Abstract
The global apparel industry has faced anti-consumption from consumers, activist groups, and media since the Rana Plaza collapse. Increasing awareness of societal/environmental impacts, and the lack of transparency within the fashion industry has caused consumers to “vote” with their purchase, making more informed purchasing decisions, and, at times, rejecting products based on companies’ practices and reputations. Slow fashion counters the trend of disposable fast fashion by slowing down production and consumption to a sustainable pace. Business owners incorporating the values of slow fashion often possess strong anti-consumption values themselves. Patagonia is a notable example in the fashion industry, exhibiting anti-consumption values in its strategies, transparent supply chain practices, and B-Corp certification.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
ACCORD. n.d.-a Official Signatories | The Bangladesh Accord. Company Signatories. http://bangladeshaccord.org/signatories/
———. n.d.-b The Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety. ACCORD. http://bangladeshaccord.org/
Adams, Anne-Taylor. 2014. Global Consumers are Willing to Put Their Money Where Their Heart is When It Comes to Goods and Services From Companies Committed to Social Responsibility. Nielson. http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/press-room/2014/global-consumers-are-willing-to-put-their-money-where-their-heart-is.html
Aguilera, Ruth V., Deborah E. Rupp, Cynthia A. Williams, and Jyoti Ganapathi. 2007. Putting the S Back in Corporate Social Responsibility: A Multilevel Theory of Social Change in Organizations. Academy of Management Review 32 (3): 836–863. doi:10.5465/AMR.2007.25275678.
Ajzen, Icek. 1991. The Theory of Planned Behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 50 (2): 179–211. doi:10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T.
Assadourian, Erik. 2012. The Path to Degrowth in Overdeveloped Countries. In State of the World 2012, ed. Linda Starke, 22–37. Springer.
B Corporation. 2016. Welcome | B Corporation. https://www.bcorporation.net/
Balabanis, G., H.C. Phillips, and J. Lyall. 1998. Corporate Social Responsibility and Economic Performance in the Top British Companies: Are They Linked? European Business Review 98 (1): 25–44. doi:10.1108/09555349810195529.
Banister, E.N., and M.K. Hogg. 2004. Negative Symbolic Consumption and Consumers’ Drive for Self-esteem: The Case of the Fashion Industry. European Journal of Marketing 38 (7): 850–868. doi:10.1108/03090560410539285.
Banjo, Shelly. 2014. Inside Nike’s Struggle to Balance Cost and Worker Safety in Bangladesh. Wall Street Journal, April 22, sec. Business. http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303873604579493502231397942
Barone, Michael J., Anthony D. Miyazaki, and Kimberly A. Taylor. 2000. The Influence of Cause-Related Marketing on Consumer Choice: Does One Good Turn Deserve Another? Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 28 (2): 248–262. doi:10.1177/0092070300282006.
Becker-Olsen, Karen L., B. Andrew Cudmore, and Ronald Paul Hill. 2006. The Impact of Perceived Corporate Social Responsibility on Consumer Behavior. Journal of Business Research 59 (1): 46–53. doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2005.01.001.
Brown, Tom J., and Peter A. Dacin. 1997. The Company and the Product: Corporate Associations and Consumer Product Responses. Journal of Marketing 61 (1): 68–84. doi:10.2307/1252190.
Bryan, Bob. 2016. ‘An Unsettled World’: The CEOs of America’s Largest Companies Are Worried about the Economy. Business Insider Australia. August 13. http://www.businessinsider.com.au/ceos-of-americas-largest-companies-are-worried-2016-8
Business Human Rights Resource Centre. 2014. The Rana Plaza Building Collapse in Bangladesh—One Year on | Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. http://business-humanrights.org/en/the-rana-plaza-building-collapse-in-bangladesh-one-year-on
Chamberlain, Gethin. 2013. Admit It. You Love Cheap Clothes. And You Don’t Care about Child Slave Labour. The Guardian, July 28, sec. World News. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/28/india-sweated-labour
Chatzidakis, Andreas, and Michael S.W. Lee. 2013. Anti-Consumption as the Study of Reasons Against. Journal of Macromarketing 33 (3): 190–203.
