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Fashion Conscious Consumption and Consumer Perception: A Study in the Local Productive Arrangement of Clothing of Pernambuco

ABSTRACT

This study aims to analyze the relationship between the perception of corporate social responsibility actions (PCSRA) and the purchase of green products (PGP) on price sensitivity (PS) and the influence of these constructs on conscious consumption (CC). For this purpose, a descriptive quantitative study was carried out with fashion consumers of a Local Productive Clothing Arrangement in the Agreste area of Pernambuco, and the data was analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling. The results identified that PGP has an influence on PS and a negative relationship with CC. PCSRA, on the other hand, has a positive influence on CC, but not on PS, and the relationship between PS and CC was not significant. These results indicate that social aspects have a greater predominance over CC, and price does not seem to be a barrier to the consumer’s consciousness regarding the consumption of fashion products. This study innovates by bringing to debate the relationship between relevant constructs that have been investigated separately in the field of consumption.

KEYWORDS
Fashion Conscious Consumption; Price Sensitivity; Green Products; Corporate Social Responsibility; Clothing LPA

RESUMO

O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar a relação entre percepção de ações de responsabilidade social empresarial (PARS) e compra de produtos verdes (CPV) sobre a sensibilidade a preço(SP) e a influência desses construtos sobre o consumo consciente (CC). Para tanto, uma pesquisa quantitativa descritiva foi realizada com consumidores de moda do Arranjo Produtivo Local de Confecções do Agreste Pernambucano e os dados analisados pela Modelagem de Equações Estruturais. Foi identificado que a CPV tem influência sobre a SP e uma relação negativa com o CC. Já a PARS tem influência positiva sobre o CC, mas não sobre a SP, e a relação entre SP e CC não se mostrou significativa. Esses resultados demonstram que o aspecto social tem maior predominância sobre o CC e que preço parece não ser uma barreira para a consciência do consumidor quanto ao consumo de produtos de moda. Este estudo inova ao trazer para debate a relação entre construtos relevantes, mas que tem sido investigado em separado no campo do consumo.

PALAVRAS-CHAVE
Consumo Consciente de Moda; Sensibilidade a Preço; Produtos Verdes; Responsabilidade Social Empresarial; APL de confecções

1. INTRODUCTION

The increased level of awareness among individuals, here called conscious consumption, has demanded socio-environmentally responsible products and services from companies (Biswas, Raj & Srivastava, 2018Biswas, I., Raj, A, & Srivastava, SK (2018). Supply chain channel coordination with triple bottom line approach Transport. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 115, 213-226. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tre.2018.05.007
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tre.2018.05.00...
; Severo, Guimarães, Dellarmelin & Ribeiro, 2019Severo, EA, Guimarães, JCF, Dellarmelin, ML, & Ribeiro, RP (2019). The Influence of Social Networks on Environmental Awareness and the Social Responsibility of Generations.Brazilian Business Review,16(5), 500-518. doi: https://doi.org/10.15728/bbr.2019.16.5.5
https://doi.org/10.15728/bbr.2019.16.5.5...
). Therefore, some authors such as Straughan and Roberts (1999Straughan, RD, & Roberts, JA (1999). Environmental segmentation alternatives: a look at green consumer behavior in the new millennium. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 16(6), 558-575. doi: 10.1108/07363769910297506
https://doi.org/10.1108/0736376991029750...
) and Peattie and Collins (2009Peattie, K., & Collins, A (2009). Guest editorial: Perspectives on sustainable consumption. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 33 (2), 107-112. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1470-6431.2009.00758.x
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1470-6431.2009...
) argue that the presence of conscious consumption is relevant to the purchase of sustainable products. However, authors such as Frederico, Quevedo-silva and Freire (2013Frederico, E., Quevedo-silva, F., & Freire, OBL (2013). Conquistando a confiança do consumidor: minimizando o GAP entre consciência ambiental e consumo ambiental. Revista de Gestão Ambiental e Sustentabilidade, 2(2), 50-70. Obtido em http://www.revistageas.org.br/ojs/index.php/geas/article/view/67
http://www.revistageas.org.br/ojs/index....
) and Mondini, da Rosa Borges, Mondini and Dreher (2018Mondini, VED, da Rosa Borges, G., Mondini, LC, & Dreher, MT (2018). Influência dos fatores consciência ambiental e hábitos de consumo sustentável sobre a intenção de compra de produtos ecológicos dos indivíduos. Revista Pensamento Contemporâneo em Administração, 12(2), 117-129. doi: https://doi.org/10.12712/rpca.v12i2.1178
https://doi.org/10.12712/rpca.v12i2.1178...
) report that there are no guarantees that sustainable behavior will, in fact, occur, even with the existence of socio-environmental consciousness as there is a gap between discourse and sustainable action by consumers.

Hence, the factors that influence the conscious consumption construct need to be further investigated, mainly due to its important role in the purchase decision process, since, according to Brochado, Teiga and Oliveira-Brochado (2017Brochado, A., Teiga, N, & Oliveira-Brochado, F (2017). The ecological conscious consumer behaviour: are the activists different?International Journal of Consumer Studies, 41(2), 138-146. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12321
https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12321...
) and Severo et al. (2019Severo, EA, Guimarães, JCF, Dellarmelin, ML, & Ribeiro, RP (2019). The Influence of Social Networks on Environmental Awareness and the Social Responsibility of Generations.Brazilian Business Review,16(5), 500-518. doi: https://doi.org/10.15728/bbr.2019.16.5.5
https://doi.org/10.15728/bbr.2019.16.5.5...
), conscious consumption may not lead to the purchase of sustainable products, but its absence makes this type of purchase less probable.

It is also important to point out that identifying such factors can not only help to understand the construct, but also assist in the knowledge about conscious consumption in certain markets, such as the fashion market, where the perspective of sustainable production has great relevance, as it is one of the most polluting sectors (Pedersen & Gwozdz, 2013Pedersen, E., & Gwozdz, W (2013). From Resistance to Opportunity-Seeking: Strategic Responses to Institutional Pressures for Corporate Social Responsibility in the Nordic Fashion Industry. Journal of Business Ethics, 119, 1-20. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1630-5
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1630-...
). In addition, the need for evaluation is also confirmed by checking the relevance for the national context, whose textile production chain is considered to be the fifth-largest industry in the world (Associação Brasileira da Indústria Têxtil e de Confecção [ABIT], 2018Associação Brasileira da Indústria Têxtil e de Confecção. (2018). Obtido em https://www.abit.org.br/cont/perfil-do-setor.
https://www.abit.org.br/cont/perfil-do-s...
), and regional, given that the Local Productive Arrangement (LPA) of the Clothing Pole from the Agreste area of Pernambucano is responsible for 47.5 thousand direct jobs and 2,561 companies, with a turnover of about 3.5 billion reais in 2017 (ABIT, 2018Associação Brasileira da Indústria Têxtil e de Confecção. (2018). Obtido em https://www.abit.org.br/cont/perfil-do-setor.
https://www.abit.org.br/cont/perfil-do-s...
).

