OOlldd DDoommiinniioonn UUnniivveerrssiittyy OODDUU DDiiggiittaall CCoommmmoonnss OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers STEM Education & Professional Studies 2009 CCoonnssuummeerr BBeehhaavviioorr aanndd EEccoo--FFrriieennddllyy FFaasshhiioonn AAppppaarreell Christine Montero Old Dominion University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/ots_masters_projects Part of the Education Commons RReeccoommmmeennddeedd CCiittaattiioonn Montero, Christine, "Consumer Behavior and Eco-Friendly Fashion Apparel" (2009). OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers. 70. https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/ots_masters_projects/70 This Master's Project is brought to you for free and open access by the STEM Education & Professional Studies at ODU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers by an authorized administrator of ODU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND ECO-FRIENDLY FASHION APPAREL A Research Paper Presented to the Graduate Faculty Of the Department of STEM Education and Professional Studies Old Dominion University In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Master of Science in Occupational and Technical Studies By Christine C. Montero August 2009 APPROVAL PAGE This research paper was prepared by Christine C. Montero under the direction of Dr. John M. Ritz in OTED 636, Problems in Occupational and Technical Studies. It was submitted to the Graduate Program Director as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Occupational and Technical Studies. APPROVAL BY: ___________________________ _______________ Dr. John M. Ritz Date Advisor and Graduate Program Director i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author would like to thank Dr. John Ritz for his patience and guidance in writing this research paper, as well as those who participated in the survey. This paper is dedicated to the author’s family and friends for their tremendous support throughout her graduate school experience. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE APPROVAL PAGE i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii LIST OF TABLES v CHAPTERS I. INTRODUCTION 1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 1 RESEARCH GOALS 1 BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE 2 LIMITATIONS 3 ASSUMPTIONS 4 PROCEDURES 4 DEFINITION OF TERMS 5 OVERVIEW OF CHAPTERS 6 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE CONSUMER BEHAVIOR IN FASHION 8 CHALLENGES OF ENVIRONMENTAL FASHION 10 GREENING OF THE FASHION INDUSTRY 11 WHY NOW? 13 SUMMARY 16 III. METHODS AND PROCEDURES iii PAGE POPULATION 17 INSTRUMENT DESIGN 17 METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION 18 STATISTICAL ANALYSIS 18 SUMMARY 19 IV. FINDINGS OVERVIEW OF RESPONSES 20 DATA ANALYSIS 21 ORGANIC FOOD INFLUENCES 22 ECO-FRIENDLY MARKETING INFLUENCES 24 TRENDS AND FASHION INFLUENCES 25 APPAREL BRAND INFLUENCES 26 SUMMARY 26 V. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS SUMMARY 27 CONCLUSIONS 27 RECOMMENDATIONS 30 REFERENCES 32 APPENDICES 33 APPENDIX A. COVER LETTER 33 APPENDIX B. SURVEY 34 iv LIST OF TABLES PAGE TABLE I. OVERVIEW OF RESPONSES 20 TABLE II. MEAN AND PERCENTAGES FOR EACH QUESTION 22 v CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION “The big joke in the organic advocacy world is that one day we’ll have a shirt we can eat,” says Rebecca Calahan-Klein, president of nonprofit group Organic Exchange (Jana, 2006, p.1). The fashion apparel industry is following the footsteps of the food industry in the efforts to produce products from certified organic materials, without the use of harmful chemicals. Regarding the clothing business, the main accomplishment has been pesticide-free cotton, otherwise known as organic cotton. Naturally, these products are intended to appeal to the same eco-friendly consumers already hooked on organic food. This is the target group of the eco-friendly fabric business. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM The problem of this study was to determine consumer behavior toward eco-friendly fashion lines in order to increase sales. RESEARCH GOALS The following research questions were used to guide this study: 1. Will consumers who currently purchase organic products be more likely to purchase from clothing brands that have an eco-friendly fashion line? 2. Will consumers be more likely to purchase clothing from an eco-friendly line if the apparel brand has marketed it as such before purchase? 3. Will consumers feel that eco-friendly fashion is trendy or not fashionable? 4. Will consumers be more likely to purchase eco-friendly fashion if their apparel brand of choice produces an eco-friendly line? 1 BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE Apparel manufacturers facing the to-be-or-not-to-be-organic question have it easier than Whole Foods, a supermarket that specializes in high-end and organic foods, in that a large market of consumers willing to pay up for organic products is well established (Jana, 2006). Therefore, the big-brand clothing makers and sellers are veering toward this environmental trend more quickly than they did in the food market. Apparel accounts for the largest proportion of merchandise given out in incentive programs every year; fifty-five percent of companies reported offering eco-friendly apparel in the April issue of Incentive Merchandise Facts Report (Smith, 2007). Perceptions of green can help drive business in all industries. For example, the Toyota Prius is the world’s first mass-produced gas-electric hybrid vehicle to hit the one million mark in sales. And its popularity is going strong amid surging gas prices and growing concerns about the environment (Kageyama, 2008). The Prius makes the statement that one is more earth friendly, not necessarily about the mileage. But the real concern is that consumers lose sight of the fact is if one is better off having a Toyota Corolla that gets forty miles to the gallon on the highway than someone else who drives a one hundred-four thousand dollar Lexus hybrid, which is technically a hybrid, but gets approximately twenty-two miles per gallon. Does going green work as a marketing tool? Will a green label help eco- friendly fashion companies sell apparel? Are the same consumers who are purchasing green products, purchasing the often more expensive eco-friendly 2 fashion? What helps to drive the eco-friendly purchase - the statement or the consumer demographics? The relationship between the green marketing movement and consumer behavior is an important topic to a wide range of subject areas. The compilation of data from this research will add to the database of common factors that impacted the relationship between these two variables. It will assist in filling the gap of knowledge between the reasoning why consumers purchase, often more expensive, eco-friendly apparel lines. In the end, it is the consumers who dictate where the market will go. Consumer wants and needs create a cycle of consumer demand, industry catering to that demand, and finally, consumer acceptance with the purchase of merchandise in the retail market (Frings, 2008). The overview of this study could assist in marketing efforts by the eco-friendly fashion lines and their knowledge of consumer behavior. It could also assist fashion apparel companies in determining whether or not to produce an eco- friendly line. LIMITATIONS The following were limitations to this research study: (cid:1) The participants of this study were chosen from Dollar Tree Stores, Inc. employees within the Corporate Merchandising Department. (cid:1) The apparel brands named in this study were: H&M, Esprit, Wal-Mart, Gaiam, Nike, Patagonia, and Levi Strauss & Co. 3