Clothing Consumption Behavior Research Articles

A Study on the Preferences and Behaviors of College Students Who Shop Online for Clothes

In today’s society, e-commerce is becoming more and more popular, ushering in a new era of online shopping. As an emerging mode of consumption, online consumption has brought great convenience to college students’ daily life, but also has a serious impact on the consumption concept of college students whose psychological development is not yet mature, among which the negative impact is undeniable and needs to be taught and corrected in time. As a group with distinctive characteristics among many online consumers, college students can grasp the changing ways of the Internet as quickly as possible and skillfully use online channels to shop. Irrational consumption behaviors such as blind following, excessive, comparison, and impulsiveness are common among college students. In the case of insufficient funds from their families, some college students will even choose to borrow online. How to correctly guide college students to establish a rational outlook on consumption is the biggest problem facing the whole society. Based on the questionnaire survey method and the characteristics of college students’ online clothing consumption behavior in Jiangxi Province, this paper analyzes the main influencing factors of college students’ online consumption behavior by stating the sources of living expenses, consumption platforms, clothing types, and purchase mentality, summarizes their consumption psychological characteristics, and puts forward scientific guidance countermeasures and programs for college students to establish a correct online consumption concept from five levels: government, society, universities, families and individuals.

Exploring Sustainable Clothing Consumption in Middle-Income Countries: A case study of Romanian consumers

Abstract The overconsumption of consumers under today’s increasingly scarce natural resources has overwhelmed the textile industry in middle-income countries, such as Romania. It is becoming more and more essential to encourage sustainable clothing consumption behaviors, such as purchasing recyclable clothes. Notwithstanding, there is a limited number of studies trying to understand the intrinsic factors that motivate consumers’ purchase intention toward sustainable clothes in middle-income countries. Moreover, the effect of consumers’ environmental knowledge on determining their purchase intention of sustainable clothes remains understudied. Consequently, the purpose of this paper is to make a significant contribution to the sustainable consumption literature by providing a consolidated framework that explores the behavioral factors inclining Romanian consumers’ purchase intention towards sustainable clothes. The foundation of this study combines consumers’ altruistic value orientations and the theory of planned behavior. The partial least squares path modeling procedure was used to analyze the data of 1,018 Romanian respondents. The findings of this study show that altruistic value orientation, subjective norms, and sustainable attitudes have a positive effect on Romanian consumers’ purchase intention of sustainable clothing. Thus, these insights provide essential practical implications of advocating for the consumption of sustainable clothes along with useful guidelines for practitioners in the textile industry among middle-income countries, especially in Romania, to reduce overconsumption.

Students' Level of Awareness on the Waste Contribution of the Fast Fashion with Their Clothing Consumption Behavior

The accessibility and convenience of purchasing fashion items have increased due to continuous manufacturing and high demand. The fast fashion industry has capitalized on the latest trends by offering cheap, affordable, yet disposable items, contributing to global pollution through solid waste and wastewater. This study aims to assess (a) students' level of awareness regarding the waste contribution of the fast fashion industry, (b) their clothing consumption behavior concerning purchases and utilization, (c) their waste disposal practices, and (d) the relationship between clothing consumption behavior and their level of awareness. The study employs systematic random sampling to determine an appropriate sample size from the student population, resulting in 104 student respondents for the adapted survey. Goodman and Kruskal's Gamma analysis assesses the association between clothing consumption and awareness. The results indicate that the students know about the industry's wastewater and solid waste contribution. However, the study also reveals a negligible to moderate relationship between clothing consumption, including the frequency of purchases and utilization, and their overall awareness. This suggests that despite being highly aware of the environmental issues associated with the fast fashion industry, students continue to support and purchase products from this sector.

Influence of virtual social capital on sustainable clothing consumption pattern: a study on young people in Ho Chi Minh City

It is undeniable that fast fashion is a deleterious phenomenon changing the fashion industry for the worst. This study has been carried out to achieve the sustainable development of the clothing industry, thereby providing a visible and meaningful contribution to the achievement of SDG 12 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The study clarified the definition and manifestation of a sustainable clothing consumption model that integrates four types of clothing consumption behavior: swapping, the sale of upgraded second-hand clothing, renting, consulting, and matching old clothing. According to an analysis of the data (N=398), virtual social capital and peer influence have a considerably positive effect on BISCCP. Virtual social capital also has a positive impact on peer influence. However, the relationship between virtual social capital as well as BISCCP was negatively affected by both face consciousness and consumer innovativeness. The findings had consequences for comprehending and enhancing consumers' behavioral intentions regarding purchasing sustainable clothes. Thus, it is essential for ecological sustainability and other associated government agencies to establish a parsimonious society, incentivizing the reuse of second-hand clothing to increase people's passion for environmental protection consumption. Not only does the study enhance consumer acceptance of SCCP, but it can also be especially useful to circular economy policymakers in emerging markets.

