Sustainability and consumers green purchasing priorities in fashion : What the industry’s impact on the environment means for the consumers’ priorities when purchasing new apparel.

Abstract: In this era of environmental upheaval, this study sought clarity on the matter of green purchasing behavior. How the fashion industry’s specific impact on the environment has affected consumers' attitude towards companies and their collections. It was identified that customers have been requesting sustainable products from their retailers more and more and yet, a conscious willingness to help on the part of the consumer did not necessarily equate to purchasing more sustainable products.  The empirical part of the study was based on a quantitative research approach. The findings and data collection were obtained through an online questionnaire, generating responses from 40 individuals. Deductive reasoning was selected in this thesis as a scientific approach. The research has been done from the consumer's perspective. Furthermore, the collected data that created the hypothesis was analyzed and gathered from existing theories.  The conclusion of this research demonstrated that consumers did possess a willingness to be more conscious of their own climate change footprint by adapting green purchasing intentions such as buying less new clothes at present than 5 years ago. The findings indicated that consumer awareness did not necessarily result in a change in their green buying behavior. Finally, it was found that an unchanged position in consumers' green buying behavior would have been due to a lack of sustainable fashion alternatives readily available. The authors believe that further research is needed to shed light on the divide between consumers' attitude and actual purchasing behavior.