Regarding the different factors indicated in the literature as being relevant to the purchase decision, it is possible to indicate those presented by Lii, Wu and Ding (2013Lii, YS, Wu, KW, & Ding, MC (2013). Doing Good Does Good? Sustainable Marketing of CSR and Consumer Evaluations. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management 20 (15-28). doi:10.1002/csr.294
https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.294...
), Salamandic, Alijosiene and Gudonaviciene (2014Salamandic, E., Alijosiene, S., & Gudonaviciene, R (2014). Price Sensitivity measurement depending on brand awareness: A case of Ziede Brand. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 156, 473-478. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.11.224
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.11...
) and Kumar, Manrai and Manrai (2017Kumar, B., Manrai, AK, & Manrai, LA (2017). Purchasing behaviour for environmentally sustainable products: a conceptual framework and empirical study. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 34, 1-9. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2016.09.004
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.201...
), which point out the following aspects as considered by consumers: environmental, which is related to the preference of consuming green products; social, which involves the consumers’ perceptions in relation to corporate social responsibility actions, and; economic, related to consumer price sensitivity, which plays an important role in describing one’s willingness to pay and knowledge about product prices.

From the above, it is possible to infer that these variables, consumption of green products, perception of corporate social responsibility actions, and price sensitivity, when present in a purchase decision, may influence the level of consumer consciousness towards more sustainable consumption. Additionally, studies in the field of consumer behavior have identified that, on many purchase occasions, the perception of socioenvironmental attributes in products and services has reduced price sensitivity on consumer decisions (Tsuda, Hara & Uwasu, 2013Tsuda, K., Hara, K., & Uwasu, M (2013). Prospects and challenges for disseminating life cycle thinking towards environmental conscious behaviors in daily lives. Sustainability, 5(1), 123-135. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su5010123
https://doi.org/10.3390/su5010123...
; Joshi & Rahman, 2019Joshi, Y., & Rahman, Z (2019). Consumers’ sustainable purchase behavior: modeling the impact of psychological factors. Ecological Economics, 159, 235-243. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.01.025
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019....
; Cerri, Testa & Rizzi, 2018Cerri, J., Testa, F., & Rizzi, F (2018). The more I care, the less I will listen to you: How information, environmental concern and ethical production influence consumers’ attitudes and the purchasing of sustainable products. Journal of Cleaner Production, 175, 343-353. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.12.054
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.1...
).

Thus, this present work proposes to analyze the influence of green products purchase, the perception of corporate social responsibility actions and price sensitivity on fashion conscious consumption, as well as to analyze how the purchase of green products and the perception of corporate social responsibility actions influence consumer price sensitivity. For that, a descriptive research of quantitative nature was developed, in which a survey method was applied and the data analyzed by structural equation modeling technique.

As a main result, it is observed that the purchase of green products influences price sensitivity, the perception of corporate social responsibility actions influence fashion conscious consumption, but the relationship between purchase of green products and conscious consumption is negative, contrary to what was formulated in this study. Furthermore, the relationship between price sensitivity and conscious consumption was not significant, the opposite as stated by the referenced literature.

This study innovates by analyzing variables perceived by consumers, which influence their conscious consumption, that have been investigated separately in the literature, by pointing out that individuals perceive social and environmental issues in a choice process, even though it reflects differently in their behavior, by confirming the importance of corporate actions perform on social and environmental aspects and also by bringing the conclusion that the purchase of green products reduces price sensitivity in relation to sustainable products.

2. THEORETICAL REFERENCE

2.1. Conscious consumption and the fashion market

According to Mondini et al. (2018Mondini, VED, da Rosa Borges, G., Mondini, LC, & Dreher, MT (2018). Influência dos fatores consciência ambiental e hábitos de consumo sustentável sobre a intenção de compra de produtos ecológicos dos indivíduos. Revista Pensamento Contemporâneo em Administração, 12(2), 117-129. doi: https://doi.org/10.12712/rpca.v12i2.1178
https://doi.org/10.12712/rpca.v12i2.1178...
), consciousness can be understood as the level of knowledge about the impacts that the actions of individuals cause to the environment, also called environmental awareness or conscious consumption, being referred to in this study by the latter. Therefore, conscious consumption becomes closely related to the mobilization of people to achieve sustainability (Carvalho, Salgueiro & Rita, 2015Carvalho, BL, Salgueiro, MF, & Rita, P (2015). Consumer Sustainability Consciousness: A five dimensional construct. Ecological Indicators, 58, 402-410. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2015.05.053
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; Otto & Pensini, 2017Otto, S., & Pensini, P (2017). Nature-based environmental education of children: Environmental knowledge and connectedness to nature, together, are related to ecological behaviour. Global Environmental Change, 47, 88-94. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2017.09.009
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2017...
). According to Peattie and Collins (2009Peattie, K., & Collins, A (2009). Guest editorial: Perspectives on sustainable consumption. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 33 (2), 107-112. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1470-6431.2009.00758.x
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1470-6431.2009...
), consumers are seeking to obtain even more information about the social and environmental impacts that occur during the production and consumption cycle of products and their purchasing decision is starting to be based on these criteria.

However, the role of conscious consumption as a driver of green products consumption still needs to be further investigated. According to Mondini et al. (2018Mondini, VED, da Rosa Borges, G., Mondini, LC, & Dreher, MT (2018). Influência dos fatores consciência ambiental e hábitos de consumo sustentável sobre a intenção de compra de produtos ecológicos dos indivíduos. Revista Pensamento Contemporâneo em Administração, 12(2), 117-129. doi: https://doi.org/10.12712/rpca.v12i2.1178
https://doi.org/10.12712/rpca.v12i2.1178...
), the consciousness at the time of consumption itself is not able to guarantee that individuals will purchase green products. On the other hand, Brochado et al. (2017Brochado, A., Teiga, N, & Oliveira-Brochado, F (2017). The ecological conscious consumer behaviour: are the activists different?International Journal of Consumer Studies, 41(2), 138-146. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12321
https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12321...
) argue that without the presence of consciousness, it would be more difficult for individuals to engage in this kind of purchase. Therefore, it is essential to have a better understanding of this construct to evaluate what factors can influence it (Al Mamun, Mohamad, Yaacob & Mohiuddin, 2018Al Mamun, A., Mohamad, MR, Yaacob, MRB, & Mohiuddin, M (2018). Intention and behavior towards green consumption among low-income households. Journal of Environmental Management, 227, 73-86. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.08.061
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.0...
; Peattie and Collins, 2009Peattie, K., & Collins, A (2009). Guest editorial: Perspectives on sustainable consumption. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 33 (2), 107-112. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1470-6431.2009.00758.x
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1470-6431.2009...
; Straughan and Roberts, 1999Straughan, RD, & Roberts, JA (1999). Environmental segmentation alternatives: a look at green consumer behavior in the new millennium. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 16(6), 558-575. doi: 10.1108/07363769910297506
https://doi.org/10.1108/0736376991029750...
).

