The Effects of Environmental Attitudes on Apparel Purchasing Behavior

Abstract

Although consumers' environmental concern has increased, little empirical research regarding environmental attitudes and clothing purchasing behavior has been reported. This study builds on the limited amount of research by employing a theoretical framework that focuses on endogenous and exogenous conditions that affect attitudes and behavior. The final sample of 402 women resulted from a national random sample of 1000. A survey measuring general environmental and clothing environmental attitudes, and environmental consideration when making clothing purchases was developed. Factor analysis reduced the attitude items to three general environmental factors and two clothing environmental factors. Path analysis was employed to examine the relationships among variables. Results revealed that demographic characteristics influenced general environmental attitudes which in turn influenced clothing environmental attitudes which ultimately impacts clothing purchasing behavior. Results further explicated the existing theoretical framework and provided support for a sequential approach.

Exploring consumers' perceptions of eco‐conscious apparel acquisition behaviors

“…From the limited existing research, conclusions are that when acquiring apparel, most consumers only minimally participate in eco-conscious apparel consumption. For instance, Butler and Francis (1997) and Kim and Damhorst (1998) determined that although consumers may hold proenvironmental attitudes, it is rare for consumers to engage in apparel consumption behaviors in an ecoconscious manner. Butler and Francis concluded that the existing discrepancy between attitudes and purchasing behaviors may be due to apparel consumers making purchasing decisions based on factors (such as price, style, and fit) that outweigh environmental attitudes.…”

Individual values and motivational complexities in ethical clothing consumption: A means-end approach

“…Issues around understanding ethical clothing consumption have been attributed to the complex pursuit of multiple personal values that underlie consumers' choice criteria in clothing consumption (Butler & Francis 1997;Kim & Damhorst 1998) but these values themselves are not well understood (Niinimäki 2010). …”

Mapping sustainable textile initiatives

“…In general, such studies have identified a "knowledge-to-action" gap (Markkula and Moisander, 2012). It has been shown that neither environmental attitudes nor knowledge directly translate to sustainable clothing acquisition behavior (Brosdahl and Carpenter, 2010;Butler and Francis, 1997;Gam, 2011;Kim and Damhorst, 1998). The discrepancies between attitudes and behavior are mainly explained by the fact that shopping for clothes can be a complicated process where several criteria must be taken into account simultaneously, including price, fit, style, color, cultural, and social aspects, in addition to sustainability.…”