The discussion chapter will present a discussion of the findings from the previous chapter in order to test the hypotheses that were developed at the beginning of this paper. The aim of testing the hypotheses is to either verify or dismiss them. The chapter will furthermore look at the findings of the analysis in comparison to the findings from the literature review to either support the findings of previous research or to highlight new findings. The aim of the discussion chapter is to provide a solid basis for the concluding chapter of the paper and its research question. As with the previous chapters, this chapter will be structured according to the MOAB framework.
5.1 Motivation
In the following section, the validation or dismissal of the three hypotheses for the motivation construct will be discussed. The motivation variables proved to be the most influential factors from the MOAB construct in explaining variance in behavior for one of the dependent variables (Fashion related behavior) and second most important in explaining variance in behavior in the two others (environment apparel consumption &
shopping item quantity), which fits well with the theory of the MOAB framework.
5.1.1 Hypothesis 1 (H1a)
The extent to which consumers are involved with their clothes proved important to their engagement in fashion related behavior, as could be seen from the variables making up the motivation construct. The study also showed that the opposite was true for environmental apparel consumption behavior, namely that the less involved consumers are with their clothes, the more likely they are to engage in environmental apparel consumption behavior. This confirms that when consumers adopt a non-‐utilitarian relationship with clothes, they are less likely to consume sustainably. It was also found that the less important the purchase is in itself, the more likely the consumer will engage in environmental apparel consumption, as can be seen from table two in the previous chapter. The same is furthermore supported in the same table, where it can be seen that the enjoyment of shopping plays a large role in fashion related behavior and in predicting the amount of products purchased, as hedonic shopping values was the second most
influential variable for both shopping item quantity and environmental apparel consumption, and the most influential for fashion related behavior according to the regression analysis.
Another finding that points out the same tendency supporting the hypothesis is the finding that as consumers perceive themselves as vain over modest, they tend go engage more in fashion related behavior, whereas the correlation between the importance of self-respect to the consumer and environmental apparel consumption shows that self-
respect and independence are motivators of sustainable behavior. These findings also support that behavior related to fashion consumption is linked with identity creation and hedonic values. Consumers considering themselves as thrifty and unorganized vs.
indulgent and organized are prone to consume greater quantities of clothing items.
Arguing that organized people usually have a more utilitarian approach to things, supports the non-‐sustainable consumption pattern derived from considering oneself as thrifty and unorganized. Lastly, it was found that consumers who place importance on self-fulfillment are more likely to purchase greater quantities of clothing items.
The hypothesis can therefore be verified based on the following findings: Consumers who are highly involved with clothes, who place importance on the act of acquisition and the enjoyment derived thereof, as well as consumers who purchase fashion products in connection with identity concepts are less likely to engage en sustainable fashion purchase behavior.
5.1.2 Hypothesis 1 (H1b)
When testing hypothesis H1b, consumers who express concern for the environment will be more likely to engage in sustainable fashion purchase behavior, the regression analysis showed that consumers tend to purchase a smaller amount of fashion products, as their concern for the environment increases. However, it was also found that consumers at the same time are more likely to engage in environmental apparel consumption behavior, as can be seen from table two. This hypothesis can therefore also be verified based on the findings of this paper.
5.1.3 Hypothesis 1 (H1c)
Looking at the third hypothesis for the motivation concept of the MOAB model, it was interesting to find that being an opinion leader, that is a person who influences others in purchase situations, predicted sustainable fashion consumption behavior. This finding is the same as Goldsmith, Flynn & Moore’s (1996) research found to be true about fashion leaders. It may therefore make sense to reach out to this group of consumers when trying to promote more sustainable fashion consumption patterns to consumers at large and in this way use fashion leaders as a spearhead in campaigns. Opposite to this, was the finding that consumers who seek out the opinions of others negatively predicted environmental apparel consumption, which is in line with the hypothesis. This was further supported, as the data showed that the importance of consumers feeling a sense of belonging also influences to which extend consumers engage in fashion related behavior. Even though, placing importance on feeling a sense of belonging, was the least important of the significant measured variable in this investigation, as can seen from the beta values in table two. It did nevertheless prove to be a significant predictor of behavior. Furthermore, the fact that placing a high importance on self-respect also predicted environmental apparel consumption according to the analysis, see table two.
This shows that the consumers are not dependent on others to influence their taste in clothes, which again supports the hypothesis. Based on these results, hypothesis H1c will be considered verified.
5.2 Ability
The validation or dismissal of the hypotheses concerning the ability construct will be discussed in the following section based on the results of the previous chapter. Ability was found to be the most influential factor from the MOAB model in explaining the variance in behavior for two of the three dependent variables, environmental apparel consumption and shopping item quantity.
