An investigation into the clothing repair behaviour of fashion-sensitive consumers

Abstract

Pro-environmental practices are an essential component of consumer culture in this century. Consumers are endeavouring to be eco-friendlier than ever, yet extant research suggests that consumers who are sensitive to rapidly changing fashion trends are mostly unwilling to repair out-of-fashion clothes, and consequently, unsustainably dispose of their unwanted garments. The scarcity of empirical research on the mediating effects of fashion-sensitive consumers’ pro-environmental practices on their clothing repair behaviour is thus the fundamental motivation for this research. The primary research data in this study were collected using a cross-sectional online survey of 1013 adult consumers from four Anglosphere countries, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States of America. A total of 515 female, and 498 male, fashion-sensitive consumers from these countries indicated that general pro-environmental practices have a positive effect on their clothing repair behaviour. Specifically, older male consumers with higher education levels are more likely to engage in clothing repair behaviour than are female consumers. Canadian consumers are the most likely, by country, to engage in clothing repair behaviour, based on the mediating effect of their pro-environmental practices. Conceptually, this research sheds light on the association between pro-environmental practices of fashion-sensitive consumers and their clothing repair behaviour. Pragmatically, the findings of this research provide insights for social marketers in developing effective clothing repair strategies for fashion-sensitive consumers.

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