Consumo de moda sustentável: uma análise experimental cross-cultural de consumidores brasileiros e norte-americanos

Abstract

Representing one of the most polluting industries, fashion may use, by 2030, more than 100 billion cubic meters of water to produce items that are discarded in less than one year after its purchase. Companies, aware of these impacts and the movements supported by consumers, such as the slow fashion, are identifying alternatives to include sustainability in their processes and products. In this context, this paper aims to understand the effects of the level of transparency on the sustainable appeal in fashion collections on the attitude and on the purchase intention of Brazilian and North American consumers, using the country as a moderator of these interactions. For this, a cross-cultural experiment is conducted, using the theory of planned behavior as the theoretical framework for the proposed model. The results demonstrate that there is a significant relation between sustainable collections and attitude, as well as purchase intention. These relations are intensified the more information the consumer receives about the sustainability aspects present in the product and its processes. Also, attitude plays a mediator role in the relation between sustainability and purchase intention. The moderation of culture is also confirmed in the case of Brazilian consumers, in which sustainability positively impacts attitude and purchase intention of fashion collections, increasing in conditions of high transparency. On the other hand, for North American consumers, the moderation results are not significant to demonstrate the impact on the analyzed variables. Moreover, the findings indicate possible ways for fashion brands to communicate their sustainable practices, as well as it complements previous research carried out in the field.