Resumen:
Using choice-based conjoint analysis, this research explores consumer behavior for sustainable fashion in Spain. We confronted consumers through an online survey with a real marketplace situation in which they had to make trade-offs between different attributes and where the importance of the price factor was explicitly considered. Specifically, the information available for consumers on clothing hangtags - price, country of origin, material composition, and (with/without) fair-trade label - was used to study consumer preferences for sustainable fashion products. Furthermore, we examined how consumers ponder the five dimensions of sustainable fashion - functionality, authenticity, exclusivity, localism and equity. Based on a sample of 1,063 respondents, the results indicate that price is still the critical purchasing driver for the average consumer. 31.9% of the sample always chose the lowest price-tag independently of the other attributes. Combining the conjoint results, the attitude towards the five dimensions of slow fashion, and demographics, we identified four clusters of consumers: Sustainability Rejecters, Sustainability Neutrals, Sustainability Believers, and Sustainability Enthusiasts. Ninety-two consumers, 8.65% of the sample, appear to buy sustainable fashion regularly. This endorses and significantly adds to the literature on sustainable fashion consumer behavior in a flourishing market and to the attitude-behavior gap research.