Chua, J.M. 2016. Activists Worldwide Protest Unsafe H&M Factories | Ecouterre. http://www.ecouterre.com/activists-worldwide-protest-unsafe-hm-factories/
Clifford, Stephanie. 2013. Pressed by Consumers, Retailers Are Revealing More. The New York Times, May 8. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/09/business/global/fair-trade-movement-extends-to-clothing.html
Cormier, Denis, Michel Magnan, and Barbara Van Velthoven. 2005. Environmental Disclosure Quality in Large German Companies: Economic Incentives, Public Pressures or Institutional Conditions? European Accounting Review 14 (1): 3–39. doi:10.1080/0963818042000339617.
Corporate Watch. 2016. What’s Wrong with Corporate Social Responsibility?: The Arguments against CSR | Corporate Watch. Accessed August 24. https://corporatewatch.org/content/whats-wrong-corporate-social-responsibility-arguments-against-csr
Creyer, E.H. 1997. The Influence of Firm Behavior on Purchase Intention: Do Consumers Really Care about Business Ethics? Journal of Consumer Marketing 14 (6): 421–432. doi:10.1108/07363769710185999.
Dailey, W. 2015. Global Consumers Willing to Make Personal Sacrifices to Address Social and Environmental Issues. Cone Communications Public Relations and Marketing. http://www.conecomm.com/2015-cone-ebiquity-csr-study-press-release
Daily Mail. 2008. Exposed: Primark’s Sweatshops That Pay Children Just 60p a Day | Daily Mail Online. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1028449/Exposed-Primarks-sweatshops-pay-children-just-60p-day.html
Daily Mail Australia. 2011. Nike Workers Kicked, Slapped and Verbally Abused at Factories Making Converse Line in Indonesia | Daily Mail Online. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2014325/Nike-workers-kicked-slapped-verbally-abused-factories-making-Converse-line-Indonesia.html
D’Ambrogio, E. 2014. Workers’ Conditions in the Textile and Clothing Sector: Just an Asian Affair? Issues at Stake after the Rana Plaza Tragedy. European Parliamentary Research Service. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document.html?reference=EPRS_BRI(2014)538222
Darnall, Nicole, Irene Henriques, and Perry Sadorsky. 2010. Adopting Proactive Environmental Strategy: The Influence of Stakeholders and Firm Size. Journal of Management Studies 47 (6): 1072–1094. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6486.2009.00873.x.
Davis, Melissa. 2011. Consumers Put Firms under Pressure to Lead the Way in Sustainable Living. The Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/consumer-behaviour-companies-sustainable-living
Dawar, Niraj, and Madan M. Pillutla. 2000. Impact of Product-Harm Crises on Brand Equity: The Moderating Role of Consumer Expectations. Journal of Marketing Research 37 (2): 215–226. doi:10.1509/jmkr.37.2.215.18729.
Dobscha, Susan. 1998. The Lived Experience of Consumer Rebellion against Marketing. Advances in Consumer Research 25 (1). http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/login.aspx?direct=true&profile=ehost&scope=site&authtype=crawler&jrnl=00989258&AN=83386409&h=UxRqzBjvBC%2Fk7IF0l%2F2%2Fl5%2BSJJQbGG0d0lLE4ziYarwloOGeLPwIXtieH60a%2Baa4tBhFMeI9dalaLlU6PQ90WA%3D%3D&crl=c
Emmanuel, A. 2015. The Ethics of Fast Fashion—Uniqlo, Topshop and Forever 21. Good On You, June 23. http://goodonyou.org.au/the-ethics-of-fast-fashion-uniqlo-topshop-and-forever-21/
Ethical Consumer. 2016. Successful Consumer Boycotts: Ethical Consumer. Ethical Consumer. http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/boycotts/successfulboycotts.aspx
European Parliament. 2014. Workers’ Conditions in the Textile and Clothing Sector: Just an Asian Affair? Issues at Stake after the Rana Plaza Tragedy. European Parliament. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/EPRS/140841REV1-Workers-conditions-in-the-textile-and-clothing-sector-just-an-Asian-affair-FINAL.pdf
Fair Labor Association. 2012. Patagonia | Fair Labor Association. http://www.fairlabor.org/affiliate/patagonia
Fashion Revolution. 2016. About: Fashion Revolution. http://fashionrevolution.org/about
Fashion United. 2016. Best of FashionUnited’s Top 6 Series from 2016. Accessed December 30, 2016. https://fashionunited.com/news/fashion/best-of-fashionunited-s-top-6-series-from-2016/2016123014110
Fletcher, Kate. 2010. Slow Fashion: An Invitation for Systems Change. Fashion Practice 2 (2): 259–265. doi:10.2752/175693810X12774625387594.
