Green thinking but thoughtless buying? An empirical extension of the value-attitude-behaviour hierarchy in sustainable clothing

By Kathleen Jacobs, L. Petersen, Jacob Hörisch, Dirk Battenfeld. Journal of Cleaner Production, 2018

297 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract The clothing industry holds huge potential for improvement concerning various aspects of sustainability. Although consumer attitudes towards sustainable products and services, both in general and specifically in clothing, have grown more and more favourable in the past years, the market share of clothing produced in environmentally friendly and socially responsible ways is still lagging behind. This article empirically investigates this phenomenon, known as the attitude-behaviour gap, in the context of sustainable clothing. Based on a large sample of female German consumers, a structural equation model is estimated to assess the magnitude of the attitude-behaviour gap and the impact of possible enablers of, and barriers to, sustainable clothing purchase behaviour. The value-attitude-behaviour hierarchy is used as a theoretical framework, augmented by further psychographic constructs hypothesised to influence behaviour. Apart from a considerable attitude-behaviour gap, the article indicates that a positive attitude towards social-ecological clothing standards, biospheric and altruistic values, as well as an affinity to online and catalogue shopping, enhance sustainable clothing purchases. Egoistic and hedonic values and, remarkably, a preference for durable clothing hinder sustainable clothing purchase behaviour. No significant effects of the suspected barriers – fashion consciousness and price sensitivity – have been identified. The results thus highlight the importance of changing attitudes and values towards sustainability, and of focusing on the durability of sustainable clothing and its availability via retail stores.

Subfields: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law, Marketing, Strategy and Management

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/b49830a6b4ca6af974753e3252c40ac1041fcc9c

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

1. Amandeep Dhir
2. Shalini Talwar

In Marketing

1. Amandeep Dhir
2. Shalini Talwar
3. Puneet Kaur
4. Mototaka Sakashita
5. Mohd. Sadiq

In Strategy and Management

1. Amandeep Dhir
2. Mohd. Sadiq
3. Puneet Kaur
4. Mototaka Sakashita
5. Shalini Talwar

Citations in the corpus

• Green apparel buying behaviour: A Stimulus–Organism–Behaviour–Consequence (SOBC) perspective on sustainability‐oriented consumption in Japan (2021, background): “The past decade has witnessed an increase in the discussions related to sustainability issues in the clothing and apparel industry (Jacobs et al., 2018).”