Purpose
– The role of personal values in consumer behavior is well documented; however, in the context of fashion consumption, the role of personal values’ influence on consumers’ ethical behavior has not been studied. Consequently, the purpose of this paper is to seek to explore whether consumers’ personal values predict consumers’ behavioral intentions to engage in ethical fashion consumption.
Design/methodology/approach
– The present study employed the Fritzsche model, which states that an individual's personal values are related to his/her intentions to engage in ethical behavior. The present study examined the causal relationship between the personal values and behavioral intentions to engage in ethical fashion consumption. Data collected from the US national sample were subjected to structural equation modeling.
Findings
– The proposed model explained 42 percent of variance in consumer's behavioral intentions toward ethical fashion consumption. Furthermore, a significant negative relationship between self-enhancement personal values and behavioral intention toward ethical fashion consumption was found. Several theoretical and practical implications related to the present study were discussed.
Originality/value
– To the authors’ knowledge, the study is first of its kind in several aspects: first, ethical fashion consumption has been conceptualized in the broadest definition possible, as oppose to focussing on a particular facet of fashion consumption (e.g. organic products or counterfeit fashion); second, linking consumer personal values as a predictor of his/her ethical fashion consumption behavioral intentions; and third, employing the Fritzsche model in fashion behavior context.
Changes in demographics and availability of global clothing brands have brought several changes in Indian apparel industry. Green or organic clothing brands are becoming popular among Indians and likely to contribute to the revenues of apparel sector. Global and national apparel manufacturers have introduced organic clothing lines to cater to ecological conscious consumers. The purpose of this research was to examine the effect of consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence (CSII), past green behaviour, green peer influence and green apparel knowledge on Indian youth's green apparel buying behaviour. A mix of convenience and random sampling was used for data collection. The sample (n 5 981) comprised of youth of age group 18-24 years. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypothesized relationships. Findings suggest that past green behaviour influenced green apparel buying behaviour. Green peer influence and green apparel knowledge had no impact on green apparel buying behaviour. Moreover, CSII had no influence on green apparel buying behaviour. The findings differ from earlier studies that suggest influence of social norms and peer group had an effect on green buying behaviour. Practical implications of the present study are discussed.
K E Y W O R D SCSII, green apparel knowledge, green peer influence, green apparel buying, Indian youth, past green behaviour
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