Categorizing Chinese Consumers’ Behavior to Identify Factors Related to Sustainable Clothing Consumption

Consumers’ current clothing consumption behavior patterns have become the primary challenge to environmental sustainability within the clothing industry. In order to ensure any behavioral change intervention is successful, a thorough understanding of consumers’ current consumption behavior is required. Accordingly, we aimed to identify factors related to sustainable clothing consumption by categorizing the actual clothing consumption behaviors of Chinese consumers. Specifically, the study aims to answer two sub-questions: (1) how can we categorize clothing consumption behaviors? and (2) what factors influence different types of clothing consumption behaviors? Data were collected through a two-phase survey that included observations and a questionnaire. The consumer behavior was divided into three categories based on the actual total number of clothing items and clothing usage frequency during a designated period. Among these categories, demographics and clothing consumption behavior variables were examined in the purchase, use, and disposal phases, using Chi-square analysis, Fisher’s exact test, and variance analysis. The findings show that gender, age, brand preference, annual expenditure, number of new items, purchase priorities, reason for disposal, disposal channels, disposal quantity, repair experience, duration of use, price, and clothing type were the main factors related to sustainable clothing consumption. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings and define the issues to be addressed in order to move towards sustainable clothing consumption behavior changes.

Apparel Consumer Behavior and Circular Economy: Towards a Decision-Tree Framework for Mindful Clothing Consumption

The apparel consumer, one of the vital stakeholders in the apparel supply chain, has a significant role to play in moving the clothing industry in a sustainable direction. From purchasing and care practice to donation and disposal, every step of their decisions impacts the environment. Various internal and external variables influence those decisions, including culture, customs, values, beliefs, norms, assumptions, economy, gender, education and others. Therefore, we believe having a scientific understanding is very important, because consumers need to be aware of what makes eco-conscious apparel behavior; only then will the circular transition be eased. However, the key concern is whether the apparel consumers are aware of this knowledge or not. Therefore, we formulated a prospective study from a life cycle thinking point of view with a key focus on synthesizing apparel consumer behavior concerning clothing acquisition, maintenance and disposal through the circular economy lens. Hence, a circular economy lens framework is proposed, followed by three research questions’ (RQ) formulation: RQ1. What is the current norm of clothing acquisition, maintenance and disposal behavior?; RQ2. Is apparel consumer clothing acquisition, maintenance and disposal behavior circular-driven?; RQ3. What is the sustainable way of clothing acquisition, maintenance and disposal? These questions are followed by circular economy lens framework development for apparel consumers. Second, following the research questions, state-of-the-art literature-driven decisions were gathered to form constructive consumer-centric decisions over the apparel lifecycle. Third, building on this synthesis, a critical discussion is offered, following the decision-tree approach to inform relevant behavioral guidelines for consumers and other stakeholders in the apparel supply chain. Overall, our findings on apparel consumer behavior through the circular economy lens could serve as new guidelines for consumers to exercise mindful clothing consumption behavior.

Measuring the “Clothing Mountain”: Action Research and Sustainability Pedagogy to Reframe (Un)Sustainable Clothing Consumption in the Classroom

This study's purpose is to support the practice of transformative learning by reporting on a class project which examined unsustainable clothing consumption behaviors using action research and the holistic principles of the Burns Sustainability Pedagogy. The study has three objectives: to engage students in action research in which students were asked to measure the clothing volumes bought, used, and discarded during one school semester; to reflect on their unsustainable clothing consumption practices through facilitated peer discussion; and to use educational intervention as a pedagogical tool to expand students' awareness of unsustainable clothing consumption behaviors to cultivate learners capable of effecting holistic sustainable change. The “clothing mountain” was assessed among 755 students, who purchased 10,931 garments for a total of $754,239. The findings provide a baseline for improving the textile and apparel scholarship on sustainability teaching and learning, particularly in the areas of responsible clothing purchases, wear, and disposal.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic upon fashion consumer behavior: focus on mass and luxury products