This identification becomes important in certain market segments, such as the fashion market, which is the focus of this study. The fashion market segment has a market logic that advocates the intense flow of fast fashion products, the encouragement of consumerism and the need for creating collections periodically in response to growing demand. Because of this, the fashion market bis one of the market segments with a higher level of negative impact on the environment (Becker-Leifhold, 2018Becker-Leifhold, CV (2018). The role of values in collaborative fashion consumption - A critical investigation through the lenses of the theory of planned behavior. Journal of Cleaner Production, 199, 781-791. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.06.296
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.0...
; Cimatti, Campana & Carluccio, 2017Cimatti, B., Campana, G., & Carluccio, L (2017). Eco Design and Sustainable Manufacturing in Fashion: A Case Study in the Luxury Personal Accessories Industry. Procedia Manufacturing, 8, 393-400. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.promfg.2017.02.050
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.promfg.2017.02...
).

Although most companies in this sector are adapting their production processes to cause less negative social-environmental impacts (Garcia, Cordeiro, Alencar & Costa Neto, 2019Garcia, S., Cordeiro, A., Alencar, NI, & Costa Neto, PLO (2019). The sustainability awareness of Brazilian consumers of cotton clothing. Journal of Cleaner Production 215 (1490-1502), 0959-6526. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.01.069
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.0...
; Oliveira Jr., Huertas & Oliveira, 2015Oliveira Jr., AB, Huertas, MKZ, & Oliveira, MJ (2015). A influência da comunicação de ações sustentáveis corporativas na intenção de compra e o efeito moderador do tipo de consumidor. Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental - RGSA, 9 (1), 2-18. doi: https://doi.org/10.24857/rgsa.v9i1.1025
https://doi.org/10.24857/rgsa.v9i1.1025...
; Severo et al., 2019Severo, EA, Guimarães, JCF, Dellarmelin, ML, & Ribeiro, RP (2019). The Influence of Social Networks on Environmental Awareness and the Social Responsibility of Generations.Brazilian Business Review,16(5), 500-518. doi: https://doi.org/10.15728/bbr.2019.16.5.5
https://doi.org/10.15728/bbr.2019.16.5.5...
; Stefano & Alberton, 2018Stefano, SR, & Alberton, A (2018). Alinhamento entre Estratégia da Organização e Competências para Sustentabilidade: Proposição de um Modelo para Análise.Revista Capital Científico - Eletrônica, 16(4), 117-130. Recuperado de https://revistas.unicentro.br/index.php/capitalcientifico/article/view/5272.
https://revistas.unicentro.br/index.php/...
), the purchase of products is not always related to this type of organizational effort (Diddi, Yan, Bloodhart, Bajtelsmit & McShane, 2019Diddi, S., Yan, RN, Bloodhart, B., Bajtelsmit, V., & McShane, K (2019). Exploring young adult consumers’ sustainable clothing consumption intention-behavior gap: A Behavioral Reasoning Theory perspective. Sustainable Production and Consumption 18, (200-209), 2352-5509. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2019.02.009
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2019.02.00...
; Park & Lin, 2018Park, HJ, & Lin, LM (2018). Exploring attitude-behavior gap in sustainable consumption: comparison of recycled and upcycled fashion products. Journal of Business Research 117, 623-628. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.08.025
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.0...
). This is possibly due to the fact that the variables worked on by the companies in the socio-environmental sphere may not be perceived by consumers during a purchasing process and, thus, may not influence conscious consumption (Kim & Kang, 2018Kim, J., & Kang, S (2018). How social capital impacts the purchase intention of sustainable fashion products. Journal of Business Research 117, (596-603), 0148-2963. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.10.010
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.1...
; McNeill & Moore, 2015McNeill, L., & Moore, R (2015). Sustainable fashion consumption and the fast fashion conundrum: fashionable consumers and attitudes to sustainability in clothing choice. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 39(3), 212-222. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12169
https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12169...
; Sung & Woo, 2019Sung, J., & Woo, H (2019). Investigating male consumers’ lifestyle of health and sustainability (LOHAS) and perception toward slow fashion. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 49, 120-128. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2019.03.018
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.201...
; Wagner, Curteza, Hong, Chen, Thomassey & Zeng., 2019Wagner, M., Curteza, A., Hong, Y., Chen, Y., Thomassey, S., & Zeng, X (2019). A design analysis for eco-fashion style using sensory evaluation tools: Consumer perceptions of product appearance. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 51, 253-262. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2019.06.005
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.201...
).

Following the investigative perspective of Lii et al. (2013Lii, YS, Wu, KW, & Ding, MC (2013). Doing Good Does Good? Sustainable Marketing of CSR and Consumer Evaluations. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management 20 (15-28). doi:10.1002/csr.294
https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.294...
), Salamandic et al. (2014Salamandic, E., Alijosiene, S., & Gudonaviciene, R (2014). Price Sensitivity measurement depending on brand awareness: A case of Ziede Brand. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 156, 473-478. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.11.224
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.11...
) and Kumar et al. (2017Kumar, B., Manrai, AK, & Manrai, LA (2017). Purchasing behaviour for environmentally sustainable products: a conceptual framework and empirical study. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 34, 1-9. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2016.09.004
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.201...
), these authors pointed out that consumers may have a better perception of certain variables when it comes to purchasing situations in which sustainable products are available. Therefore, this study works with the constructs purchase of green products (Lii et al., 2013Lii, YS, Wu, KW, & Ding, MC (2013). Doing Good Does Good? Sustainable Marketing of CSR and Consumer Evaluations. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management 20 (15-28). doi:10.1002/csr.294
https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.294...
), perception of corporate social responsibility actions (Salamandic et al., 2014Salamandic, E., Alijosiene, S., & Gudonaviciene, R (2014). Price Sensitivity measurement depending on brand awareness: A case of Ziede Brand. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 156, 473-478. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.11.224
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.11...
), and price sensitivity (Kumar et al., 2017Kumar, B., Manrai, AK, & Manrai, LA (2017). Purchasing behaviour for environmentally sustainable products: a conceptual framework and empirical study. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 34, 1-9. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2016.09.004
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.201...
) as potential influencers of conscious consumption. These constructs are explained in the following sections.

