An examination of the intended-behaviour gap towards ethical fashion in South African millennials

Abstract

The overconsumption of goods and services caused by increasing population and economic growth is threatening environmental stability around the globe. The fashion industry with its unsustainable and unethical practices has been identified as one of the major drivers of overconsumption, which has led to the deterioration of the environment and exploitation of workers. Consequently, concern and the intentions to avoid unethical consumption of apparel are on the rise, thereby causing retailers/brands to start producing ethical apparel in an effort to gain a strong market share of this new trend. Ethical apparel encompasses the sustainability dimensions of clothing production, which seeks to reduce environmental impact by using biodegradable or organic fibres, while prioritising workers' welfare through the avoidance of sweatshops and ensuring fair working conditions (Ethical Fashion Forum, 2016; Lundblad & Davies, 2016). Although expressing an intention to purchase ethical fashion, consumers are not following through with those purchases, indicating the presence of an intention-behavior gap. As ethical purchasing intentions among South African millennial consumers are on the rise, there has been insufficient research conducted on the factors influencing their decision to buy ethical clothing. Hence, the purpose of this study is to explore millennial consumers’ intended behaviour regarding ethical fashion. The study utilised the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) as the primary framework to forecast consumer intentions regarding purchases. To the traditional TPB variables (attitude, subjective norms and perceived behaviour control), perceived consumer effectiveness, environmental knowledge, environmental concern, and situational context were added to improve the models’ predictive ability. A digital survey was circulated among South African millennials, resulting in a total of 302 responses that were collected and utilised for statistical analysis. The statistical analysis of the gathered data encompassed descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, and structural equation modelling. In summary, the overall findings indicate that attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control are significant predictors of purchase intention, as per the original framework. However, the additional variables yielded mixed results, with some variables such as perceived consumer effectiveness (PCE) proving to be good predictors of purchase intention. Environmental concern, which compared its relationship with all three TPB model variables and PCE, turns out to only influence PCE and not the three original TPB model variables. Environmental knowledge has also indicated a positive and significant influence on attitude meaning it is a significant predictor of intention, while situational context did not have influence on consumer intended behaviour, implying that it is not a good predictor of behavioural intention. As the knowledge and research on ethical fashion, particularly in South Africa, remains scarce, the current study enriches knowledge on ethical fashion and draws new insights on millennial consumers’ intended purchase behaviour towards ethical fashion, as this cohort exhibits strong purchasing power, as well as a care for ethical consumerism.