The Impact of Slow Fashion Orientation (SFO) on Socially Responsible Consumption (SRC): Moderating Effects of Industry Irresponsibility and Consumer Irresponsibility

Abstract

Over the past three decades, the trend toward fast fashion (FF) has exploded, upending the traditional fashion calendar and resulting in a fundamental shift in consumer shopping behavior toward overconsumption and disposal. FF's success factors, including quick response to continuously changing fashion trends and low prices, perpetuate overproduction, waste and resource exploitation across its supply chains (Fletcher, 2007;Ghemawat & Nueno, 2003;Sull &Turconi, 2008). In recent years, coinciding with a larger push in the apparel sector toward sustainable development, FF companies, to varying extents, have ramped up their commitments to sustainability within their supply chains, invested in R&D for sustainable product innovation, and created internal compliance and reporting standards related to sustainability. What's more, many companies in the FF industry (e.g., H&M, Zara) attempt to position themselves as sustainable consumer choices through consumer-facing initiatives such as garment recycling programs and sustainably produced collections. Although commendable, these initiatives do not address the fact that the FF business model (i.e., continuous change, low cost, high volume) is inherently at odds with sustainable consumption (Kim et al., 2013). This "greenwashing" creates confusion among consumers about which companies actually employ socially responsible business strategies.The prevailing culture of overconsumption, spearheaded by the fast fashion (FF) industry, has given rise to movements such as slow fashion, a counter movement to the consumption practices that support the FF industry. Slow fashion constitutes slow production (e.g., quality, craftsmanship) at the company level, and conscious consumption and disposal at the consumer level (Ertekin and Atik, 2015;Jung & Jin, 2016;McNeill & Moore, 2015). The slow fashion concept encourages consumers to consider the responsibility or irresponsibility of their purchase, use, and disposal behaviors. For consumers, engaging in the slow fashion movement through slow consumption necessitates a shift from quantity to quality-focused consumption, a willingness to engage in alternate forms of consumption (e.g., secondhand market), and a commitment to conscientiously dispose of used clothing (Jung & Jin, 2014;. Although slow production and consumption cycles may increase production costs, this approach increases the quality of products. Unlike disposable clothing (i.e., FF), slow fashion garments can remain in use longer. Further, consumers are able to practice conscious disposal by identifying second-life alternatives for their garments (e.g., donation, resale platforms). As a result, consumers perceive more value in what they buy and care for their clothing in a more responsible manner (Fletcher, 2007). Cavender and Lee (2018a; 2018b) introduced the concepts of industry responsibility and consumer responsibility as two distinct aspects of socially responsible consumption and disposal. Apparel production relates to industry responsibility while apparel consumption att...