The Moral Dilemma in Fashion: Using the Prisoner’s Dilemma Game on Animals and the Environment

Abstract

This study aims to determine the optimal solution to the dilemma that arises from vegan fashion materials by identifying current vegan or cruelty-free fashion brands that advocate “animal-friendly” and revealing how animal ethics should be expressed so that consumers more effectively accept it. This research applies the “prisoner’s dilemma,” which is a situation that is often used in game theory. First, the solution to the dilemma of vegan fashion materials using Pareto efficiency is more ideal and rational than that of the Nash equilibrium point. Second, this study finds that many vegan fashion brands use a blend of synthetic materials rather than animal-derived materials. While all cruelty-free fashion brands have been cooperative with the environment, some are treacherous to animals by allowing the manufacture of animal materials. Additionally, animal-friendly brands are being developed mainly in the United States and Canada.

Keywords:

• word
• game theory
• prisoner’s dilemma
• vegan fashion
• animal ethics
• environmental ethics

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Research Program funded by the Seoul National University of Science and Technology.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yeong-Hyeon Choi

Yeong-Hyeon Choi is a visiting assistant professor at the College of Business and Technology at Seoul National University of Science and Technology. She received her M.S./Ph.D from the Hanyang University in Clothing and Textiles. Her research interests include fashion retailing, fashion marketing, ethical fashion consumption, and fashion analytics. [email protected]

Saram Han

Saram Han is an assistant professor at the College of Business and Technology at Seoul National University of Science and Technology. He received his Ph.D. from the Cornell School of Hotel Administration in the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, and an M.S. degree from the Michigan Program in Survey and Data Science, University of Michigan. His research interests include online customer engagement, digital marketing, service marketing, and marketing analytics. [email protected]