| The over consumptive behaviors in society often cause a great deal of environmental impact. Many consumers are unaware of their impact when they purchase low quality, inexpensive apparel items, sometimes referred to as "fast fashion." The fast fashion business model is based upon inexpensive, low-quality garments, quick production and sale, and high consumption. A sustainable alternative is the "slow fashion" business model, where consumers invest in the quality of the garment and are encouraged to hold onto it longer. The purpose of this study was to understand whether exposure to education about slow fashion regarding its environmental benefits would influence consumers' attitude and purchase intentions toward slow fashion products. This study used the Theory of Planned Behavior with the additional variables of environmental values, shopping values, and knowledge of slow fashion. The methodology took place in three phases: a focus group, pre-educational survey and educational module to measure pre- and post-education differences, and post-educational survey, resulting in 163 usable responses for further analyses. Results showed that the educational module increased young adult consumers' knowledge of slow fashion and attitudes towards slow fashion; however, purchase intention did not change. Among the additional variables to the Theory of Planned Behavior, results showed that only environmental values had significant influence in young adult consumers' attitudes and purchase intentions towards slow fashion and that subjective knowledge was the strongest predictor of young adult consumers' perceived behavioral control. From the original framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior, attitude and perceived behavioral control were significant in predicting young adult consumers' purchase intentions towards slow fashion, subjective norm was not a significant predictor of purchase intention towards slow fashion. Discussion about the theoretical and managerial implications of the study was provided. |