2.2. Purchase of Green Products (PGP)

Green products are products that use fewer resources, bring about less impact and risks to the environment, and prevent waste generation since the conception stage of production (Dangelico & Pontrandolfo, 2010Dangelico, RM, & Pontrandolfo, P (2010). From green product definitions and classifications to the Green Option Matrix. Journal of Cleaner Production, 18(16-17), 1608-1628. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2010.07.007
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2010.0...
). The purchase of green products can be an important factor in assessing trends related to sustainable consumption. That is because, as the attention to this type of product has grown over the years, mainly due to its character compatible with the current demand for environmental protection, the increase in the number of offers, and the number and diversity of green products purchased, present important indicators that confirm this trend (Hong, Wang & Yu, 2018Hong, Z., Wang, H., & Yu, Y (2018). Green product pricing with non-green product reference. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 115, 1-15. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tre.2018.03.013
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tre.2018.03.01...
).

As Afonso (2010Afonso, ACB (2010). O consumidor verde: perfil e comportamento de compra (dissertação de mestrado). Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, Portugal.) points out, consumers who demonstrate green consumer behavior, those who are concerned that products are manufactured with little or no environmental impact, reveal an intention to purchase green products, which can translate into effective purchasing behavior for different segments. Buying intention indicates the likelihood of a person behaving in a certain way in purchase situations and may point out the future purchase behavior of an individual (Ajzen, 1991Ajzen, I (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes , 50 (2), 179-211. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T
https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)900...
; Cerri, Testa & Rizzi, 2018Cerri, J., Testa, F., & Rizzi, F (2018). The more I care, the less I will listen to you: How information, environmental concern and ethical production influence consumers’ attitudes and the purchasing of sustainable products. Journal of Cleaner Production, 175, 343-353. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.12.054
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.1...
).

Although researches show that there is a gap between the intention to consume and the effective purchase of green products (Sheth, Sethia & Srinivas, 2011Sheth, JN, Sethia, NK, & Srinivas, S (2011). Consumo consciente: uma abordagem de sustentabilidade centrada no cliente.Jornal da Academia de Ciências de Marketing , 39(1), 21-39.), individuals who already have green consumption behavior may be predisposed to purchase other products which are aso called sustainable. The experience of buying green products provides individuals with greater knowledge and ability to make purchases in other categories, therefore leading them to be more favorable and receptive to companies of different segments that have socio-environmentally responsible products and enhance the consumer’s environmental consciousness (Chen & Wang, 2016Chen, Y., & Wang, R (2016). Are humans rational? Exploring factors influencing impulse buying intention and continuous impulse buying intention. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 15, 186-197. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.1563
https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.1563...
). Thus, in order to better understand the relationship between PGP and conscious consumption, the following hypothesis was developed:

  • H1a: PGP has a direct and positive relationship with the CC of fashion products.

Additionally, it is possible that, when consumers obtain more experience in purchasing green products, they become less sensitive to price variations of products in this category (Duerden & Witt, 2010Duerden, MD, & Witt, PA (2010). The impact of direct and indirect experiences on the development of environmental knowledge, attitudes, and behavior.Journal of Environmental Psychology, 30(4), 379-392. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2010.03.007
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2010.03....
; Lemon & Verhoef, 2016Lemon, KN, & Verhoef, PC (2016). Understanding customer experience throughout the customer journey.Journal of Marketing, v. 80(6), 69-96. doi: https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.15.0420
https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.15.0420...
). In general, green or sustainable products are perceived as more expensive which makes this an important factor in consumer evaluation, when consumers are more sensitive to changes (Binkley & Bejnarowicz, 2003Binkley, JK, & Bejnarowicz, J (2003). Consumer price awareness in food shopping: the case of quantity surcharges. Journal of Retailing, 79(1), 27-35. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-4359(03)00005-8
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-4359(03)00...
; Yang, 2019Yang, Z., Sun, S., Lalwani, AK, & Janakiraman, N (2019). How Does Consumers’ Local or Global Identity Influence Price-Perceived Quality Associations? The Role of Perceived Quality Variance. Journal of Marketing, 83 (3) 145-162. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0022242918825269
https://doi.org/10.1177/0022242918825269...
). Despite that, consumers who have had experience purchasing green products and/or have a preference for purchasing these products, may have internalized factors associated with sustainability, which make them less sensitive to price variations (Tsuda, Hara & Uwasu, 2013Tsuda, K., Hara, K., & Uwasu, M (2013). Prospects and challenges for disseminating life cycle thinking towards environmental conscious behaviors in daily lives. Sustainability, 5(1), 123-135. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su5010123
https://doi.org/10.3390/su5010123...
; Cerri, Testa & Rizzi, 2018Cerri, J., Testa, F., & Rizzi, F (2018). The more I care, the less I will listen to you: How information, environmental concern and ethical production influence consumers’ attitudes and the purchasing of sustainable products. Journal of Cleaner Production, 175, 343-353. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.12.054
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.1...
), negatively influencing individuals’ price sensitivity. Thisleads to the following research hypothesis:

  • H1b: PGP has a direct and negative relationship with PS.

2.3. Perception of corporate social responsibility actions (PCSRA)

According to Moravcikova, Stefanikova and Rypakova (2015Moravcikova, K., Stefanikova, Ľ., & Rypakova, M (2015). CSR Reporting as an Important Tool of CSR Communication. Procedia Economics and Finance, 26, 332-338. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2212-5671(15)00861-8
https://doi.org/10.1016/S2212-5671(15)00...
), consumers have become more concerned about the impact of their purchase decisions and have been following information on the actions of their favorite brands, such as if companies position themselves as socially responsible. These criteria have been identified as important decision motivators for purchasing products. The positive perception of corporate social responsibility actions provides positive word-of-mouth and dissemination to other consumers who do not consume the brand yet (Arli & Hasmono, 2010Arli, DI, & Hasmono, HK (2010). Consumers’ perception of corporate social responsibility in a developing country. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 34, 46-51. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1470-6431.2009.00824.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1470-6431.2009...
; Castro-González, Bande, Fernández-Ferrín & Kimura, 2019Castro-González, S., Bande, B., Fernández-Ferrín, P., & Kimura, T (2019). Corporate social responsibility and consumer advocacy behaviors: The importance of emotions and moral virtues. Journal of Cleaner Production, 23, 846-855. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.05.238
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.0...
).

