Marketing Organic Cotton to Consumers

Over the past few decades there has been an increase in the awareness of sustainability and the unethical practices of many fashion companies have been exposed. Having a shift in awareness has caused an increased pressure on fashion companies to be more transparent, foster more sustainable and uphold ethical practices (Hepburn, 2013). One way brands are striving to be more sustainable is through the use of organic cotton. We know that there are a variety of ways brands can market organic clothing which can increase consumer interest and sales. The challenges consumers are facing is the lack of knowledge about organic cotton due to businesses not educating people properly. We know that a combination of organic and social responsibility certification, label utilization, and consumer education can all be helpful marketing tools to help increase consumers interest in organic cotton clothing and their desire to purchase. What we do not know is how much consumers care about organic and social responsibility certification, label utilization, and consumer education so that is the primary goal of our research. We understand that we can gain a significant amount of data on how consumers perceive organic cotton by furthering our research through conducting surveys and looking at the comments from consumers on clothing brand websites, online articles, and social media. To achieve our goal we will gain quantitative data on what topics are most important to consumers when considering and purchasing organic cotton, changes can be made to help market and brand organic cotton more effectively