The Impact of Customer-Centric Sustainability on Brand Relationships

Abstract

This paper contributes to the existing but scarce literature on customer-centric sustainability and measures consumers’ perceptions of fast-fashion brands regarding economic, environmental, and social sustainability. Furthermore, it aims to test the impact of each dimension of customer–brand relationships, specifically brand trust, affective brand commitment, and continuance brand commitment. A research model and nine hypotheses were tested through multiple linear regressions using a convenience sample of 228 Portuguese fast-fashion consumers. It also provides additional insights into how consumers’ perceptions of the three dimensions of sustainability might affect customer–brand relationships, namely brand trust and brand commitment. The results reveal a significant relationship between all dimensions of customer-centric sustainability and brand trust. Furthermore, economic sustainability and social sustainability were found to significantly predict effective brand commitment. Additionally, this study demonstrates that brand trust positively influences consumers’ intentions to maintain long-term relationships with fast-fashion brands. The implications of the results are discussed in detail, shedding light on the importance of incorporating customer-centric sustainability practices into brand management strategies within the fast-fashion industry. Further elaboration and discussion of the results can be found in this study.