Media and sustainable apparel buying intention

Purpose – Using the theory of planned behavior, this paper examined the relationships between different types of media and the intention to buy sustainable apparel and tested whether attitudes, social norms, and self-efficacy beliefs may explain these relationships. Design/methodology/approach – A cross-sectional survey study was conducted among 681 young adults (18-26 years old). Findings – Exposure to social media content of sustainable organizations, eco-activists and sustainable apparel brands and social media content of fashion bloggers and fast fashion brands predicted respondents’ attitudes, descriptive and subjective norms, and self-efficacy beliefs regarding buying sustainable apparel. In turn, attitudes, descriptive norms, and self-efficacy beliefs predicted the intention to buy sustainable apparel. Fashion magazines predicted the intention through self-efficacy. Specialized magazines did not predict the intention to buy sustainable apparel. Research limitations/implications – Results should be generalized with caution as the current study relied on a convenience sample of young adults. The cross-sectional study design limits the ability to draw conclusions regarding causality. Actual behavior was not addressed and needs to be included in further research. Practical implications – The present study hints at the importance of social media to affect young consumers’ intentions to buy sustainable apparel. Sustainable apparel brands should consider attracting more young social media users to their social media pages. Originality/value – This study is one of the first to examine the potential of different media to promote sustainable apparel buying intention. Keywords Fast fashion, Social media, Theory of planned behavior, Sustainable apparel, Magazines Paper type Research paperstatus: publishe