennials and a self-administrated online survey was used to collect data. To fulfill the goals of this study, 20 different hypotheses were tested. And two parallel analyses were conducted. In the first one, an extended version of the theory of planned behavior was used to model eco-fashion purchase intention. Perceived consumer effectiveness (PCE), environmentally and socially conscious (ESC) self-identity and fashion consciousness were added to the original constructs of the theory of planned behavior model. In the second one, a new model was developed using ESC self-identity, eco-fashion purchase intention and fashion consciousness to predict attitude toward BFC models.
Findings indicated that attitude was the strongest predictor of eco-fashion purchase intention. The other constructs of the TPB, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control, appeared relevant as well. ESC self-identity, PCE and fashion consciousness proved to be successful additions to the original TPB. All three had significant impacts on eco-fashion purchase intention and improved the predictive validity of the model. Regarding consumer attitude toward BFC models, the intention to purchase eco-fashion and ESC self-identity had a positive effect on consumer affective response, while fashion consciousness had a negative one.
This study successfully tested a new model to predict eco-fashion consumption. In addition, another model was built to lay the foundation for future research on consumer behavior toward BFC models. The present thesis contributed to the understanding of the interrelationships between the different constructs used in the analyses and provided useful insights for researchers and marketers to support a shift toward a more sustainable fashion industry.
The research was conducted on the French market among 404 individuals. The data collected comes mainly from young Millennials and a self-administrated online survey was used to collect data. To fulfill the goals of this study, 20 different hypotheses were tested. And two parallel analyses were conducted. In the first one, an extended version of the theory of planned behavior was used to model eco-fashion purchase intention. Perceived consumer effectiveness (PCE), environmentally and socially conscious (ESC) self-identity and fashion consciousness were added to the original constructs of the theory of planned behavior model. In the second one, a new model was developed using ESC self-identity, eco-fashion purchase intention and fashion consciousness to predict attitude toward BFC models.
Findings indicated that attitude was the strongest predictor of eco-fashion purchase intention. The other constructs of the TPB, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control, appeared relevant as well. ESC self-identity, PCE and fashion consciousness proved to be successful additions to the original TPB. All three had significant impacts on eco-fashion purchase intention and improved the predictive validity of the model. Regarding consumer attitude toward BFC models, the intention to purchase eco-fashion and ESC self-identity had a positive effect on consumer affective response, while fashion consciousness had a negative one.
This study successfully tested a new model to predict eco-fashion consumption. In addition, another model was built to lay the foundation for future research on consumer behavior toward BFC models. The present thesis contributed to the understanding of the interrelationships between the different constructs used in the analyses and provided useful insights for researchers and marketers to support a shift toward a more sustainable fashion industry.