Green apparel buying behaviour: A Stimulus–Organism–Behaviour–Consequence (SOBC) perspective on sustainability‐oriented consumption in Japan

Amandeep Dhir,Shalini Talwar,Mototaka Sakashita,Puneet Kaur,Mohd Sadiq

doi:10.1002/bse.2821

Abstract

AbstractThe green apparel literature has previously examined the disparity between consumers' positive purchase intentions and their actual purchase behaviour. This dichotomous behaviour represents the critical ‘intention–behaviour gap’, which marketers must seek to reduce to increase sales of their products. The current study thus seeks to identify the drivers of green apparel purchase behaviour that may potentially mitigate this gap. The proposed conceptual model is grounded in the Stimulus–Organism–Behaviour–Consequence (SOBC) paradigm and is tested through an analysis of cross‐sectional data collected from 387 green apparel product consumers in Japan who were sourced through Macromill Inc. The findings suggest that optimism as the stimulus is positively associated with labelling satisfaction and labelling desire, which, in turn, are positively associated with purchase intentions, representing behaviour. Furthermore, purchase intentions are positively associated with shopping routine and fully mediate the association between shopping routine and buying behaviour. The study provides interesting strategic inputs for green apparel marketers and retailers.

Highlights

The past decade has witnessed an increase in the discussions related to sustainability issues in the clothing and apparel industry (Jacobs et al, 2018)
The adoption rate of green apparel products in a country like Japan is low despite high awareness of such products among consumers
We drew upon the novel framework of SOBC in the green context to examine the antecedents of green apparel purchase intentions and buying behaviour

Summary

Introduction

The past decade has witnessed an increase in the discussions related to sustainability issues in the clothing and apparel industry (Jacobs et al, 2018). Practitioners and policymakers have stressed the need to move towards the production and use of green products in the apparel category (McNeill & Venter, 2019), referring to clothing or fashion products that are manufactured while giving due consideration to various environmental, social and economic factors (Su et al, 2019). From the consumer point of view, the adoption, reuse and disposal of green products could have a powerful, positive impact on the environment and contribute to the sustainability of the apparel industry (Lundblad & Davies, 2016), as conventional products produce more greenhouse gases on disposal than green products do (Awan, Arnold, et al, 2021; Awan, Nauman, et al, 2021)

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Discussion

Conclusion