Taking sustainable fashion mainstream: Social media and the institutional celebrity entrepreneur

Abstract

There is a growing imperative to address the negative environmental impact of fashion and an increased awareness of sustainability issues: the sustainable fashion concept (SFC). However, while consumers are becoming more aware and concerned about sustainability, this is not resulting in the purchase of sustainable fashion products in preference to “mainstream” goods. This so‐called attitude–behaviour gap is well documented in academic literature, and yet there is a lack of research into potential methods of disrupting this phenomenon. This study seeks to redress this by examining the potential influence of celebrity institutional entrepreneurs (CIEs) to raise awareness of the SFC and to therefore guide and change consumer behaviour towards more sustainable practice. CIEs are celebrities who use their social position to espouse their values with the intention of influencing institutional habits and behaviours. In this case, Emma Watson is identified as an appropriate and credible proponent, and her @the_press_tour Instagram account was used to examine her influence. A netnographic investigation of this account was conducted in combination with eight in‐depth interviews with account followers to examine attitudes and actions towards sustainable fashion. Findings showed that the account had partial impact on consumer engagement with the SFC in that it led to the participants being more likely to discuss and consider the issues around sustainable fashion; however, it had no significant impact on purchases of sustainable fashion. The study concludes that CIEs can impact the attitudes of mainstream consumers towards sustainable fashion; however, further research is required to determine any long‐term influence.

The impact of fast fashion retailers' sustainable collections on corporate legitimacy: Examining the mediating role of altruistic attributions

“…The concept of sustainable fashion is not uniquely defined, since there are not strict industry standards yet (Henninger et al, 2016(Henninger et al, , 2017. Sustainable fashion is a part of the fashion industry which applies higher standards of labor rights, environment damage control and resource management, including anti-cruelty animal policies, ecofriendly materials, anti-exploitation of worker norms, and environmentally sustainable supply chain management practices (Lundblad & Davies, 2016;McKeown & Shearer, 2019). This business model is based in the triple bottom line concept (People, Planet, and Profit): maximizing positive impacts and minimizing negative impacts to the stakeholders in the social, environmental, and economic dimensions (Elkington, 1997).…”

Luxury Products and Sustainability Issues from the Perspective of Young Italian Consumers

“…Increased interest in the slow fashion concept has been related to an increased awareness of sustainability issues and concern about the negative environmental and human impact of the fashion industry [27]. It is associated with fair working conditions, sustainable business models, organic and environmentally friendly materials, certifications, and traceability (Henninger et al, 2016, in [27]). There have been evident changes in consumer behaviors regarding Slow Fashion: consumers have better awareness and think twice before they buy [25].…”

“…According to Cavender [28] (p. 30), "the emergence of sustainable fashion movements (e.g., slow fashion, conscious consumption) indicates that society as a whole is beginning to question the consumption-oriented dominant social paradigm, signaling an impending shift toward more sustainable consumption and increased commitment to sustainability initiatives by corporations". However, despite growing consumer awareness and concern about the slow fashion concept, there has not been an evident correlation to their sustainable behaviours in consumption (Kong et al, 2016, in [27]). Similarly, Goworek et al (2012, in [16]) pointed out that the sustainable behaviour of consumers depends significantly more on their habits than on their knowledge of sustainable business practices.…”

Face-to-Face Communication as A Tool to Support Second-Hand Fashion Sales: A Field Experiment at Fashion Week in Berlin

“…Alternatives to own events vary from less expensive tradeshows to roadshows and allow specific regional clustering of customers. Digital solutions such as celebrities on social networks [23] or sustainable fashion bloggers [43] could offer similar benefits at lower expenses. Practitioners as well as scholars are advised to keep an eye on technological development in order to test how digital opportunities can (a) leverage participation in combination with f2f operations and (b) become a viable alternative to f2f communication overall due to ameliorated capacities in knowledge transfer, especially with respect to sustainability-related product characteristics.…”

“…Finally, the relevance of f2f communication in fashion comes down to the consumer. Prior research indicates that sustainable fashion consumption is hampered by an attitude-behavior gap [22], which may partly be attributed to a gap in knowledge of sustainability pertaining to fashion [23]. Lundblad and Davies [1] report that sustainable fashion consumers intend to be perceived as not following the herd and appearing as individuals in their consumption choices.…”