Consumers¡¯ Value, Environmental Consciousness, and Willingness to Pay more toward Green-Apparel Products

Consumer awareness of and concerns for the environmenthave increased significantly and environmental concerns nowrepresent one of the major factors in consumer decisionmaking.
While there have been many studies regarding green marketing,limited research has been conducted concerning the consumers¡¯view on ethical issues in the fashion industry and itsinfluence on their purchase behavior (Laroche, et al., 2001;Dickson, 2000; Butler & Francis, 1997).
This study looks at the relationships among environmentalconsciousness, willingness to pay more toward environmentallyfriendly apparel products and buying behavior among collegestudents. It also examines the effects of fashion involvement,which is considered one of the important values in apparelpurchasing behavior.
Laroch, et al.¡¯s (2001) conceptual framework serves as a basisfor the present research. In this framework, they considerfactors that may influence consumers¡¯ willingness to pay morefor environmentally friendly products using five categories:demographics, knowledge, values, attitudes and behavior.
Among these five categories, four of them (knowledge, values,attitudes and behavior) were adopted and knowledge, attitudesand behavior were considered as an environmental consciousnessand those were included as predictors of willingness topay more for green apparel in this research. In addition, sincemany studies examined the hierarchical relationship betweenvalues, knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors, it was hypothesizedthat value (fashion involvement) will influence environmentalconsciousness (knowledge, attitudes, and behavior) and environmentalconsciousness will have direct effect on willingness topay more for eco-friendly apparel products following reviewsof literature.
Based on the previous discussion, six hypotheses were developed:H1. Consumers who have higher fashion involvement valuewill have less environmental knowledge than those whohave lower fashion involvement value.
H2. Consumers who have higher fashion involvement valuewill have lower environmental concern than those whohave lower fashion involvement value. H3. Consumers who have higher fashion involvement valuewill demonstrate fewer environmentally sensitive behaviorsthan consumers who have lower fashion involvementvalue.
H4. Consumers who have more environmental knowledge willdemonstrate a greater willingness to pay more for environmentallyfriendly apparel products than consumers whohave less environmental knowledge.
H5. Consumers who have higher environmental concerns willshow higher willingness to pay more for environmentallyfriendly apparel products than consumers who have lowerenvironmental concerns.
H6. Consumers who are more involved in environmentally sensitivebehaviors will have higher willingness to pay morefor environmentally friendly apparel products than consumerswho are less engaged in general environmentalbehaviors.
The questionnaire was developed from existing measures ofthe variables and from the author. The participants were 150undergraduate students attending a Midwestern university. Totest the hypothesized model, linear structural equation modeling(LISREL 8) was performed.
The findings of this study provide that university studentswho had more interest in fashion tended to know less aboutenvironmental issues, to show less concern about the environment,and to be involved less in the environmentally sensitivebehaviors. According to the results, there was no relationshipbetween environmental knowledge and willingness to pay morefor eco-friendly apparel. This indicates that people who havemore knowledge about the environment are not necessarily theconsumers of eco-friendly apparel. The findings also show thatcollege students who were more concerned about the environmenttended to be willing to pay more for green apparel.
College students who made more effort to conserve energy andnatural resources also tended to be willing to spend more forgreen apparel.
This research provides valuable insights for eco-friendly apparelproduct retailers and manufacturers by indicating that twodimensions of environmental consciousness (attitude and behavior)were good predictors of college students¡¯ willingness tospend more for green apparel.
Environmentally sensitive behavior like conserving natural resourcesis a good indicator to intention to purchase environmentallyfriendly apparel products. Retailers and marketersmight need to encourage students to be aware the importanceof environmentally sensitive behaviors and to involve in those behaviors. Marketers in the fashion industry need to considercollege students¡¯ environmental concerns and conserving naturalresources behaviors when they make marketing decisions forenvironmentally-friendly apparel products. The apparel marketersalso need to develop creative marketing strategies for theeco-friendly apparel products to persuade the fashion-consciousconsumers. Although environmental knowledge was not relatedto intention to pay more for green apparel, it might be relatedto environmental concern or other environmental behavior. It isalso suggested that apparel retailers and marketers should use aconsistent and reliable message about their practice of greenmarketing in order not to confuse consumers.