The aim of the research was to investigate how to stimulate sustainable consumer behaviors that lead to a lowering of the carbon footprint. Because of environmental challenges at the individual and societal levels, researchers agree that behavioral change is necessary. We argue that when already performing a sustainable behavior, this behavior can spill over to other sustainable actions, even to more difficult ones. First, we studied whether a positive behavioral spillover occurs between product categories and whether the spillover effect depends on the ease or difficulty of the sustainable behavior. Second, we investigated whether high awareness of sustainability determines the spillover between categories. We conducted three online experiments in Central Europe, investigating whether spillover takes place between behaviors assigned to the same category (transport or food) or between behaviors assigned to different categories (transport or food). In all three studies participants had to make two independent decisions. In studies 1a (N=281) and 1b (N=195), the effect of the ease/difficulty of the behavior was tested. In study 2 (N=164), awareness of CO2 emission reducing effects was manipulated. Findings revealed a behavioral spillover between sustainable choices.

Background Sustainability is one of the hot topics in the apparel industry currently. Companies are working to improve an environmental impact of clothing production and social conditions at manufacturers and communicating to the public about these practices. At the same time, consumers are showing a growing interest towards sustainability in the apparel industry. However, there is little knowledge about how consumers perceive sustainability and how much they pay attention to the apparel companies’ sustainability practices. Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to examine, with a holistic perspective, how consumers perceive sustainability in the apparel industry and how it affects their purchasing behaviour. Methodology A web-based self-completion questionnaire was conducted to examine consumers’ clothing purchasing behaviour and their perception of sustainability within the apparel industry. Convenience sampling method was used for the primary data collection. In total, 423 respondents from Sweden and Finland participated in this study. Findings The findings of this study show that the respondents are generally concerned about environmental issues in the apparel industry. However, their favourable attitudes seldom transfer into their purchasing intentions. Furthermore, the results show that the consumers of this study do not actively search sustainability information. Particularly they are not paying attention to the communication at the point of clothing purchase. Contribution This study gives insights into how consumers reflect upon sustainability when purchasing clothes and how actively they search for sustainability information. These insights are a valuable base for future improvements in order to achieve a meaningful manner in the apparel industry’s sustainability communication.

This study focuses on sustainability information and consumers’ attitude and perception of sustainability information in the footwear industry. Sustainability has become increasingly important in the fashion industry; thus, the footwear industry has not reached the same level of interest and attention. In addition, companies do not know how to communicate sustainability and sustainability information and therefore, green marketing has evolved as an opportunity for companies to communicate sustainability. However, the downside of green marketing is that it can be perceived as untrustworthy and mistaken for greenwashing. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to understand consumers’ attitude and perception of sustainability and sustainability information in the footwear industry. To reach a suitable customer segment, a collaboration with Vagabond Shoemakers was initiated. This enabled the data collection to be held in the Vagabond Store in Gothenburg via a selfcompletion questionnaire. The data was analysed quantitatively via regression analysis in IBM SPSS Statistics. The regression analysis shows several significant correlations between dependent and independent variables such as the consumers’ attitude towards sustainability in general and their attitude towards sustainability information in the footwear industry. The result proves that the consumers are interested in receiving sustainability information when purchasing footwear. However, the consumers do not believe they receive enough sustainability information in either brick-and-mortar retail stores or online. Despite that the consumers of this study tend to believe that sustainability information in general is trustworthy, they do not believe that sustainability information in the footwear industry is trustworthy. This is unfortunate as the consumers of this study show interest in and value sustainability information and believe it is an important aspect when purchasing footwear. The result of this study contributes to anunderstanding of consumers’ perception and attitude towards sustainability information in thefootwear industry. This can be a foundation for developing green marketing strategies that companies can utilise so as to educate and inform consumers about sustainability and sustainable development. By utilising green marketing as a communication tool, companies have the possibility to affect consumers’ attitude, intention and behaviour towards sustainable consumption.

In this thesis, authors’ main goal is to test two hypotheses to compare if the tourists are more likely to make their destination choice based on user generated photographs on social media, as well as, tourists’ sustainable destination choice based on photographs with sustainable green content. The quantitative research method was used to conduct the survey with experimental design. It was aimed to compare the tourist’ trust in different photo types, the consumers’ trust was expected to be measured by three dimensions: first impression, intention, and persuasiveness, recommended by previous studies. However, the findings revealed that the tourists are not more likely to trust user generated content on social media to make their destination choice.