Fletcher, Kate. 2010. Slow Fashion: An Invitation for Systems Change. Fashion Practice 2 (2): 259–265. doi:10.2752/175693810X12774625387594.
Fontaine, M. 2013. Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability: The New Bottom Line? International Journal of Business and Social Science 4 (4): 110–119.
Francis, A. 2014. I Boycotted Primark after the Tragedy of Rana Plaza for a More Ethical Wardrobe. The Guardian, April 24, sec. Opinion. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/24/boycotted-primark-rana-plaza-ethical-wardrobe
Friedman, Milton. 1970. The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase Its Profits. New York Times, September 13.
Galpin, S. 2016. Shannon Galpin—H&M Boycott Takes Aim at Fast Fashion. http://shannongalpin.com/2016/05/06/hm-boycott-takes-aim-at-fast-fashion/
Green Resistance. 2010. H&M: Boycott. Boycott H&M. Green Resistance (Teaching, Organizing, and Eco-Thinking), November 4. https://greenresistance.wordpress.com/2010/11/04/hm-boycott-boycott-hm/.
Greenpeace. 2016. The Detox Catwalk 2016. Detox. http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/detox/fashion/detox-catwalk/
Habib-Mintz, N. 2009. Multinational Corporations’ Role in Improving Labour Standards in Developing Countries. Journal of International Business and Economy 10 (2): 1–20.
Hartley-Brewer, Julia. 2015. Be Honest: You Don’t Care If Your Pretty Dress Was Made by Child Slaves. The Telegraph, July 29, sec. World. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/vietnam/11770335/Be-honest-you-dont-care-if-your-pretty-dress-was-made-by-child-slaves.html
Harvard Law School. 2016. Children Found Sewing Clothing for Wal-Mart, Hanes & Other U.S. & European Companies—National Labor Committee. Accessed March 31. http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/lwp/NLC_childlabor.html
Henriques, Irene, and Perry Sadorsky. 1999. The Relationship between Environmental Commitment and Managerial Perceptions of Stakeholder Importance. Academy of Management Journal 42 (1): 87–99. doi:10.2307/256876.
H&M. 2016. Annual Reports. Annual Reports. http://about.hm.com/en/About/Investor-Relations/Financial-Reports/Annual-Reports.html
Hoffman, Christy. 2014. Have Garment Factory Working Conditions Improved since Rana Plaza? The Guardian, April 24, sec. Guardian Sustainable Business. http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/garment-factory-working-conditions-rana-plaza-collapse-unions
Honeyman, R. 2014. Has the B Corp Movement Made a Difference? (SSIR). Stanford Social Innovation Review. http://ssir.org/articles/entry/has_the_b_corp_movement_made_a_difference
ILO. 2016. The Benefits of International Labour Standards. International Labour Organisation (ILO). http://www.ilo.org/global/standards/introduction-to-international-labour-standards/the-benefits-of-international-labour-standards/lang--en/index.htm
International Institute for Sustainable Development. 2013. Who Are the Green Consumers? | Green Consumers | Markets. Business and Sustainable Development Guide. https://www.iisd.org/business/markets/green_who.aspx
Ioannou, Ioannies, and George Serafeim. 2010. What Drives Corporate Social Performance? International Evidence from Social, Environmental and Governance Scores. Harvard Business School, Working Paper. http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/11-016.pdf
Joy, Annamma, John F. Sherry, Alladi Venkatesh, Jeff Wang, and Ricky Chan. 2012. Fast Fashion, Sustainability, and the Ethical Appeal of Luxury Brands. Fashion Theory 16 (3): 273–296. doi:10.2752/175174112X13340749707123.
