EXPLORING SUSTAINABLE CLOTHING CONSUMPTION IN ROMANIA: THE MIDDLE-INCOME CHALLENGE

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Immense pressure is placed on the textile industry in middle-income countries like Romania, where natural resources are becoming increasingly scarce due to the growing demand for clothing fueled by excessive consumerism. The significant amount of clothing waste in Romania highlights the negative effects of fast fashion, despite growing public awareness of its environmental consequences. During these times it is important to advocate sustainable clothing consumption behaviors, like choosing recyclable clothes over new items or preferring sustainable clothing items over fast fashion. There is a need to shift consumers’ clothing consumption towards a more sustainable one. Promoting sustainable practices and economic growth in middle-income countries like Romania can reduce the negative impacts of excessive clothing consumption and decrease the burden on the textile industry. To enhance sustainable clothing consumption, it is important to apprehend the factors that predict consumers’ intentions to purchase sustainable clothing consumption. However, the literature provides limited research exploring the underlying factors that determine consumers’ intention to purchase sustainable clothing in middle-income countries. Moreover, the impact of consumers’ environmental awareness on their sustainable clothing purchase motivation is underexplored. To fill the research gap, this study intends to analyze the problem by providing an exploration of the sustainable consumption field through the development of a comprehensive framework that examines the behavioral factors influencing consumers in Romania to buy sustainable clothing. This study’s novelty integrates social value orientations with the theory of planned behavior and analyzes data from 1,018 Romanian respondents using statistical methods like partial least squares path modeling. The findings of the study reveal that altruistic values, social norms, and positive attitudes significantly impact Romanian consumers’ intentions to purchase sustainable clothing. These discoveries grant significant guidance for promoting sustainable clothing consumption and provide practical implications for the textile industry in middle-income countries like Romania when addressing clothing overconsumption.