The purpose of this study was to better understand how consumers of fast fashion clothing with different shopping motivations consider sustainability during their purchase. The different shopping motivations are hedonic and utilitarian, which are respectively the emotion of shopping and the function of shopping. The main question for this research was “How do consumers of fast fashion clothing with different motivations (hedonic or utilitarian) consider sustainability during their purchase?” This qualitative research made use of 11 focus groups and a total of 44 participants to obtain in-depth data. The participants were divided into whether their main shopping motivation was hedonic, or utilitarian based on how they answered specific questions. The answers from both groups were compared with each other to find possible differences. When weighing the evidence and conclusions from the research, it appears relatively likely that there are no significant differences between consumers with a hedonic main shopping motivation and consumers with a utilitarian main shopping motivation. This leads to the conclusion of the main question, which is that there is no difference in how consumers of fast fashion clothing with different motivations consider sustainability during their purchase.

Globalisation has led to a rising need for sustainable efforts, not least in the fast fashion industry which is associated with unsustainable procedures in order to meet consumers’ needs and desires. In the fast fashion industry, collections of ecological fabrics, fair working conditions as well as higher quality are examples of sustainable actions. Additionally, the increasingly globalised world has created a demand to comprehend how the deeply rooted national culture affects consumers in the international fast fashion industry. The main target segment of the fast fashion industry is the Millennial generation and should thereby be further emphasised. The relevance of these topics led to the formulation of following research question: How does national culture affect Millennials’ perception of sustainability and intended buying behaviour in the fast fashion industry? The literature review introduces the five identified themes which are considered relevant in relation to the area of research; the Millennials, sustainability, fast fashion, sustainable consumer behaviour and culture. To finalise the literature review, a conceptual framework is presented which explains the connection between the themes. Furthermore, the thesis adopts a qualitative research method with an abductive approach. Therefore, four cross-cultural focus groups of 28 Millennials with seven different nationalities are conducted. This method is considered the most suitable for this thesis’ research area and purpose. Further, the empirical findings and the analysis are combined into one chapter which creates a discussion between the literature review, especially Hofstede’s dimensions of national culture, and the gathered data. Finally, the conclusion includes the answer to the research question, theoretical and practical implications, limitations and suggestions for further research. The results of this thesis indicate that national culture affects the perception of sustainability and the intended buying behaviour in the fast fashion industry in a complex manner, since the impact of national culture depends on the combination of dimensions. Furthermore, certain dimensions appear to be more dominant and decrease the impact of others.

Planned Obsolescence is a threat to sustainability and is a practice that has increased in recent years. Manufacturers and companies are often blamed, but recent research has shown that consumers play a significant role and thus hold considerable responsibility for Planned Obsolescence practices. This thesis explores the effect that Planned Obsolescence in smartphones has on sustainable consumers who reside in Sweden. Focus groups and individual interviews were carried out with sixteen participants who were identified as sustainable consumers. The results were diverse and related to different situational, social, and psychological aspects classified into four categories: social elements, implied premature upgrading, psychological elements, and misalignment in sustainable values and behaviour. The study concludes that Planned Obsolescence in smartphones creates a social barrier that does not allow sustainable consumers to maintain their sustainable consuming habits within this sector and provokes negative feelings within them, which interlink with social circumstances. Moreover, this phenomenon affects consumers by implying that they constantly should replace their devices even though they are rather satisfied with their current ones. Finally, Planned Obsolescence in smartphones broadens the gap between consumers’ sustainable values and behaviours, and this inconsistency seems to be more significant for smartphones than in other sectors.

Digital technologies can be used to provide consumers in the clothing industry with information in a transparent way that supports sustainable consumer behaviour. Consumers expect more information that can support their sustainable behaviour but have little trust in the information, thus introducing the consumer need for more information transparency in the clothing industry which is the subject of this research study. A qualitative interview study is used to explore consumer informational needs and sustainable consumer behaviour in the clothing industry by purchasing second-hand clothing or adopting a digital clothing sharing service. The theory of planned behaviour was applied in the construction of the study and in the thematic analysis to understand consumer behaviour. Findings show that information transparency can be designed to provide subjective relevance, social -, financial-, and temporal transparency and information accessibility to support sustainable consumer behaviour in the clothing industry because it increases trust, understandability and accessibility. The study contributes with knowledge of additional dimensions for information transparency and particularly to service research by showing that consumers need information transparency to promote a collaborative relation between consumers and companies.

Sustainability is a topic paying a visit to most industries today and the fashion business is no exception.The development of eco-efficient stores is one of the efforts carried out by Inditex Group with the aim to adopt sustainability into its practices. Such stores distinguish themselves for saving electricity, water and by greatly reducing the amount of CO2 that is yearly produced. The concept was initiated with the Zara brand but it will be introduced to the other six brands that integrate Inditex as well. However, despite the reduction in the carbon footprint it cannot be denied that the fast fashion business model creates a paradox in terms of sustainability.The following is a case study on the Zara Rome eco-efficient store. Being a store benchmark in Europe, it explores how the sustainability concept is communicated through this model and if the identified paradox is addressed. To do so, the study analyzes the external, internal and interactive marketing of the eco-shop based on the service marketing triangle theory and the Mehrabian-Russell stimulus-response model used in visual merchandising. Participant observation on site and a content analysis of relevant documents were carried out as research methods in order to find the messages emitted on each side of the triangle.The analysis shows that the paradox in the Zara eco-shops is not being handled at the customer level, though it is being handled at internal and external levels. As a conclusion, the eco-shops effort is part of a sustainability strategy with long term perspective and it will be addressed at customer level when the company as a whole counts with a more sustainable brand identity. Additionally suggestions are offered to potentialize the communication of sustainability in an eco-shop. / Program: Master in Fashion Management with specialisation in Fashion Marketing and Retailing

