Extending the theory of planned behaviour to understand the effects of barriers towards sustainable fashion consumption
ISSN: 0955-534X
Article publication date: 24 February 2021
Issue publication date: 17 August 2021
Abstract
Purpose
Extending the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), this paper aims to measure the relative importance of different barriers to sustainable fashion consumption (SFC).
Design/methodology/approach
Existing studies have mainly adopted a qualitative methodology for identifying barriers to uptake of SFC, this study uses six of the main identified barriers: environmental apparel knowledge, perceived value, price sensitivity, product attributes and variety, availability and scepticism into the TPB framework to test and reveal which barriers have the greater impact on the TPB cognitions and consequently on building intention towards SFC. To test this model a survey study among 669 consumers from Europe, Asian and North America was conducted, structural equation modelling is used to test the research hypotheses.
Findings
Findings confirm the role of TPB cognitions on predicting intention and show that the proposed barriers provide a satisfactory explanation of the TPB model. Furthermore, results show that product attributes and variety and environmental apparel knowledge have the greatest impact on the TPB cognitions and on building intention towards SFC. Differences were found between the impacts of the price for the three continents.
Originality/value
This research contributes to the emerging sustainable fashion literature by examining the impact of different barriers to SFC in an extended TPB framework. To the best of our knowledge price sensitivity, availability and scepticism have never been studied in the context of sustainable fashion. It also provides a multifactor group analysis which uncovers differences among consumers from different continents.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Declarations of interest: None.
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Citation
Brandão, A. and Costa, A.G.d. (2021), "Extending the theory of planned behaviour to understand the effects of barriers towards sustainable fashion consumption", European Business Review, Vol. 33 No. 5, pp. 742-774. https://doi.org/10.1108/EBR-11-2020-0306
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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