In their studies, Ferreira, Ávila and Faria (2010Ferreira, DA, Ávila, M., & Faria, MD (2010). Efeitos da responsabilidade social corporativa na intenção de compra e no benefício percebido pelo consumidor: um estudo experimental. Revista da Administração, 45(3), 285-296. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0080-2107(16)30481-2
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0080-2107(16)30...
) observed the effects of perceiving corporate social responsibility actions in the consumer’s purchase intention. These studies have shown that consumers perceive an additional benefit in purchasing products advertised by companies as socially responsible, showing a willingness to pay 10% more for these products. In addition to it, in another research conducted by Maigan (2001Maigan, I (2001). Consumers’ Perceptions of Corporate Social Responsibilities: A Cross-Cultural Comparison. Journal of Business Ethics, 30 (1), 57-72. doi: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006433928640
https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006433928640...
), it was identified that European consumers boycotted companies that had no social responsibility when presented with media cases of mistreating employees and accumulation of undue capital.

Therefore, it is interesting to analyze the relationship between these variables by assuming that:

  • H2a: PCSRA has a direct and positive relationship with CC of fashion products.

In addition to being able to influence conscious consumption, the perception of corporate social responsibility actions may also be important in decreasing consumers’ price sensitivity. One of the barriers that lead individuals to reflect on the price companies charge for sustainable products is the lack of knowledge about their actions in favor of the environment (Arli & Hasmono, 2010Arli, DI, & Hasmono, HK (2010). Consumers’ perception of corporate social responsibility in a developing country. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 34, 46-51. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1470-6431.2009.00824.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1470-6431.2009...
; Dellarmelin, Severo & Lazzarotto, 2017Dellarmelin, ML, Severo, EA, & Lazzarotto, J (2017). A influência da inovação sustentável e do luxo sobre a disposição a pagar e a intenção de compra do consumidor.REAd. Revista Eletrônica de Administração (Porto Alegre),23(2), 258-273. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1413.2311.058.62218
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1413.2311.058....
). Therefore, the perception of corporate social responsibility actions can provide information about the positive actions that companies develop in the social sphere, and influence the way consumers analyze the prices of the company’s products, which leads to the definition of the following research hypothesis:

  • H2b: PCSRA has a direct and negative relationship with PS.

2.4. Price sensitivity (PS)

Price exerts a considerable influence on the consumers’ purchase decision process (Han, Gupta & Lehman, 2001Han, S., Gupta, S., & Lehmann, DR (2001). Consumer Price Sensitivity and Price Thresholds. Journal of Retailing, 77 (4), 435-456. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-4359(01)00057-4
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-4359(01)00...
; Wang, Liu, Kim & Kim, 2018Wang, H., Liu, H., Kim, SJ, & Kim, KH (2018). Sustainable fashion index model and its implication. Journal of Business Research. 99, 430-437. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.12.027
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.1...
). Based on Alford and Biswas (2002Alford, BL, & Biswas, A (2002). The effects of discount level, price consciousness and sale proneness on consumers’ price perception and behavioral intention. Journal of Business Research, 55 (9), 775-783. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0148-2963(00)00214-9
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0148-2963(00)00...
) study about how price influences consumer decisions, it is the level of consumers’ awareness about the price that makes the theme more relevant. According to Rao and Monroe (1988Rao, AR, & Monroe, KB (1988). The Moderating Effect of Prior Knowledge on Cue Utilization in Product Evaluations. Journal of Consumer Research, 15, 253-264. doi: 10.1086/209162
https://doi.org/10.1086/209162...
), a higher price increases the perception of an economic cost and, therefore, negatively influences product evaluations and purchase intentions if the consumer does not see benefits from paying the extra value.

The present study follows the definition established by Botelho and Urdan (2005Botelho, D., & Urdan, AT (2005). Lealdade à marca e sensibilidade ao preço: um estudo da escolha da marca pelo consumidor. Revista de Administração Contemporânea, 9(4), 163-180. doi: https://doi.org/10.1590/S1415-65552005000400009
https://doi.org/10.1590/S1415-6555200500...
), who definee this level of awareness as price sensitivity, a dimension studied with a focus on the variation of consumer behavior due to an oscillation in the amount to be paid. In relation to sustainable products, price becomes an obstacle to the purchase decision, as it is a the belief that products with such ecological characteristics are likely to be more expensive (Lin, Tseng, Yeh, Liao & Wang, 2020Lin, H., Tseng, TH, Yeh, C., Liao, Y., & Wang, Y (2020). What drives customers’ post-purchase price search intention in the context of online price matching guarantees. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, v. 54, 1-10. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2019.102015
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.201...
).

According to Joshi and Rahman (2017Joshi, Y., & Rahman, Z. (2017). Investigating the determinants of consumers’ sustainable purchase behavior. Sustainable Production and Consumption , 10, 110-120. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2017.02.002
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2017.02.00...
; 2019Joshi, Y., & Rahman, Z (2019). Consumers’ sustainable purchase behavior: modeling the impact of psychological factors. Ecological Economics, 159, 235-243. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.01.025
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019....
), purchasing environmentally friendly products requires more effort from the consumer, such as accepting higher prices due to the cost of research and development required in its manufacturing process. In a study on willingness to pay, and purchase intention for sustainable product innovation, Dellarmelin et al. (2017Dellarmelin, ML, Severo, EA, & Lazzarotto, J (2017). A influência da inovação sustentável e do luxo sobre a disposição a pagar e a intenção de compra do consumidor.REAd. Revista Eletrônica de Administração (Porto Alegre),23(2), 258-273. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1413.2311.058.62218
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1413.2311.058....
) observed that there was no significant effect of sustainability on purchase intention and willingness to pay.

Thus, people still tend to consume their products preferentially because of price and quality, and considering that not all consumers have relevant information about green products that make them spend greater financial effort for this purchase (Marian, Chrysochou, Krystallis & Thøgersen, 2014Marian, L., Chrysochou, P., Krystallis, A., & Thøgersen, J (2014). The role of price as a product attribute in the organic food context: an exploration based on actual purchase data. Food Quality and Preference, 37, 52-60. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2014.05.001
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2014....
), the following hypothesis was elaborated:

  • H3a: PS has a direct and negative influence on CC of fashion products.

The following figure (Figure 1) summarizes the theoretical model proposed in this study.

Figure 1.
Theoretical research model

3. RESEARCH METHOD

The present study is quantitative (Sampieri, Collado & Lucio, 2013Sampieri, RH, Collado, CF, & Lucio, PB (2013). Metodologia de pesquisa (5ªed.) Porto Alegre: Penso.), in which a survey method was adopted (Gil, 2019Gil, AC (2019). Métodos e técnicas de pesquisa social (7ª ed.) São Paulo: Atlas .). The data collection process involved the Local Productive Arrangement (LPA) in the the Clothing Pole of Agreste Pernambucano consumption context, which integrates the cities: Toritama, Santa Cruz do Capibaribe, Caruaru, Riacho das Almas and Taquaritinga (Bezerra Filho, Suza & Baldi, 2007Bezerra Filho, R., Suza, IIL, & Baldi, M (2007). Inovação e Desenvolvimento no APL de Confecções de Pernambuco - Brasil a partir da Integração Universidade-Indústria-Governo. In XII Seminario Latino Iberoamericano de Gestion Tecnologica, Buenos Aires.).

