To Green or Not to Green?: A Study on Consumer Behavior and Ethically Produced Fashion

For a long time, production in the fashion industry wasn’t given a second thought when consumers would purchase fashion goods. Little about how the industry produced its goods was public knowledge, so consumers didn’t worry about the environmental implications of the products they were purchasing. In today’s world, where companies are required to be more transparent and have social responsibility, consumers are more knowledgeable (Shen, et al.; Grappi, et al.; Chan and Wong). This widespread knowledge seems to be affecting the way people purchase fashion. This paper examines how (and if) a consumer base knowledgeable about environmental pollution, caused by fashion production, changes the way they purchase goods. Using the knowledge, I’ve acquired from my studies, along with scholarly research and a survey, I’ve examined different cases of known unethical production in fashion to see if knowledge of these cases has changed how consumers purchase their goods. I’ve also identified if there is a generational change in what consumers consider when purchasing fashion