Ethical consumer behaviour in Germany: The attitude‐behaviour gap in the green apparel industry

Abstract

In today's society, the trend of ethical consumerism is undeniable. Yet, even though consumers are ethically concerned, they rarely transform their intentions into a green purchasing behaviour—and this phenomenon is also evident in the sustainable fashion industry. This study aims to understand the prevailing attitude‐behaviour gap and explores the barriers that constrain consumers in purchasing green apparel. A total of 13 in‐depth interviews were conducted and analysed to the principles of grounded theory. The analysis reveals that the following barriers impede consumption of sustainable fashion: price, availability, knowledge, transparency, image, inertia and consumption habits. The impact of each dimension on consumers' purchase decisions might be of interest to apparel manufacturers and retailers who should implement strategies to encourage eco‐conscious apparel acquisition and focus on diminishing these barriers. Accordingly, three major recommendations are made: (a) to concentrate on specific product attributes; (b) to adopt an efficient digital communication strategy; and (c) to make a greater effort on making green apparel attainable. This study contributes to the overall understanding of consumer behaviour in the ethical fashion industry and examines in‐depth the purchasing criteria for sustainable fashion for consumers.

Influencing Factors of Chinese Consumers’ Purchase Intention to Sustainable Apparel Products: Exploring Consumer “Attitude–Behavioral Intention” Gap

“…Hence, they do not even consider sustainable alternatives in their purchase decision. This result reflects the previous study [67] (Wiederhold and Martinez, 2018) and we verified that the sustainable apparel was not attractive to consumers, suggesting that style and trendy design dominated over sustainable consumption. On the other hand, conspicuous consumption values revealed to be the barrier to sustainable apparel consumption.…”

The extended theory of planned behavior in Turkish customers' intentions to visit green hotels

“…In literature, one of the important areas of interests of the TPB was suggested as leisure behaviors that consist of tourism activities (Ajzen & Driver, ), and there have been many studies showing that the TPB supported intentions to use green products (Hsu, Chang, & Yansritakul, ; Yadav & Pathak, ; Yadav & Pathak, ). Over the last decade, the original TPB constructs were used for understanding customers' green purchase intentions (Albayrak, Aksoy, & Caber, ; Arli, Tan, Tjiptono, & Yang, ; Vermeir & Verbeke, ; Wiederhold & Martinez, ). In literature, the TPB was represented as a reliable model for predicting intentions to green products (Kalafatis et al, ).…”

“…Over the last decade, the original TPB constructs were used for understanding customers' green purchase intentions (Albayrak, Aksoy, & Caber, 2013;Arli, Tan, Tjiptono, & Yang, 2018;Vermeir & Verbeke, 2006;Wiederhold & Martinez, 2018). In literature, the TPB was represented as a reliable model for predicting intentions to green products (Kalafatis et al, 1999).…”

Modelling the predictors of young consumers' sustainable consumption intention

“…It may be said that although some evidence exists that PBC has a positive impact on green purchase intention, more empirical research is needed owing to inadequate research in the field. Further, previous studies (e.g., Wiederhold & Martinez, ) suggest to inspect the influence of PBC on SCI. Thus, it is hypothesised:H6 Perceived behavioural control has a positive impact on consumers' sustainable consumption intention.…”