The importance of knowledge and trust for ethical fashion consumption
Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics
ISSN: 1355-5855
Article publication date: 28 October 2020
Issue publication date: 20 April 2021
Abstract
Purpose
The clothing industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world, although manufacturers and retailers are trying to revert this tendency by applying ethical fashion principles. Drawing on the knowledge–attitude–behavior (KAB) model or practice, this study aims to predict Chinese consumers' purchase intention of ethical fashion by employing and extending the theory of planned behavior (TPB).
Design/methodology/approach
The extended TPB model incorporates knowledge of ethical fashion and trust in the fashion industry and two critical variables in ethical fashion literature to explain the purchase intention of ethical fashion. Primary data from 245 Chinese respondents were collected in 2019. The model was tested and analyzed through structural equation modeling (SEM).
Findings
Results show that the extended TPB model has higher predictability than the original TPB model. Attitude toward ethical fashion and subjective norm significantly predicts purchase intention while perceived behavioral control (PBC) does not. In addition, trust of ethical fashion is positively related to attitude toward ethical fashion and purchase intention, whereas knowledge of ethical fashion plays a significant role in predicting trust and the three TPB factors. The subjective norm was found to have the most significant impact on consumers' intention to purchase ethical fashion, which shows that social pressure from one individual's reference group is the most dominant factor in forming consumer's purchase intention on ethical fashion.
Originality/value
The findings enrich the past literature on ethical fashion that trusting belief is a salient determinant of consumers' attitude toward ethical fashion and purchase intention of ethical fashion products. The findings also supported the applicability of KAB and TPB in the domain of ethical consumption in the context of a developing country.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The work was funded by the research committee of University of Macau (Ref. No: MYRG2018-00078-FBA and MYRG2019-00037-FBA).
Citation
Liu, Y., Liu, M.T., Pérez, A., Chan, W., Collado, J. and Mo, Z. (2021), "The importance of knowledge and trust for ethical fashion consumption", Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 33 No. 5, pp. 1175-1194. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-02-2020-0081
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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