Are Consumers Opting into Sustainable Fashion for its Ethical and Environmental Impacts or its Social Implications?
Abstract
The recent development of conscious ethical behavior within the realm of consumption has created a new subset of fashion for creators and consumers alike: the sustainable fashion market. This new form of sustainable production promotes insight that is often overlooked in everyday clothing production: moral values, environmental well-being, and the question of whether clothing production is wasteful and polluting to the environment and public health. The current regard explored in this study investigates the new trend of sustainable fashion that is sweeping all platforms, to determine what the purchasing motivations of its consumers are. Ethical and social implications are explored, something that has not been researched in conjunction prior to this study, to aid companies in producing responsibly and creating high demand products for consumers. New production practices with a focus on environmental wellbeing will ultimately push the fashion industry towards a higher standard of sustainability. A survey was administered to pinpoint consumer motivations within sustainable fashion, while controlling for demographics, age ranges, and various factors such as cost and personal knowledge. From this data, the distribution of purchasing criteria and personal values can be observed, highlighting the importance of social and ethical motivations to various individuals when purchasing sustainable clothing. Participants with a high Moral Attentiveness are seen to be more ethically motivated, while those with a high Social Consciousness are seen to be more socially motivated when purchasing sustainable clothing.
Citation
Piwonski, Avery M (2022). Are Consumers Opting into Sustainable Fashion for its Ethical and Environmental Impacts or its Social Implications?. Undergraduate Research Scholars Program. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /196582.