How does sustainability affect you?: A holistic view of how sustainability affects consumers’ apparel purchasing behaviour in Sweden and in Finland
2018 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (Two Years)), 20 credits / 30 HE credits
Student thesis
Sustainable development
Sustainable Development/Sustainability is used as a subject keyword for the thesis
Abstract [en]
Background
Sustainability is one of the hot topics in the apparel industry currently. Companies are working to improve an environmental impact of clothing production and social conditions at manufacturers and communicating to the public about these practices. At the same time, consumers are showing a growing interest towards sustainability in the apparel industry. However, there is little knowledge about how consumers perceive sustainability and how much they pay attention to the apparel companies’ sustainability practices.
Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to examine, with a holistic perspective, how consumers perceive sustainability in the apparel industry and how it affects their purchasing behaviour.
Methodology
A web-based self-completion questionnaire was conducted to examine consumers’ clothing purchasing behaviour and their perception of sustainability within the apparel industry. Convenience sampling method was used for the primary data collection. In total, 423 respondents from Sweden and Finland participated in this study.
Findings
The findings of this study show that the respondents are generally concerned about environmental issues in the apparel industry. However, their favourable attitudes seldom transfer into their purchasing intentions. Furthermore, the results show that the consumers of this study do not actively search sustainability information. Particularly they are not paying attention to the communication at the point of clothing purchase.
Contribution
This study gives insights into how consumers reflect upon sustainability when purchasing clothes and how actively they search for sustainability information. These insights are a valuable base for future improvements in order to achieve a meaningful manner in the apparel industry’s sustainability communication.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2018.
Keywords [en]
Apparel industry, Consumer behaviour, Sustainability, Sustainability communication, Sustainable consumer behaviour
National Category
Economics and Business
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hb:diva-14015OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hb-14015DiVA, id: diva2:1201683
Subject / course
Textile management
2018-04-302018-04-262018-04-30Bibliographically approved