Investigating the Ethical Intention-behavior Gap within Green Luxury Fashion and how to Possibly Affect it

Abstract

In order to protect the environment against the issues of climate changes caused by general overpopulation and -consumption, consumers have started to pay more attention to changing their consumption patterns toward being more conscious and environmentally friendly. One of the most damaging industries for the environment is the textile industry. This thesis investigates the ethical intentionbehavior gap within the field of luxury fashion. The purpose of this paper is to extend the literature on luxury consumption and the ethical intention-behavior gap while aiming to explore how different variables influence the purchase behavior of green luxury fashion products. The study uses a conceptual application of the Theory of Planned Behavior to determine influential variables of green luxury consumption. Through an exploratory research strategy, an online survey targeted 286 international luxury consumers. Particularly, the significance of the additional attributes of price and the use of a climate label were explored in relation to the ethical intention-behavior gap and the consumers’ propensity to consider attributes in the purchasing of green luxury goods. The findings highlight that environmental knowledge plays no significant role in the formation of sustainable attitudes and purchase intentions, while green luxury purchase intentions are particularly affected by sustainable attitude and perceived behavioral control. If the price of an ethical luxury product is higher than a similar non-ethical luxury product, consumers are not likely to transform their positive green intentions into purchase behavior. As a consequence, an identified pricesensitivity appeared despite the existence of ethical concerns and a climate label reminding the consumers about their green intentions. Therefore, an intention-behavior gap exists within green luxury fashion. Thus, it is found to be important that the government and companies pay attention to their responsibility of implementing environmental values into future operations of production, innovation, and marketing, in order to create awareness and knowledge, and satisfy the demands of the ethical consumers. As such, it is possible to contribute to the development of the green luxury fashion industry.