Handloom and resource equity - A circularity narrative from India in the Global South

Abstract

The fashion industry is one of the most resource-intensive and polluting industries. Fast fashion minimises resource equity as it has immense economic, environmental and social cost. Circularity as opposed to linearity has been discussed as a feasible solution to these challenges. Consequently, consumers' apparel consumption behavior needs to be shifted towards circularity. Research has given very little attention to consumer circular fashion awareness, consumption and adoption. Handloom purchase is a circular consumption practice that has dwindled in India with the advent of fast fashion. This study investigates the association that hedonic and utilitarian motivation have with handloom purchase intention, when story marketing is employed to stimulate handloom awareness and association, using an explanatory sequential method, that combines quantitative methods with thematic analysis. Five hundred and twelve participants were surveyed to examine these constructs. In addition to this, interview data was obtained from eleven handloom influencers. The results demonstrate that story marketing is the most influential construct impacting circular handloom purchase intention, followed by utilitarian motivation whereas hedonic motivation was reported to be insignificant. The novelty of the research is that circular consumption was studied for the first time in the context of Indian handloom purchase intention using explanatory sequential method. The findings provide theoretical and practical insights for circular consumption adoption and practice.