Sustainable Apparel Consumption: Personal Norms, CSR Expectations, and Hedonic vs. Utilitarian Shopping Value

Carolyn A. Lin (), Xihui Wang and Yukyung Yang
Additional contact information
Carolyn A. Lin: Department of Communication, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
Xihui Wang: Department of Communication, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
Yukyung Yang: Department of Communication, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 11, 1-16

Abstract: The sustainable consumption trend is gaining popularity among Gen Z. Guided by the environmental awareness construct, Norm Activation Model, corporate social responsibility paradigm, and shopping value perspective, this study aims to assess how environmental awareness is connected to consumer evaluations of their personal consumption behavior and corporate social responsibility to help explain their sustainable apparel purchase intention, in conjunction with consumer shopping motivation. An online survey was conducted with a group of Gen Z consumers (N = 192). The results from testing the conceptual model indicated that environmental awareness was positively linked to personal norms and CSR expectations, both of which were similarly related to green purchase intentions. While hedonic and utilitarian shopping value was positively associated with CSR expectations, they were both negative predictors of green purchase intentions. This study is the first to integrate environmental ethics, personal ethics, expectations of corporate ethics, and hedonic vs. utilitarian consumption value to better understand the attitude–behavior gap in sustainable apparel purchase decision-making.

Keywords: sustainable apparel consumption; corporate social responsibility; environmental awareness; personal norms; norm activation model; hedonic vs. utilitarian value (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/11/9116/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/11/9116/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:11:p:9116-:d:1164302

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().