5.2.1 Hypothesis 2 (H2a)
The analysis showed that when the subjective fashion knowledge of consumers increases there is likely to be an increase in fashion related behavior as well. Furthermore, it will most likely also lead to a decrease in the quantity of fashion products purchased by
consumers, which can be seen from the data in table three in the previous chapter. The data analysis also revealed that as consumers gain more knowledge about environmental apparel, they will likely also engage in more sustainable fashion purchase behavior, which is in accordance with hypothesis H2a.
Another interesting finding from the analysis was that the use of eco-‐labels was predictive of the quantity of clothes that consumers purchased. The more consumers used eco-‐labels, the more items of clothing they purchased. However, they also displayed more sustainable fashion purchase behavior at the same time. This is probably because they had the ability to decipher eco-‐labels when shopping. Looking at these finding, hypothesis H2a can be verified, as it shows that increase knowledge leads to increased sustainable fashion purchase behavior.
5.2.2 Hypothesis 2 (H2b)
Hypothesis H2b treats the question of whether or not trust is an enabling or disabling influencer of sustainable fashion purchase behavior. In the previous chapter it was found that, as skepticism of environmental claims from producers and sellers and thereby lack of trust in these increases, so does the amount of clothes purchased. On the other side, it was also shown that as lack of trust increases, so does the engagement in sustainable fashion purchasing behavior, see table three. This is in opposition to what was hypothesized in hypothesis H2b and the hypothesis therefore has to be dismissed based on the findings of this paper.
5.2.3 Hypothesis 2 (H2c)
The hypothesis H2c is looking at the influence of resources in terms of time and money on behavior. In the analysis it was shown that when people get more time (time resources) they also tend to engage (slightly) more in fashion related behavior. It was also found that consumers tend to buy larger quantities of fashion products as their financial resources increase, which in itself cannot be said to be sustainable behavior, if not the contrary. The hypothesis H2c will therefore also be concluded dismissed.
5.3 Opportunity
The hypotheses concerning the opportunity construct will be discussed in order to either validate or dismiss the hypotheses based on the findings of the data analysis. The opportunity factors from the MOAB model, were not measured in depth, as they are mostly external and therefore outside the scope of this investigation. Nevertheless, a few of the measured opportunity variables proved to be significant, even though only explaining a small amount of the variance in the measure behaviors.
5.3.1 Hypothesis 3 (H3a)
Hypothesis H3a was concerned with whether or not consumers’ perception of sustainable behavior as meaningful had an influence on actual behavior. However, even though attempts were made to verify or dismiss this, the data did not prove significant and the hypothesis will therefore have to be deemed inconclusive.
5.3.2 Hypothesis 3 (H3b)
The last hypothesis H3b looked at the importance consumers place on price and price/quality relationship and how this influences behavior. From the analysis in the previous chapter, it can be found that as consumers place more importance on price they become less likely to engage in fashion related behavior. This is, however, not enough evidence to conclusively verify or dismiss the hypothesis and it is therefore inconclusive.
Table 6: Verification or dismissal of hypotheses.
5.4 Barriers and Influences on Sustainable Fashion Purchase Behavior
It is interesting to find that all motivational hypotheses were verified. When looking closer at the results of the hypotheses concerning the motivation concept, it can be seen that it entails both findings that enable sustainable fashion purchase behavior and findings that disable them. First, it was found that consumers are motivated to engage in sustainable fashion purchase behavior by concern for the environment, as well as utilitarian shopping values, which are enabling factors. On the other hand, consumers with a need to fit in are generally inhibited from engaging in sustainable fashion purchase behavior by this need. Furthermore, it was found in the main analysis that lower involvement with clothes meant that consumers were more likely to purchase fashion in a sustainable manner.
As for the hypotheses concerning the ability concept, only one was verified. This hypothesis confirmed that consumer knowledge of sustainable fashion and the impact of fashion enables and influences consumers to engage in sustainable behavior. Even though only one of the three hypotheses were verified, it was also found that lack of trust in the claims of producers also enables consumers to make more sustainable decisions when shopping. Furthermore, it was found that environmental apparel knowledge, the consequences of fashion production and label use all were enablers of sustainable fashion purchase behavior.
Finally, both hypothesis concerning opportunity factors were found to be inconclusive.
The data did however show an increase in behavior related to fashion based on the importance of the price of products and living in an urban vs. rural area but it did not prove much about influences on sustainable consumption behavior. This was, as previously mentioned, most likely due to an insufficient measurement of the opportunity construct.
Overall, motivation is an important factor when trying to determine the best place to utilize resources in trying to promote more sustainable fashion consumption behavior but even more so is ability, as can be seen from the results in table one. This means that successfully changing the ability factors would lead to a greater change in behavior relatively speaking. Looking at the factors that were of influence under the ability construct, it would make the most sense to engage in education of costumers, which should attempt to raise awareness about the production and selection of sustainable choices in the purchase situation. However, it should also focus on the effects on the environment. This would be affecting both ability and motivational factors. Another area relevant to focus on is the training of consumers in task knowledge and information processing, such as the use and understanding of eco-‐labels, which proved to have an important effect when adopted by consumers.