All by Myself! The Sustainable Liability on Responsible Fashion: An Abstract

Abstract

Recent literature demonstrates that consumers hold an implicit association that sustainable products have lower quality than conventional ones (Luchs et al. 2010; Mai et al. 2017). This research contributes to literature on sustainable consumption by exploring the impact of the use of recycled materials in the fashion industry. Fashion is tied to a human necessity to express both individuality and belongingness (Berger and Heath 2016). Hence, clothing assumes a role of signification through which the consumption of symbolic meanings helps individuals to construct their identity (Firat and Venkatesh 1995). Considering the role of fashion consumption on self-identity, we propose that the moral value of sustainability will uplift product evaluation, increasing quality perceptions and purchase intention. We propose that this positive sustainability-quality association will hold in private consumption contexts when consumption is motivated by the personal identity but not the social identity. In other words, consumers may attribute a higher quality to recycled products to mask the expected spillover of symbolic meanings on self-identity. Therefore, we propose that the positive sustainability-quality reasoning will be stronger when consumers are more prone to use the rational decision-making path to justify their decisions over more sustainable choices (i.e., private consumption). Two studies show the positive sustainability-quality association in fashion consumption. Study 1 demonstrates that participants (n = 97, M_age = 37.1, 51.5% females) inferred a marginally higher quality when a sneaker was made of recycled materials (M_recycled = 5.32, M_control = 4.99, F(1,95) = 2.84, p < .1). In Study 2, participants (n = 146, M_age = 35.4, 66.4% males) imagined purchasing a jacket made of recycled material (vs. no information) while being alone (vs. among other customers). Results revealed a significant interaction of recycled and consumption context (F(1,107) = 8.79, p < .01) on product quality, morality (F(4,142) = 6.45, p = .012), and purchase intention (F(4,141) = 4.60, p < .05). In the public context, the fact that a product is made of recycled materials did not influence quality, nor purchase intention (all p’s > .05). In the private context, participants attributed higher quality (M_recycled = 5.0, M_control = 4.3, F(1,142) = 6.91, p < .01) and higher morality to the recycled jacket (M_recycled = 2.9, M_control = 3.6, F(1,142) = 5.54, p < .02). Participants also reported higher intention to purchase the recycled product (M_recycled = 3.3, M_control = 2.6, F(1,141) = 4.20, p < .05). Further analysis shows that product morality mediated the impact of recycled materials on quality and purchase intention. In a private consumption context, consumers judged the recycled product as more moral, increasing quality [ab = .436; CI 95%: .095; .798] and purchase intention [ab = .387; CI 95%: .109; .772]. These results support our proposition that the sustainability liability does not hold for fashion products.