The clothing industry has for long been associated to sustainability, especially concerning the environment and ethical issues. Sweden has several times been distinguished as a country with great sustainable development yet Swedish consumers consume beyond their resources. 4,2 globes would be required if the whole world consumed like we do in Sweden. In order to increase the sustainable way of consuming clothing, we have in this study researched what incentives motivates consumers to choose sustainable clothing alternatives. Moreover, we have observed how the incentives respond to the variables gender and social class. The purpose of this study is to provide with information on how Swedish consumers prioritize their incentives to sustainable clothing consumption. Furthermore we will provide marketers with useful information that could contribute to an increasing sale of sustainable garments. Referring to prior research, we have identified the most frequently used incentives concerning sustainable consumption to Environmental, Social responsibility, Consumers’ health, Quality of material, Philanthropy and Trend purpose. Through a quantitative web based survey shared within several sustainable facebook pages, we have been able to demonstrate that the previously mentioned incentives can be applied on sustainable clothing consumption as well. We have also found tendencies proving differences in prioritizing dependent on gender and social class. However, it is important to have in mind the very fact that this study is based upon respondents’ perception of themselves as sustainable consumers hence a generalized conclusion of the whole population cannot be made. Based on the study’s result we can conclude that our respondents mainly prioritize incitements with collectivistic value principles. Furthermore, these can also relate to the need for love and belongingness in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Our findings also show that women with high education level and income are more prone to be motivated by environmental and ethical reasons. Concerning the men, we have not found an as appearing trend as for the women hence they have showed a wider spread in their replies. Among Swedish consumers, we have found a distinct willingness to pay more for sustainable clothing options. This applies to all respondents hence the study has not established a significant difference between the genders. However, we can determine an obscure tendency in difference concerning social class hence a high income tends to increase the willingness to pay more. / Klädindustrin har sedan länge kunnat kopplas samman med hållbarhet och då närmare bestämt miljöpåverkan samt etiska frågor. Sverige är ett land som toppar listor för hållbar utveckling men ändå konsumerar svenskar utöver sina resurser och hela 4,2 jordklot hade krävts ifall hela världen konsumerat på samma sätt. För att på sikt kunna öka den hållbara klädkonsumtionen har vi i denna studie sett till vilka incitament som ligger till grund för konsumtion av hållbara plagg. Vidare har vi sett till hur prioriteringarna inom dessa incitament varierar beroende på kön och klass. Studiens främsta bidrag har varit att visa hur svenska konsumenter väljer att prioritera sin hållbara klädkonsumtion. Utöver detta akademiska bidrag ville vi även bidra med kunskap kring hur klädföretag, på ett bättre och mer effektivt sätt, kan marknadsföra sina produkter av hållbara material. Utifrån tidigare forskning har vi identifierat de vanligaste förekommande incitamenteten för generell hållbar konsumtion: Miljö, Sociala förhållanden, Egen hälsa, Kvalitet på material, Filantropi samt Trendsyfte. Genom en kvantitativ digitaliserad enkätstudie som delats inom hållbara facebookgrupper har vi kunnat påvisa att dessa incitament kan appliceras även på hållbar klädkonsumtion och att då finns tendenser till skillnader i hur man prioriterar beroende på kön- och klasstillhörighet. Viktigt att ha i åtanke är det faktum att denna studie har utgått från att respondenterna själva får bedöma sina motiv och uppfattning kring deras hållbara konsumtion. Slutsatsen kan således ej påvisa ett generaliserbart resultat för hela populationen. Vi kan utifrån vår studies resultat visa att våra respondenter huvudsakligen prioriterar incitament med kollektivistisk värderingsgrund och dessa kan också kopplas samman med behoven för gemenskapsnivån i Maslows behovstrappa. Det har även framgått att det främst är kvinnor med hög utbildning och inkomst som motiveras av miljömässiga samt medmänskliga skäl. När det kommer till männen har det inte funnits en lika tydlig trend som hos kvinnorna då det förekommit större spridning i svaren. Bland svenska konsumenter har vi även funnit en villighet att betala mer för hållbara klädalternativ. Detta gäller samtliga konsumenter då studien inte funnit större skillnader mellan könen. Vi kan däremot konstatera en svag tendens till skillnader gällande klasstillhörighet då en hög inkomst tenderar öka villigheten att betala mer.