The reason for studying this clothing LPA is due to its strategic relevance to the state of Pernambuco, which, despite being especially characterized by fast fashion production, already shows a growing demand for sustainable fashion products. This demand can be represented by the offer of sustainable fashion products by some local companies (e.g., Norppa, Plural Colaborativo, Caboklo, Ayô, Seu Santinno, Frantty, Allysonlorena, among others) and by the actions led by the city halls to improve the production process with a focus on sustainability (Prefeitura de Caruaru, 2018Prefeitura de Caruaru. (2018). Começam as obras do segundo Laboratório de Análises Têxteis do país. Obtido em https://caruaru.pe.gov.br/comecam-as-obras-do-segundo-laboratorio-de-analises-texteis-do-pais/
https://caruaru.pe.gov.br/comecam-as-obr...
). It is also possible to mention the movements to engage and encourage conscious fashion consumption, such as the Fashion Revolution Week, which aims to raise awareness about the real cost of fashion and its impact on the world, in all stages of its production and consumption process (Fashion Revolution Brazil, 2020Fashion Revolution Brazil. (2020). Semana Fashion Revolution. Obtido em https://semanafashionrevolution.com.br/
https://semanafashionrevolution.com.br/...
).

The population of this study is composed of the entire population residing in the LPA, aged over 18 years old, which is considered the age associated with the beginning of autonomy in decisions. The data collection was carried out in July 2019 through the application of an online questionnaire developed on Google Forms. Regarding the study sample, it was non-probabilistic and cross-sectional, with the application of the snowball sample technique, in which individuals sent the questionnaire through a sharing network (Malhotra, 2019Malhotra, NK (2019). Pesquisa de Marketing - Uma Orientação Aplicada (7ªed.) Porto Alegre: Bookman .). The questionnaire scales, described in Table 1, were a seven-point Likert type, taking values ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree) regarding the statements to measure the respondent’s answers. Regarding the CC scale adapted from Grohmann et al. (2012Grohmann, MZ, Battistella, LF, Velter, NA, & Casasola, F (2012). Comportamento Ecologicamente Consciente do Consumidor: Adaptação da Escala ECCB para o Contexto Brasileiro. RGSA - Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental, 6 (1), 102-116. doi: https://doi.org/10.24857/rgsa.v6i1.321
https://doi.org/10.24857/rgsa.v6i1.321...
), only the health dimension was not considered for not being part of this research scope.

The sample size required for this study was calculated based on Hair Jr., Black, Babin, Anderson & Tatham (2006Hair Jr., J., Black, WC, Babin, BJ, Anderson, RE, & Tatham, RL (2009). Análise multivariada de dados (6ª ed.). Porto Alegre: Bookman.)’s recommendation, which defines 5-10 observations per parameter in the collection instrument as a safe number of observations. As the collection instrument of this study contains 22 items, 110 answered questionnaires were considered as the minimum suitable number for the data to be validated. The instrument was pretested with 15 respondents (Malhotra, 2019Malhotra, NK (2019). Pesquisa de Marketing - Uma Orientação Aplicada (7ªed.) Porto Alegre: Bookman .) and after the adjustments recommended by the respondents were made, the link to the final questionnaire,prepared in Google Forms, was sent through the WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook platforms.

Data analysis was performed using the statistical program IBM SPSS and IBM SPSS AMOS, in order to obtain the sample descriptive statistics (frequency, mean and standard deviation), the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and to generate the structural equation modeling to evaluate the relationships between variables (SEM) (Hair Jr. et al., 2006Hair Jr., J., Black, WC, Babin, BJ, Anderson, RE, & Tatham, RL (2009). Análise multivariada de dados (6ª ed.). Porto Alegre: Bookman.).

The Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), which identifies dimensions of common variability existing in a set of phenomena (Corrar, Paulo & Dias-filho, 2011Corrar, LJ, Paulo, E., & Dias-Filho, JM (2011). Análise multivariada: para os cursos de administração, ciências contábeis e economia. São Paulo: Atlas.), was used to analyze the scales dimensionality. To perform this analysis, a Varimax rotation was used, together with the sphericity tests of Bartlett and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO), in order to assess the quality of the analysis and the adjustment of the factors obtained, indicating consistency of the results (Hair Jr. et al., 2006Hair Jr., J., Black, WC, Babin, BJ, Anderson, RE, & Tatham, RL (2009). Análise multivariada de dados (6ª ed.). Porto Alegre: Bookman.).

Then, data reliability was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, with an acceptable reliability level above 0.6, and Pearson’s coefficient, with values ​​close to zero, as recommended by Hair Jr. et al. (2006Hair Jr., J., Black, WC, Babin, BJ, Anderson, RE, & Tatham, RL (2009). Análise multivariada de dados (6ª ed.). Porto Alegre: Bookman.).

In order to conduct the scale analyzes, the relationships and the correlations between the constructs, as well as testing the hypotheses, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling - SEM (Byrne, 2010Byrne, BM (2010). Structural Equation Modeling with AMOS: basic concepts, applications and programming (2ª ed.). New York: Taylor & Francis Group.) were applied, starting from the analysis of the measurement model and the structural model (Fornell & Larcker, 1981Fornell, C., & Larcker, DF (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error.Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39-50. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/3151312
https://doi.org/10.2307/3151312...
; Kline, 2011Kline, RB (2011). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. New York: Guilford.). The hypothesis tests, the covariance matrix and the correlations were evaluated from the values of the standardized estimates, the non-standardized estimates and the p-values (p <0.05) (Byrne, 2010Byrne, BM (2010). Structural Equation Modeling with AMOS: basic concepts, applications and programming (2ª ed.). New York: Taylor & Francis Group.; Severo, Guimarães & Dorion, 2018Severo, E., Guimarães, J., & Dorion, E (2018). Cleaner production, social responsibility and eco-innovation: Generations’ perception for a sustainable future. Journal of Cleaner Production, 186, 91-103. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.03.129
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.0...
).

Table 1.
Composition of the data collection instrument

4. PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF RESULTS

After the application of the questionnaire, a sample of 190 valid responses was obtained, with a predominant profile being of women (63.2%)with higher education (42.6%), residing in the city of Caruaru (92.1%). The average age of the respondents was 30 years old, with an average family income of R$ 3,862.03 per month.

The results of the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) are summarized in Table 2, where the individual items of the scales are grouped into factors that represent the expected theoretical constructs, with the only exception being the CC construct, whose items related to habit change dimension (CC_HCD1 and CC_HCD2) ended up composing the Recycling dimension.

