Consumer Analysis of Purchasing Behavior for Green Apparel

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to evaluate consumer knowledge, beliefs, norms, motivations and attitudes on purchase intention and purchase behavior for green apparel. Specifically, the study examines the impact of consumer knowledge of green industry initiatives and green textile brands, consumer beliefs related to the general environment, subjective norms influencing green apparel purchasing, the motivation to purchase green apparel, consumer attitudes towards green products on the intention to purchase green apparel products and actual purchase behavior.

The Theory of Reasoned Action provided the theoretical framework for the research. The TRA, often referred to as the behavioral intentions model, was constructed to explain the relationships between attitude and behavior (Azjen and Fishbein, 1980). According to the theory, a person’s intention is a function of two basic determinants, one personal in nature and the other reflecting social influence (Azjen and Fishbein, 1980). To increase the scope of the model, beliefs, knowledge and motivations were added as items that influence intention to purchase.

This research is performed on a convenience sample of college students which represents an important future market for environmentally friendly products both within and outside the textile industry. Data was collected from student respondents (N=303) in the College of Textiles at North Carolina State University using a self-administered survey. Measurements for the model’s constructs were adopted from the literature and in some cases adapted for the study. Cronbach’s Alpha was used to evaluate the internal consistency of the scale items and linear regression was used to test the proposed hypotheses. Results indicated significant relationships for all nine proposed hypotheses.

Results suggest that consumer knowledge of green industry initiatives and green brands, beliefs relating to corporate responsibility, subjective norms, motivations to research, search and buy green apparel, and attitudes toward purchasing green apparel are all influential on the intention to purchase and purchase behavior within the context of purchasing green textiles and apparel. Implications for textile and apparel marketing are presented along with future directions for research academics and industry practitioners.