Fashion and sustainability: Evidence from the consumption of second-hand clothes

Abstract

Companies are becoming increasingly involved with sustainability as various stakeholders require them to orient their activities in line with sustainability and its principles. In some industries, such as the food industry and the fashion industry, these requests are particularly relevant because they are considered to be keenly related to environmental and social issues. In this study, by integrating Ajzen's theory of planned behavior with Schwartz's norm activation model, we seek to understand the main drivers behind a consumer's decision to engage in second-hand clothes buying processes. Our results not only highlight the advantages of integrating various models to obtain a more rounded perspective on ethical consumer motivations but also enable the identification of relevant drivers of this specific behavior. Accordingly, the results might help managers in this industry be more effective in their sustainability activities, as those activities result in positive perceptions among consumers and, thus, might trigger second-hand clothes purchases.