Ability  Measuring  Instruments

3.5.4.1  Subjective/Perceived  Fashion  Knowledge  

The   subjective/perceived   fashion   knowledge   instrument   measures   the   respondents’  

knowledge   about   fashion.   Respondents  are  asked  to  indicate  how  much  they  feel  they   know  about  fashion  (Goldsmith  et  al.,  1996).    

The  instrument  is  comprised  of  nine  questions  to  which  the  respondents  were  asked  to   indicate   the   extend   to   which   they   agreed   with   every   item   on   five   point   Likert   scales.  

After   the   data   was   collected,   items   four,   six   and   eight   were   reversed   due   to   negative   formulations   in   the   questions.   Scores   were   then   summed   to   create   composite   scores,   where  higher  scores  indicated  higher  subjective/perceived  fashion  knowledge.  

The  instrument  was  adopted  to  investigate  the  influence  of  perceived  fashion  knowledge   on  fashion  consumption  behavior  and  environmental  behavior.

3.5.4.2  Time  Resources  &  Financial  Resources  

The  instruments  measure  the  respondents’  resources  in  terms  of  time  and  money.  The   first  instrument  does  so  by  asking  respondents  how  much  time  they  spend  on  their  most   recent  shopping  trip  measured  in  hours  and  minutes.  The  second  instrument  measures   the   respondents’   financial   resources   by   asking   how   much   the   respondent   spends   on   average  per  month  on  clothes.  

The   measurement   was   included   to   investigate   whether   or   not   financial   and   time   resources   have   an   effect   on   fashion   related   behavior   and   sustainable   fashion   consumption  practices.  

3.5.4.3  Skepticism  of  Environmental  Product  Claims  

The  skepticism  of  environmental  product  claims  instrument  was  adopted  from  Hustvedt’s   (2006)   dissertation   on   consumer   preferences   for   blended   organic   cotton   apparel.  

Hustvedt’s   scale   was   an   adoption   of   a   previous   measure   of   skepticism   that   had   been   developed   and   tested   by   Mohr,   Eroglu   &   Ellen   (1998).   The   instrument   measures   the   respondent’s   skepticism   of   environmental   product   claims   through   five   questions   on   environmental  product  claims  and  advertisements,  which  the  respondents  were  asked   to  rate  on  a  five  point  Likert  scale.  

After   pretesting   the   instrument,   “environmental”   was   exchanged   with   “sustainable”   in   all   statements   and   questions.   Additionally,   the   terms   "social   and   environmental"   were   added   to   give   assistance   to   the   comprehension   of   the   respondents.   In   the   Swedish   translation  a  brief  definition  of  what  the  term  “sustainability”  entails  was  added,  as  this   is  not  a  commonly  used  term  in  Swedish.  

Due  to  negative  question  formulation,  the  first  question  had  to  be  reversed  after  the  data   was  collected.  The  scores  were  then  combined  into  composite  scores,  with  higher  scores   indicating  higher  degrees  of  skepticism  towards  environmental  product  claims.  

This   scale   was   relevant   to   include   in   this   investigation   as   is   looks   at   skepticism   and   therefore   has   a   potential   to   help   explain   the   mechanisms   of   the   relationship   between   attitudes  towards  product  claims  and  behavior.  

3.5.4.4  Label  Knowledge  &  Label  Use  

The  instrument  used  in  this  paper  to  measure  the  respondents’  knowledge  and  use  of   environmental   labels   has   been   adopted   from   Thøgersen   et   al.’s   (2010)   research   on   consumer   responses   towards   eco-­‐labels.   The   instrument   exposes   respondents   to   a   series  of  eco-­‐labels  and  asks  to  what  extent  respondents  feel  they  know  the  given  labels.  

Next  the  respondents  are  asked  to  which  extent  they  use  the  same  labels  when  shopping  

for  fashion  items.  Both  questions  are  rated  on  five  point  Likert  scales.    

For  the  purpose  of  this  paper  the  original  scale  has  been  adjusted  to  fit  a  clothing  context   in   Sweden   and   therefore   included   the   following   eco-­‐labels:  the   EU   Flower,   the   Bra   Miljöval,  GOTS,  the  Nordic  Swan  and  the  Oeko-­‐tex  Standard  100.  

The  label   knowledge   and  label   use   instrument   was   included   in   the   survey   in   order   to   explore   the   effect   of   labels   on   behavior   and   whether   or   not   labels   can   help   promote   sustainable  behavior.  

3.5.4.5  (Objective)  Environmental  Apparel  Knowledge  

The  (objective)   environmental   apparel   knowledge   instrument   measures   the   knowledge   that  participants  possess  regarding  the  impact  and  consequences  of  apparel  production,   use   and   disposal   (Kim   &   Damhorst,   1998).   It   does   so   by   asking   the   respondents   to   answer   11   questions,   which   Kim   and   Damhorst   derived   from   previous   studies   and   literature.  In  the  original  study,  the  authors  use  a  seven  point  Likert  scale.  However,  for   the  sake  of  simplicity  the  original  scale  has  been  reduced  to  a  five  point  Likert  scale  for   this  survey.  After  pretesting  the  questionnaire  it  was  also  decided  that  a  “Do  not  know”  

category  had  to  be  added  in  the  final  version.  

Items   two,   three,   six   and   11   were   reversed,   as   these   were   false   claims.   After   the   data   collection   had   taken   place,   scores   were   summed   for   each   respondent   and   higher   composite  scores  indicated  higher  objective  environmental  apparel  knowledge.  

This   measurement   was   included   in   this   study   to   investigate   the   effect   of   actual   knowledge   on   behavior   and   thereby   see   if   the   focus   on   knowledge   creation   and   information  can  be  utilized  in  the  promotion  of  sustainable  behavior  and  practices.  

3.5.4.6  Income    

Income,  even  though  a  demographic  variable,  was  included  under  the  ability  construct  as   it  enables  the  consumer  to  purchase  certain  fashion  items  which  would  other  wise  not   be  available  to  him  or  her.  It  also  served  as  a  control  variable  to  check  if  the  sample  was   in   fact   representative.   In   the   case   of   this   survey,   income   was   measured   by   asking   the   respondent   how   much   monthly   personal   disposable   income   they   had   available.   The   scale  used  was  a  standard  scale  provided  by  GfK  Sweden.  

Income  was  also  measured  in  order  to  access  if  income  had  any  effect  on  behavior  and  if   income  could  be  a  predictor  of  specific  sustainable  or  unsustainable  behavior.  

3.5.4.7  Education  

As  with  income,  education  is  a  demographic  variable.  Nevertheless,  it  also  belongs  to  the   ability   construct   in   the   MOAB   model   as   it   can   be   of   influence   on   behavior   in   that   education  provides  the  necessary  knowledge  to  understand  and  thus  carry  out  specific   tasks  (Thøgersen,  1994).    

Education   was   measured   by   asking   the   respondents   what   their   highest   completed   education  was,  measuring  it  on  the  ISCED  scale.  

Investigating  education   was   relevant,   as   previous   studies   have   shown   evidence   that   educational   level   has   en   effect   on   pro-­‐environmental   behavior   (Thøgersen,   2010).  

Additionally,   education   was   included   as   a   control   variable   to   check   the   sample   for   representativeness.    

3.5.5  Behavior  Measuring  Instruments