An empirical test of the triple bottom line of customer-centric sustainability: the case of fast fashion

Abstract

An increasing number of studies in the fashion apparel sector has pursued multiple topics ranging from the use of environmentally friendly fashion products to the corporate social responsibility (CSR), reflecting an "emerging megatrend" (Lubin and Esty 2010, p. 44) in the current business environment. However, the existing research on sustainability in the fashion apparel industry is still limited in two major respects. First, there is no clear consensus on what it means to be "sustainable" for fashion companies or brands and how sustainability, as it is perceived by consumers, can be measured. Concepts with no clear definitions can indeed result in a methodological issue because what is understood by study participants may be different from what is intended to be measured by a researcher. Second, there is a lack of understanding regarding a discrepancy between consumers' perception toward a brand's sustainability and their behavior toward the same brand. This discrepancy can be demonstrated by the fact that fast fashion (or "disposable" fashion)-encouraging over-consumption and disposability-continues to gain profits and popularity over the last decade (Joy et al. 2012).

Exploring the Influence of Sustainability Knowledge and Orientation to Slow Consumption on Fashion Leaders’ Drivers of Fast Fashion Avoidance

“…They engage in pro-environmental behaviors such as recycling, using public transportation, and consuming organic food but seem to disassociate sustainability from their fashion purchase and disposal habits [6,13,20]. Because being fashionable is an important facet of fashion leaders' identity construction, their desire to acquire new fashions is often in direct opposition with their desire to limit consumption [19,30,34]. In terms of FF apparel, poor quality and short product life-spans are often justified by affordability and fashion-forwardness [23].…”

“…It is clear in the literature on highly involved fashion consumers that there is a general lack of awareness "about the impact of unsustainable production and consumption created by fast fashion products" [34]. This can be explained by several factors.…”

“…The FF industry has taken what researchers describe as a reactive approach to sustainability [5,34]. FF companies have invested in and widely publicized their sustainability commitments in order to satisfy the concerns of environmentally-conscious consumers while fostering overconsumption and making no effort to alter their business models.…”

“…Therefore, consumers are not prompted to consider "that purchasing is always a moral-and not simply economic-act…[and that] the consumer has a specific social responsibility, which goes hand-in-hand with the social responsibility of the enterprise [25]. In addition, FF brands' sustainable marketing strategies have somewhat overshadowed the proactive approach of sustainable fashion brands that aim to lead the whole industry toward more sustainable manufacturing, purchasing, use, and disposal of apparel and textiles [15,20,34]. Moreover, the sustainable fashion sector is growing but it is "still a niche market rather than a mass-market reality," which limits the reach of its platform to promote awareness of sustainability issues [7].…”

“…The apparel sector is a global industry, which makes standardization even more of an obstacle and allows companies to tailor their sustainability initiatives to suit their own business strategies. The third factor is that in the absence of clear corporate communication on these issues, "the highly fragmented and complex nature of the apparel supply chain makes it extremely difficult for average consumers to understand the cause and effect of fast fashion brands' businesses" [34]. It is clear that increased consumer awareness about unsustainable FF driving unsustainable consumption is needed as knowledge is an antecedent to behavioral intention.…”