Karolewski, Ireneusz Pawel, and Andrzej Marcin Suszycki. 2011. The Nation and Nationalism in Europe: An Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Kohn, M. 2009. Trust: Self-Interest and the Common Good. https://books.google.co.nz/books?hl=en&lr=&id=RpoSDAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=People+prefer+to+deal+with+parties+who+are+perceived+to+be+altruistic+and+trustworthy,+and+that+is+why+some+consumers+avoid+parties+deemed+to+be+malevolent+and+untrustworthy.&ots=SflOA67xBf&sig=yKf6WLVXpjlzxf9RDhKsKIk9yB0#v=onepage&q&f=false
Kotey, Bernice, and G.G. Meredith. 1997. Relationships among Owner/Manager Personal Values, Business Strategies, and Enterprise Performance. Journal of Small Business Management 35 (2): 37–64.
Lee, Michael S.W., Karen V. Fernandez, and Michael R. Hyman. 2009. Anti-Consumption: An Overview and Research Agenda. Journal of Business Research 62 (2): 145–147.
Lee, M.S.W., D. Roux, H. Cherrier, and B. Cova. 2011. Anti-consumption and Consumer Resistance: Concepts, Concerns, Conflicts, and Convergence. European Journal of Marketing 45 (11/12): 1680–1687.
Martinko, Katherine. 2014. It’s Time to Start Thinking about Where Your Clothes Really Come from. TreeHugger. http://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-fashion/its-time-startthinking-about-where-your-clothes-really-come.html
McGregor, L. 2016. Hold Up: Ivy Park Responds to Sweatshop Accusations. Sourcing Journal. May 16. https://sourcingjournalonline.com/hold-up-ivy-park-responds-to-sweatshop-accusations/
McLaren, W. 2008. Icebreaker Launches Baacode Product Traceability for Merino Wool. TreeHugger. http://www.treehugger.com/culture/icebreaker-launches-baacode-product-traceability-for-merino-wool.html
McWilliams, Abagail. 2015. Corporate Social Responsibility. In Wiley Encyclopedia of Management. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781118785317.weom120001/abstract
McWilliams, Abagail, and Donald Siegel. 2001. Corporate Social Responsibility: A Theory of the Firm Perspective. Academy of Management Review 26 (1): 117–127. doi:10.5465/AMR.2001.4011987.
Mintel. 2015. 56% of Americans Stop Buying from Brands They Believe are Unethical | Mintel.com. Mintel. http://www.mintel.com/press-centre/social-and-lifestyle/56-of-americans-stop-buying-from-brands-they-believe-are-unethical
Mohr, Lois A., Deborah J. Webb, and Katherine E. Harris. 2001. Do Consumers Expect Companies to Be Socially Responsible? The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Buying Behavior. The Journal of Consumer Affairs 35 (1): 45–72.
Morrison, S. 2013. Bangladesh Factory Collapse: Gap Refuses to Back Safety Deal. The Independent, May 14. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/bangladesh-factory-collapse-gap-refuses-to-back-safety-deal-8615599.html
Nimbalker, G., J. Mawson, and C. Harris. 2016. The 2016 Australian Fashion Report. Baptist World Aid Australia. http://www.baptistworldaid.org.au/assets/Be-Fair-Section/FashionReport.pdf
Nooteboom, B. 2002. Trust: Forms, Foundations, Functions, Failures and Figures. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
OECD. 2008. Promoting Sustainable Consumption—Good Practices in OECD Countries. OECD. http://www.oecd.org/greengrowth/40317373.pdf
Osterhus, Thomas L. 1997. Pro-Social Consumer Influence Strategies: When and How Do They Work? Journal of Marketing 61 (4): 16–29. doi:10.2307/1252084.
Patagonia. n.d. Patagonia Footprint Chronicles: Our Supply Chain. Patagonia Supplier Map. http://www.patagonia.com/us/footprint
———. 2011. Don’t Buy This Jacket. http://www.patagonia.com/email/11/112811.html
———. 2016. Fair Trade Certified—Patagonia. Fair Trade Pays. http://www.patagonia.com/fair-trade-certified.html
Peattie, Ken, and Sue Peattie. 2009. Social Marketing: A Pathway to Consumption Reduction? Journal of Business Research 62 (2): 260–268.
