Antecedents to green apparel purchase behavior of Indian consumers

ABSTRACT

The current study examines the influence of innovativeness theory-based consumer independent judgment making (CIJM), novelty-seeking behavior (CNS), green apparel knowledge (GAK) and green apparel perceived effectiveness (GAPE) on green apparel purchase behavior (GAPB) in an emerging economy, i.e., India. The covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) and a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) were employed. A mall intercept method was used for data collection across 10 cities in India. A total of 450 responses were obtained through a structured questionnaire. Results indicated that green apparel perceived effectiveness (GAPE) and green apparel knowledge (GAK) had a positive influence on Indian consumers’ green apparel purchase behavior (GAPB). Consumer innovativeness construct of consumer independent judgment making (CIJM) and novelty-seeking behavior (CNS) had no positive impact on green apparel purchase behavior (GAPB). The findings can help green apparel manufacturers, environmentalists, and marketers to focus on prominently communicating the environment-related benefits of green apparels. Green clothing benefits may be improved by incorporating new fashion, designs, fabrics, and trendy styles.

KEYWORDS:

• Green apparel
• perceived effectiveness
• green apparel knowledge
• innovativeness
• green apparel purchase

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Editor-in-Chief Prof. Arch G. Woodside and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback on the manuscript. In addition, the authors would like to express their gratitude towards Institute of Management, Nirma University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat for administrative support and special thanks to Dr. Sunita Guru for providing motivation and technical expertise in fsQCA data curation procedure.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.