Table 2.
Data reliability and dimensionality

The Pearson coefficient correlation analysis identified correlations between the observable variables with values above the ideal limit of 0.7, between the variables PGP01 <-> PGP02 (0.783) and PCSRA02 <-> PCSRA03 (0.752). However, as variables above 0.7 and below 0.8, are considered acceptable, and due to the theoretical contribution, it was decided to keep these items (Guimarães, Severo & Vasconcelos, 2017Guimarães, J., Severo, E., & Vasconcelos, C (2017). Sustainable Competitive Advantage: A Survey of Companies in Southern Brazil. Brazilian Business Review, 14(3), 352-367. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.15728/bbr.2017.14.3.6.
http://dx.doi.org/10.15728/bbr.2017.14.3...
).

Regarding the Composite Reliability (CR) and the Average Variance Extracted (AVE), all parameters are within the recommended values (Byrne, 2010Byrne, BM (2010). Structural Equation Modeling with AMOS: basic concepts, applications and programming (2ª ed.). New York: Taylor & Francis Group.; Fornell & Larcker, 1981Fornell, C., & Larcker, DF (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error.Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39-50. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/3151312
https://doi.org/10.2307/3151312...
), as shown in Table 3.

Table 3.
Composite Reliability and Average Variance Extracted

The Convergent Validity (CV) and Discriminant Validity (DV) (Kline, 2011Kline, RB (2011). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. New York: Guilford.) were assessed as part of the measurement model analysis (Fornell & Larcker, 1981Fornell, C., & Larcker, DF (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error.Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39-50. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/3151312
https://doi.org/10.2307/3151312...
), the results are shown in Table 4. In order to verify the CV, the guidelines of Kline (2011Kline, RB (2011). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. New York: Guilford.) were followed, which suggest taking the AVE as the basis for evaluation and define the value above 0.5 as appropriate. By looking at Table 4, it is possible to verify that the AVE values ​​are above the recommended, confirming CV.

Table 4.
Correlations, shared variance and AVE

To verify the DV, the recommendation of Fornell and Lacker (1981Fornell, C., & Larcker, DF (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error.Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39-50. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/3151312
https://doi.org/10.2307/3151312...
) was used, who suggests comparing the AVE of each construct with the shared variance, taking as a reference that AVE values must be above shared variances values. According to the result in Table 4, as only the shared variance value between the PCSRA and CC constructs was greater than the AVE, the result can be considered acceptable for analysis (Fornell & Lacker, 1981Fornell, C., & Larcker, DF (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error.Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39-50. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/3151312
https://doi.org/10.2307/3151312...
). Thus, the DV is established.

The analysis of the Mahalanobis Square Distance (D2), a measure used to check outliers that had markings very distant from most respondents (Marôco, 2014Marôco, J (2014). Análise de equações estruturais: Fundamentos teóricos, software e aplicações (2ª ed.). Perô Pinheiro: Report Number.), pointed out seven observations with outliers and, therefore, they were removed from the analysis. Thus, with the data from the measurement model showing results within the recommended levels, the following structural model analyses was performed (Byrne, 2010Byrne, BM (2010). Structural Equation Modeling with AMOS: basic concepts, applications and programming (2ª ed.). New York: Taylor & Francis Group.).

From the analysis of the structural model adjustment indexes (Marôco, 2014Marôco, J (2014). Análise de equações estruturais: Fundamentos teóricos, software e aplicações (2ª ed.). Perô Pinheiro: Report Number.), in order to assess the interrelationship between the constructs, were found the results shown in Table 5, indicating that the obtained indexes are suitable for the proposed model. For the EVCI and RMR factors, Marôco’s (2014Marôco, J (2014). Análise de equações estruturais: Fundamentos teóricos, software e aplicações (2ª ed.). Perô Pinheiro: Report Number.) recommendation was followed, which suggests that the lower these values are, the better the fit of the integrated model. The values of EVCI and RMR for this research are considered the lowest expected values.

Table 5.
Model Adjustment Indexes

Thus, these results indicate an appropriate adjustment in the measurement of the latent constructs. Therefore, the adaptation of the scales was adequate, making it possible to apply structural equation modeling to test the hypotheses. Table 6 shows the results regarding the hypotheses and Figure 2 shows the relationships between the constructs, with their respective coefficients. Out of the five hypotheses, two were confirmed, H1b and H2a. Hypothesis H1a was partially confirmed and H2b and H3a were not confirmed, as they presented p-values higher than 0.05 (p>0.05).

Table 6.
Hypothesis testing

Figure 2.
Final integrated model - standardized coefficients.

The hypothesis H1a, regarding the relationship between the preference for purchasing green products and the conscious consumption of fashion products, was partially confirmed. Despite having significance (p <0.05), the relationship was found to be negative, demonstrating that, in this research, consumers who had consumed green products were not conscious observing the consumption of fashion products. Therefore, this result contradicts the arguments presented in the studies of Afonso (2010Afonso, ACB (2010). O consumidor verde: perfil e comportamento de compra (dissertação de mestrado). Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, Portugal.) and Chen and Wang (2016Chen, Y., & Wang, R (2016). Are humans rational? Exploring factors influencing impulse buying intention and continuous impulse buying intention. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 15, 186-197. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.1563
https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.1563...
), when they state that consumers who already demonstrate green consumption behavior or have experience in purchasing these products have a greater environmental awareness concerning consumption.

On the other hand, this result can be explained by the arguments of Tsuda et al. (2013Tsuda, K., Hara, K., & Uwasu, M (2013). Prospects and challenges for disseminating life cycle thinking towards environmental conscious behaviors in daily lives. Sustainability, 5(1), 123-135. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su5010123
https://doi.org/10.3390/su5010123...
) and Brochado et al. (2017Brochado, A., Teiga, N, & Oliveira-Brochado, F (2017). The ecological conscious consumer behaviour: are the activists different?International Journal of Consumer Studies, 41(2), 138-146. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12321
https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12321...
), who state that, in some cases, a previous experience can be considered as a barrier to socio-environmental awareness, especially if consumers perceive either that the product does not have a more ecological production process or the company does not develop actions towards sustainability as promised in advertisement campaigns.

In the present study, as it addresses fashion products, it is believed that the consumer cannot have access to the production information of a company and, by not being sure that the process is not merely greenwashing, since it refers to products manufactured in an LPA that still has a preponderance of fast fashion companies, individuals may have the perception of ineffectiveness in their purchase in regards tosustainability (Oliveira Jr., et al., 2015Oliveira Jr., AB, Huertas, MKZ, & Oliveira, MJ (2015). A influência da comunicação de ações sustentáveis corporativas na intenção de compra e o efeito moderador do tipo de consumidor. Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental - RGSA, 9 (1), 2-18. doi: https://doi.org/10.24857/rgsa.v9i1.1025
https://doi.org/10.24857/rgsa.v9i1.1025...
).

