Circular Fashion – Consumers’ Attitudes in Cross-National Study: Poland and Canada

Malgorzata Koszewska,Osmud Rahman,Blazej Dyczewski

doi:10.2478/aut-2020-0029

Abstract

Abstract The limits of the present linear economy model (take-make-waste) are well illustrated by the textile and clothing sector, one of the most indispensable consumer goods industries. Although a huge increase in the number of publications on the circular economy can be observed, the number of papers analyzing consumers’ attitudes and behavior toward circular fashion, especially the ones comparing consumers from different regions, is still limited. The article aimed to assess consumers’ attitudes toward circular fashion and draw a cross country comparison in this respect. The research focused on the three pillars of the latest EU Sustainable Product Policy Framework, i.e., designing sustainable products, empowering consumers, and circularity in production processes. An online survey and convenience sampling were used to collect valid responses from two countries (i.e., Canada and Poland) with different cultures, levels of economic development, and approaches to environmental and social issues. The results showed that significant differences between the countries emerged to a greater extent regarding consumers’ attitudes toward environmental labels for fashion products and sustainable buying behavior. The Polish respondents perceived the need for such labels to a greater extent. The Canadian ones, on the other hand, turned out to be more willing to choose sustainable clothing and reduce consumption. The differences between the countries were much less conspicuous as regards circular cues and circularity in fashion production processes. They appeared only in the case of clothing durability and the impact of production processes on air quality. Those aspects turned out to be more important for Polish respondents.

Highlights

The importance of the transition toward a more circular economy (CE) has been recognized at global, regional, and national levels
While choosing aspects to be included in the analyses, we considered those that had been left out in the existing research and at the same time formed the pillars of the latest EU sustainable product policy framework, i.e., designing sustainable products, empowering consumers through product labels, and circularity in production processes
In the case of circular cues for fashion products, the Mann– Whitney U test showed that generally there were no significant differences between the two countries

Summary

Introduction

The importance of the transition toward a more circular economy (CE) has been recognized at global, regional, and national levels. Several intertwined trends have brought the sector to this point: fast fashion, overconsumption with its throwaway attitude, shorter lifespan of clothing, the rise of the global population and middle class, and the fall of clothing prices [2]. These trends could lead to an increase in the demand for relatively inexpensive clothing products and conventional fibers as well as contribute to an excessive amount of low-grade textile waste, shortage of landfill capacity, and higher disposal costs [3]. - To assess differences in consumers’ attitudes in two culturally divergent countries on their distinct levels of economic development and different approaches to environmental and social issues, namely Poland and Canada

Circular fashion – regulatory frameworks in Canada and Poland

Consumers’ attitudes and behaviors toward circular fashion

Data and methods

Results and discussion

Conclusions

Limitations and future research