Personality traits and social media as drivers of word-of-mouth towards sustainable fashion

Abstract

Purpose

The main objective is to investigate the effects of antecedents of word-of-mouth (WOM) towards sustainable fashion, using the Personality Traits theory. More specifically, this study wants to examine the impact of the Big Five personality traits on social media activities, which could affect eco-friendly behaviour and environmental concerns for fashion production. This impact is influenced by the use of WOM on sustainability in the fashion industry.

Design/methodology/approach

The partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS SEM) technique is used to evaluate the internal and external measurement model with a sample size of 272.

Findings

The three most active personality traits on social media are extraversion, openness to experience and agreeableness. Additionally, the active use of social media has a positive impact on the optimisation of users' eco-friendly behaviour and an increase in users' concerns for fashion production. Eco-friendly behaviour and environmental concerns for fashion production are important factors that lead to the spread of WOM.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the existing literature by evaluating the effects of the Big Five personality traits on using social networking and how will this improve the creation of WOM towards sustainability. This study is among the several scientific studies which combine the theory of Big Five personality traits with social networking, green behaviour and the WOM in a sustainability context.

Citation

Salem, S.F. and Alanadoly, A.B. (2021), "Personality traits and social media as drivers of word-of-mouth towards sustainable fashion", Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 24-44. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFMM-08-2019-0162