Consumer behavior in Ireland: an analysis of the barriers to purchase sustainable clothing.
Authors
Keiko Kawassaki, Elaine
Issue Date
2021
Degree
MBA in Marketing
Publisher
Dublin Business School
Rights holder
Rights
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Abstract
This study aimed to understand the contradiction among consumers in Ireland, who stated they are willing to buy sustainable clothing, but few of them convert this intention into behavior, generating an intention-behavior gap. In parallel, it purposed to identify the barriers consumers have to change their behavior toward greener clothing consumption. It is a positivist research philosophy and to gather data from a convenience sample, it applied an online quantitative questionnaire survey, which worked on consumer purchase behavior, as the dependent variable, and environmental knowledge, consumer values, perceived products attributes, ethics and sustainability, the high price of sustainable clothing, subjective norms, and implementation intention, as the independent variables. The findings emphasized that consumers are price-sensitive, as the high prices of sustainable garments in comparison to fast fashion undermine their ethical intention, which has not been converted into purchase behavior so often.