PurposeThe COVID-19 pandemic has caused a decline in overall consumption, but luxury sales within offline department stores rose significantly. This study identifies changes in the market environment variable (i.e. pandemics) and their impact on clothing consumption behavior. Moreover, it examines consumer behavior characteristics and provides implications for future fashion marketing and merchandising strategies.Design/methodology/approachThis study analyzed post-pandemic consumption trends by obtaining luxury brand sales data from the Korea National Statistical Office and department stores. Moreover, it investigated luxury consumption fluctuation after the pandemic and statistically analyzed the characteristics of luxury consumers by customer level (CL) that affected sales.FindingsThe results of the study showed that offline (online) clothing consumption at mass markets has decreased (increased) since the pandemic, whereas sales of luxury fashion brands at offline department stores have grown. Moreover, the in-depth analysis showed a significant sales decline (increase) for clothing-centered (leather-centered) luxury brands.Practical implicationsIf such a trend in luxury brand consumption continues, current polarization is expected to be maintained. Therefore, the study’s findings can be used as basic data in strengthening luxury brands and planning products.Originality/valueThis is the first work to undertake a comparative study of fashion consumer behavior, before and after the pandemic, involving the mass and luxury markets in South Korea.

Analysis of sustainable fashion research trends using topic modeling

As interest in the sustainable fashion industry continues to increase along with climate issues, it is necessary to identify research trends in sustainable fashion and seek new development directions. Therefore, this study aims to analyze research trends on sustainable fashion. For this purpose, related papers were collected from the KCI (Korean Citation Index) and Scopus, and 340 articles were used for the study. The collected data went through data transformation, data preprocessing, topic modeling analysis, core topic derivation, and visualization through a Python algorithm. A total of eight topics were obtained from the comprehensive analysis: consumer clothing consumption behavior and environment, upcycle product development, product types by environmental approach, ESG business activities, materials and material development, process-based approach, lifestyle and consumer experience, and brand strategy. Topics were related to consumption, production, and education of sustainable fashion, respectively. KCI analysis results and Scopus analysis results derived eight topics but showed differences from the comprehensive analysis results. This study provides primary data for exploring various themes of sustainable fashion. It is significant in that the data were analyzed based on probability using a research method that excluded the subjective value of the researcher. It is recommended that follow-up studies be conducted to examine social trends.

How virtual social capital affects behavioral intention of sustainable clothing consumption pattern in developing economies? A case study of China

Frequently updated wardrobes are costly to consumers, and they cause a serious waste of resources and environmental pollution, especially for developing economies. In the case of China, one representative emerging economy in developing economies, we explored the effects of virtual social capital on sustainable clothing consumption pattern. Taking the model of a product-service system as a theoretical reference, this research defined a sustainable clothing consumption model (SCCP) that integrates four types of clothing consumption behavior: the sale of upgraded second-hand clothing, swapping, renting, and consulting and matching old clothing. Then, we explored the effect of virtual social capital, peer influence, face consciousness, and consumer innovativeness on the behavioral intentions of a sustainable clothing consumption pattern (BISCCP). An analysis of survey data from 493 Chinese consumers showed that virtual social capital and peer influence have a significantly positive impact on BISCCP, peer influence played a partially mediating role between virtual social capital and BISCCP, and both face consciousness and consumer innovativeness negatively regulated the relationship between virtual social capital and BISCCP. Our study not only helps improve the consumers’ acceptance of SCCP, but also can be of special interest to policy makers of circular economy in developing economies.

Fashion consciousness, materialism and fashion clothing purchase involvement of young fashion consumers in Egypt: the mediation role of materialism