Pieters. 2015. Op-Ed | Conscious Consumers Are the Key to Ethical Fashion. The Business of Fashion, April 29. https://www.businessoffashion.com/community/voices/discussions/how-can-we-safeguard-the-people-who-make-our-clothing/op-ed-conscious-consumers-are-the-key-to-ethical-fashion
Pookulangara, Sanjukta, and Arlesa Shephard. 2013. Slow Fashion Movement: Understanding Consumer Perceptions—An Exploratory Study. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 20 (2): 200–206. doi:10.1016/j.jretconser.2012.12.002.
Rayapura, A. 2014. Millennials Most Sustainability-Conscious Generation Yet, But Don’t Call Them ‘Environmentalists’ | Sustainable Brands. Sustainable Brands. http://www.sustainablebrands.com/news_and_views/stakeholder_trends_insights/aarthi_rayapura/millennials_most_sustainability_conscious
Rheannon. 2013. The Lesson of Rana Plaza for CSR: Worker Empowerment the Key to Safety? CSR Wire. http://www.csrwire.com/blog/posts/854-the-lesson-of-rana-plaza-for-csr-worker-empowerment-the-key-to-safety
Schwab, Jennifer. 2014. Don’t Buy This Jacket (Part 2). The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jennifer-schwab/dont-buy-this-jacket-part-two_b_5613394.html
Shao, Maria. 2009. Social Pressures Affect Corporate Strategy and Performance. Stanford Graduate School of Business. https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/social-pressures-affect-corporate-strategy-performance
Sheth, J.N., N.K. Sethia, and S. Srinivas. 2011. Mindful Consumption: A Customer-Centric Approach to Sustainability. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 39 (1): 21–39. doi:10.1007/s11747-010-0216-3.
Siegle, Lucy. 2014. Rana Plaza a Year on: Did Fast-Fashion Brands Learn Any Lessons at All? The Guardian, April 20, sec. World News. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/20/rana-plaza-bangladesh-disaster-anniversary
Slow Fashion Forward. n.d. Slow Fashion Values. Slow Fashion Forward. http://slowfashionforward.org/slowfashionvalues
Sweeny, Glynis. 2015. Fast Fashion Is the Second Dirtiest Industry in the World, Next to Big Oil. EcoWatch, August 17. http://ecowatch.com/2015/08/17/fast-fashion-second-dirtiest-industry/
Teather, David. 2005. Nike Lists Abuses at Asian Factories | Business | The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2005/apr/14/ethicalbusiness.money
The Guardian. 2013. Clothing Corporations Need to Step Up for Bangladesh Factory Collapse Victims | Jian Ghomeshi | Opinion | The Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/18/bangladesh-factory-victims-corporations
Transparency International. 2014. Rana Plaza One Year on: What Has Changed?—Transparency International. Transparency International. http://www.transparency.org/news/feature/rana_plaza_one_year_on_what_has_changed
Tsoutsoura, Margarita. 2004. Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Performance. Center for Responsible Business, March. http://escholarship.org/uc/item/111799p2
Van Bommel, Koen, and André Spicer. 2011. Hail the Snail: Hegemonic Struggles in the Slow Food Movement. Organization Studies 32 (12): 1717–1744.
Vogel, D. 2008. CSR Doesn’t Pay. Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/2008/10/16/csr-doesnt-pay-lead-corprespons08-cx_dv_1016vogel.html
Wazir, B. 2001. Nike Accused of Tolerating Sweatshops | World News | The Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/may/20/burhanwazir.theobserver
Wicker, A. 2016. I Don’t Buy Fast Fashion, & Apparently People Don’t Like Me Because of It. Refinery 29. http://www.refinery29.com/why-i-dont-buy-fast-fashion-cheap-clothes
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2017 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lee, M.S.W., Seifert, M., Cherrier, H. (2017). Anti-consumption and Governance in the Global Fashion Industry: Transparency is Key. In: Hira, A., Benson-Rea, M. (eds) Governing Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry after Rana Plaza . Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60179-7_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60179-7_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-60178-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-60179-7
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)