Consumers’ Knowledge and Intentions towards Sustainability: A Spanish Fashion Perspective

Abstract

The Centre for Sustainable Fashion and the Global Fashion Conference are delighted that you are joining us at 'What's Going On? A Discourse on Fashion, Design and Sustainability.' Through two days of listening, discussing, watching and debating, we aim to explore the dynamics, challenges and propositions of fashion and sustainability through a design lens. The diversity of our assembled perspectives promises an exciting exploration, through the guiding themes of Power, Nature, Culture and Society. When Centre for Sustainable Fashion set out in 2008, we convened fashion system actors together to co-sense what was happening and what needed to be done. A gap in fashion and sustainability research, education and industry practice became clear. In 2018, as we mark ten years of Centre for Sustainable Fashion, we join forces with the GFC project-also centered in sustainability and commemorating its ten years of existence-and we are very honoured to have your voices with us in London to recognise distinctive new knowledge and practice, challenge contemporary cultures and practices, and to propose how fashion can help us design, to live better, together, in harmony with nature.

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

“…Sustainable collections are unique in that companies employ higher benchmarks of labor rights, environment damage control, and resource management, while increasing their profits and enhancing their publicity (Hill & Lee, 2015; Kim & Oh, 2020). Given the challenges fast fashion brands have experienced, research about the interrelationship between sustainable practices, altruistic attributions, and the resultant positive outcomes in the context of fast fashion industry provides a valuable opportunity to help this industry to improve their marketing and communication strategies (Blazquez et al, 2020).…”

“…Consumers look for ethical brands, which are aligned with their social values (Blazquez et al, 2020; Henninger et al, 2017; Lundblad & Davies, 2016; McNeill & Moore, 2015). When fast fashion retailers introduce sustainable collections, consumers identify shared values with the brand and create a strong bond with them (Deephouse et al, 2017).…”

“…A mix of psychological, functional, and emotional perceived benefits push consumers to buy sustainable fashion products such as biospheric values (higher prices for more durable and longer‐lasting garments, health related to the use of natural material, respect for the environment); altruistic values (social justice); egoistic values (self‐esteem and self‐expression linked to the brand's value) (Blazquez et al, 2020; Edinger‐Schons, Sipilä, Sen, Mende, & Wieseke, 2018; Lundblad & Davies, 2016; Stern, Dietz, & Kalof, 1993). Sustainably produced garments and sustainable collections could represent an ethical purchasing option and, at the same time, a fashionable source to construct a positive identity through consumption for conscious consumers, representing a conundrum between affordable and fashionable clothing and an altruistic interest for environmental sustainability (McNeill & Moore, 2015).…”

“…We focus on a very relevant and emblematic industry such as the fast fashion sector that has faced a dramatic change in their practices in the last decade (Henninger, Alevizou, Goworek, & Ryding, 2017). The fast fashion industry deserves more research in order to clarify how sustainable and ethical efforts may improve consumers' brand perception, purchase intention (Blazquez, Henninger, Alexander, & Franquesa, 2020; Kim & Oh, 2020), and legitimacy.…”

“…Nevertheless, in the global clothing business, consumers are not interested in ethical purchasing if this means inconvenience, higher prices or discomfort (Niinimäki, 2010). Although ethical fashion consumers are willing to make the right thing and choosing the more responsible and sustainable brands, sometimes they may be less committed and loyal than the food consumers, since they do not perceive a direct negative effect of the unsustainable clothing brands in their own health (De Angelis, Amatulli, & Pinato, 2020).A mix of psychological, functional, and emotional perceived benefits push consumers to buy sustainable fashion products such as biospheric values (higher prices for more durable and longer-lasting garments, health related to the use of natural material, respect for the environment); altruistic values (social justice); egoistic values (self-esteem and self-expression linked to the brand's value)(Blazquez et al, 2020;Edinger-Schons, Sipilä, Sen, Mende, & Wieseke, 2018;Lundblad & Davies, 2016;Stern, Dietz, & Kalof, 1993). Sustainably produced garments and sustainable collections could represent an ethical purchasing option and, at the same time, a fashionable source to construct a positive identity through consumption for conscious consumers, representing a conundrum between affordable and fashionable clothing and an altruistic interest for environmental sustainability(McNeill & Moore, 2015).…”