PurposeFashion clothing has always been an interesting area for scholarly research on consumer behavior. This paper seeks to gain a better understanding of the youth involvement with fashion clothing in the Egyptian context. Accordingly, the paper considers the Egyptian consumers’ attitude toward fashion involvement by investigating how fashion consciousness and materialism serve as main antecedents of fashion clothing involvement, while also determining the impact of fashion clothing involvement on fashion clothing purchase involvement. This paper aims to test an extended and adapted theoretical model of fashion clothing involvement in Egypt.Design/methodology/approachUsing non-probabilistic convenience sample, a survey method was used, and 270 valid questionnaires were collected.FindingsThe hypothesized antecedents were found to influence fashion clothing involvement among young Egyptian consumers, which in turn significantly affect its purchasing. Moreover, materialism was also found to partially meditate the relationship between fashion consciousness and fashion involvement. On the other hand, the hypothesized gender role as a moderator between all variables of the study was not supported.Research limitations/implicationsUsing a wider population is one avenue future research seeking to replicate this study can pursue. Specifically, because the sample consisted of university students, generalizing the results to non-students can be restricted. Likewise, findings are mainly related to fashion clothing; hence, extending the model to include other product categories can provide more support for the results.Practical implicationsAs the results confirmed that there is a partial significant positive impact of fashion consciousness on fashion clothing involvement via materialism, the paper provides practical implications for fashion marketers to achieve successful communication with fashion-conscious and materialistic young Egyptian consumers. The aim is to develop strategies that are consistent with consumers’ values and communicate appeals to their aspirational lifestyle.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the limited number of the published manuscripts on the fashion clothing marketing sector in Egypt. There is a void in literature related the investigation of fashion clothing involvement in the developing countries. Accordingly, this paper fills this gap by examining the fashion clothing consumption behavior of young Egyptian students in Cairo University. To the best of the author’s knowledge, it is among the first to investigate the antecedents and motives related to fashion clothing involvement and its purchases among young consumers in the Egyptian context. The paper develops a comprehensive model of fashion clothing involvement to highlight the relationships between fashion involvement and Fashion consciousness, materialism, and fashion clothing purchase-involvement. The paper also contributes to the research by exploring materialism as a mediator between fashion consciousness and fashion involvement constructs, in addition to exploring the gender role as a moderator between all constructs of the study. The study makes theoretical contribution to the body of knowledge around young Egyptian consumers’ fashion clothing involvement and purchase behavior toward luxury fashion clothes, which may be extended to other similar Arab non-Western developing countries. Moreover, it offers managerial insights for establishing effective communications with this potentially lucrative market segment.

"어머니의 친환경 의복소비행동이 유아의 환경보전태도와 소비자행동에 미치는 영향"

본 연구는 지속가능발전을 위한 생활 속 실천운동의 필요성과 가정 내 어머니 역할의 중요성에 초점을 두고, 어머니의 친환경 의복소비행동이 유아의 환경보전태도와 소비자행동에 미치는 영향이 어떠한가를 분석해보는데 목적을 두었다. 이를 위해 K도 소재 유아교육기관에 재원 중인 유아 252명과 그들의 어머니를 연구대상으로 선정하여 자료를 수집하였다. 수집된 자료를 토대로 상관분석과 회귀분석을 실시하여 영향력의 통계적 유의성을 검증하였다. 분석결과, 어머니의 친환경 의복소비행동이 유아의 환경보전태도와 소비자행동에 일정부분 유의한 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 이에 유아의 환경보전태도와 소비자행동에 영향을 미칠 수 있는 어머니 역할의 중요성을 조명하였으며, 어머니의 친환경적이며 건전한 의복소비행동을 통해 유아의 지속가능발전적 태도와 행동을 긍정적으로 형성해나갈 필요가 있음을 논의하였다.

An Action Research on Creative Clothing Consumption Behavior

An Action Research on Creative Clothing Consumption Behavior

Bridge the gap: Consumers’ purchase intention and behavior regarding sustainable clothing

With the textile industry satisfying steadily increasing consumption levels, excessive usage of valuable natural resources provokes a major environmental footprint: 118 billion cubic meters of water are expected to be utilized for global clothing production in 2030. Therefore, consumers' clothing consumption behavior needs to be shifted towards a more sustainable one. While green purchase behavior in general is well understood, research still lacks a comprehensive approach to explain consumers' purchase behavior of sustainable clothing. To provide a holistic framework which determines the main antecedents of purchase behavior of sustainable clothing and further, to shed light on the gap between purchase intention and subsequent purchase behavior of such clothes, we extended the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) approach with well-established constructs from green literature (i.e., perceived environmental knowledge and environmental concerns) and novel constructs derived from prior exploratory findings (i.e., greenwashing concerns, perceived economic risk, and perceived aesthetic risk). Four hundred sixty-four participants were inquired to assess these constructs in the context of sustainable clothing. Our findings indicate that attitude towards sustainable clothing has the highest impact on purchase intention. However, this relation is negatively influenced by consumers' greenwashing concerns. Moreover, we find evidence that consumers’ perceived aesthetic risk negatively impacts the intention-behavior relation, whereas perceived economic risk has no significant effect on this relation.

The Ethical Clothing Consumption Behavior of Female Adolescents in Jeollanamdo Area by their Shopping Orientation

The Ethical Clothing Consumption Behavior of Female Adolescents in Jeollanamdo Area by their Shopping Orientation

Exploring young adult consumers’ sustainable clothing consumption intention-behavior gap: A Behavioral Reasoning Theory perspective

Clothing overconsumption is a growing global phenomenon with serious effects on the environment and society. Huge amounts of textile waste are ending up U.S. landfills due to unsustainable clothing consumption patterns. With the conceptual underpinnings of Behavioral Reasoning Theory, the purpose of this study was to explore sustainable clothing consumption behaviors (SCCBs) that young consumers were most and least likely to engage in and to understand specific reasons for their decisions to engage in a variety of SCCBs. The study used qualitative method of inquiry and conducted six focus groups with forty-one young adult consumers. Data was transcribed and analyzed to develop specific reasons that the participants attached to engage or not engage in SCCBs. Qualitative analyses revealed that participants’ reasons for engaging in SCCBs included perceived value, sustainability commitment, uniqueness, acquisition from known sources and lifestyle changes. Specific reasons for not engaging in SCCBs included perceived lack of variety/style, budget constraints, skepticism, lack of knowledge/skills, emotions attached to consumption, perceived lack of availability and consumers’ self-indulgent behavior. The findings of this study provide important implications for public policy makers and businesses to integrate and promote circularity in the fashion industry. The study also emphasizes the important role consumers’ play in extending clothing lifecycle.

Effect of eco-friendly clothing knowledge and consciousness on ecological clothing consumption behavior

Consumers’ interests in the environment have been growing; hence, their consciousness about the environment has changed and affected their clothing shopping behavior. Prior study indicated attitude-behavior inconsistency in eco-friendly consumer behavior. It was because consumers’ consciousness or attitude was often measured at an abstract level, not at a product specific level. This study investigated eco-friendly clothing knowledge, eco-friendly clothing consciousness, and ecological clothing consumption behavior. The effects of consumers’ level of clothing involvement and subjective norms in this process were also investigated. For the empirical research, a questionnaire was developed, and responses from 480 women in their 20s to 50s were statistically analyzed. Results indicated that interest and fashion consciousness dimensions of clothing involvement had a significant influence on ecofriendly clothing knowledge, which thereby significantly influenced the three factors of eco-friendly clothing consciousness: social responsibility, health orientation, and clothing resource-saving consciousness. Such factors had different roles in the clothing consumption process. Social responsibility had a significant influence on the entire process of clothing consumption: shopping, purchasing, using, and disposing behaviors. Health orientation consciousness had a significant influence on shopping and purchasing behaviors, whereas resource-saving consciousness had a significant impact only on shopping behavior. Subjective norms were significantly correlated with all aspects of the clothing consumption process. Influence on disposing behavior was relatively weaker than other aspects of clothing consumption behavior.

어머니의 친환경 의복소비행동이 유아의 의복관리행동에 미치는 영향: 어머니 양육태도와 유아 자기조절능력의 조절효과를 중심으로

어머니의 친환경 의복소비행동이 유아의 의복관리행동에 미치는 영향: 어머니 양육태도와 유아 자기조절능력의 조절효과를 중심으로

The Ethical Consumption Consciousness and Clothing Consumption Behavior of Adolescents

The Ethical Consumption Consciousness and Clothing Consumption Behavior of Adolescents

An Environmental Perspective on Clothing Consumption: Consumer Segments and Their Behavioral Patterns

Efforts to decrease the environmental impact of today’s clothing industry across the entire process of production, purchase, maintenance, and disposal can be driven by either suppliers or consumers. Changing the behavior of the latter, however, requires an understanding of current clothing consumption patterns—a currently under-researched area. We therefore shed more light on these patterns in the purchase, use and maintenance, and discard phases by analyzing unique data on 4617 adult consumers (aged 18–65) from Germany, Poland, Sweden, and the U.S., who we divide into five segments based on clothing consumption behavior. At the low end of the spectrum is a consumer segment that earns the least, consumes mostly budget brand clothing, and is the least open to alternative more environmentally friendly business models such as fashion leasing or clothing libraries. At the other extreme lies a small segment that earns the most, engages in high consumption of medium or premium brand clothing, and is most open to alternative business models. Lying between these two is a primarily female segment that purchases an above average amount of clothing from budget brands. In addition to the segments’ different reported purchase behavior and a varying openness to alternative business models, we identify differences in willingness to pay for clothing made of material that is more environmentally friendly than conventional fabrics. These observations suggest several promising directions for environmental interventions tailored toward specific consumer segments.