The hypothesis H2a, which refers to the relationship between the perception of corporate social responsibility actions and the conscious consumption of fashion products, was confirmed, with standardized estimated relationship values of 1.180. In this way, the perception of corporate social responsibility actions has a strong influence on the conscious consumption of fashion products, as indicated by Ferreira et al. (2010Ferreira, DA, Ávila, M., & Faria, MD (2010). Efeitos da responsabilidade social corporativa na intenção de compra e no benefício percebido pelo consumidor: um estudo experimental. Revista da Administração, 45(3), 285-296. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0080-2107(16)30481-2
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0080-2107(16)30...
) and Castro-González et al., (2019Castro-González, S., Bande, B., Fernández-Ferrín, P., & Kimura, T (2019). Corporate social responsibility and consumer advocacy behaviors: The importance of emotions and moral virtues. Journal of Cleaner Production, 23, 846-855. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.05.238
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.0...
).

The confirmation of H2a provides an important contribution regarding fashion products consumption, since the social perspective had more impact on conscious consumption than the green perspective of the product. One factor that explains this significant result of H2a is that fashion companies tend to carry out more communication campaigns about the social responsibility actions they develop than about the ones that benefit the environment in the production process (Moure, 2019Moure, RC (2019). CSR communication in Spanish quoted firms. European Research on Management and Business Economics. 25 (2) 93-98. 2444-8834. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iedeen.2019.02.002
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iedeen.2019.02...
; Severo et al., 2019Severo, EA, Guimarães, JCF, Dellarmelin, ML, & Ribeiro, RP (2019). The Influence of Social Networks on Environmental Awareness and the Social Responsibility of Generations.Brazilian Business Review,16(5), 500-518. doi: https://doi.org/10.15728/bbr.2019.16.5.5
https://doi.org/10.15728/bbr.2019.16.5.5...
). As a result, it can interfere with consumer perception about this factor and, consequently, about conscious consumption. Thus, this is a relevant managerial implication for companies, in the sense that it is essential that they build their communication to strengthen the consumer perception of the environmental responsibility actions that are performed (Dellarmelin et al., 2017Dellarmelin, ML, Severo, EA, & Lazzarotto, J (2017). A influência da inovação sustentável e do luxo sobre a disposição a pagar e a intenção de compra do consumidor.REAd. Revista Eletrônica de Administração (Porto Alegre),23(2), 258-273. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1413.2311.058.62218
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1413.2311.058....
).

Regarding hypothesis H1b, which refers to the relationship between preference for purchasing green products and its direct and negative influence on price sensitivity, statistical significance was obtained, considering the standardized regression coefficient of 0.334, confirming the hypothesis. The perspective of authors such as Duerden and Witt (2010Duerden, MD, & Witt, PA (2010). The impact of direct and indirect experiences on the development of environmental knowledge, attitudes, and behavior.Journal of Environmental Psychology, 30(4), 379-392. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2010.03.007
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2010.03....
) and Lemon and Verhoef (2016Lemon, KN, & Verhoef, PC (2016). Understanding customer experience throughout the customer journey.Journal of Marketing, v. 80(6), 69-96. doi: https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.15.0420
https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.15.0420...
), that it is possible that when consumers get more experience in purchasing green products they become less sensitive to price variations, which seems to justify the results of the present study. Consumers who have had experience in purchasing green products and have a preference for purchasing them tend to have greater knowledge about the importance of the product, and therefore the price is no longer a relevant aspect (Binkley & Bejnarowicz, 2003Binkley, JK, & Bejnarowicz, J (2003). Consumer price awareness in food shopping: the case of quantity surcharges. Journal of Retailing, 79(1), 27-35. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-4359(03)00005-8
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-4359(03)00...
; Tsuda et al ., 2013Tsuda, K., Hara, K., & Uwasu, M (2013). Prospects and challenges for disseminating life cycle thinking towards environmental conscious behaviors in daily lives. Sustainability, 5(1), 123-135. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su5010123
https://doi.org/10.3390/su5010123...
; Cerri, Testa & Rizzi, 2018Cerri, J., Testa, F., & Rizzi, F (2018). The more I care, the less I will listen to you: How information, environmental concern and ethical production influence consumers’ attitudes and the purchasing of sustainable products. Journal of Cleaner Production, 175, 343-353. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.12.054
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.1...
).

The hypothesis H2b, which assesses a direct and negative relationship between the perception of corporate social responsibility actions and price sensitivity, did not obtain statistical significance (p> 0.05) and,thus, was not confirmed. Consumer perception about the development of social responsibility actions by companies is not directly and negatively related to their price sensitivity, contrary to the studies used in the theoretical reference section to support the hypothesis (Dellarmelin, Severo & Lazzarotto, 2017Dellarmelin, ML, Severo, EA, & Lazzarotto, J (2017). A influência da inovação sustentável e do luxo sobre a disposição a pagar e a intenção de compra do consumidor.REAd. Revista Eletrônica de Administração (Porto Alegre),23(2), 258-273. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1413.2311.058.62218
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1413.2311.058....
; Joshi & Rahman, 2017Joshi, Y., & Rahman, Z. (2017). Investigating the determinants of consumers’ sustainable purchase behavior. Sustainable Production and Consumption , 10, 110-120. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2017.02.002
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2017.02.00...
; Cerri, Testa & Rizzi, 2018Cerri, J., Testa, F., & Rizzi, F (2018). The more I care, the less I will listen to you: How information, environmental concern and ethical production influence consumers’ attitudes and the purchasing of sustainable products. Journal of Cleaner Production, 175, 343-353. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.12.054
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.1...
), making this result one of the important points of this study.

This is because, in hypothesis H2a, a positive relationship was identified between social responsibility actions and conscious consumption, which would intuitively lead to the prospect that price would also be positively influenced by the construct. In other words, consumer price sensitivity would be reduced when corporate social responsibility actions are perceived. However, the absence of statistical relevance indicates that these two constructs are not considered together in the same decision process when analyzing the conscious consumption of fashion products.

Finally, the hypothesis H3a, which assesses the relationship between price sensitivity and conscious consumption, was also not confirmed, due to the lack of statistical significance (p> 0.05), indicating that, in the case of this investigation, price sensitivity is not related to fashion conscious consumption. This result contradicts studies which state that price is one of the most important barriers to conscious consumption (Ferreira and Coelho (2017) and Lin et al. (2020Lin, H., Tseng, TH, Yeh, C., Liao, Y., & Wang, Y (2020). What drives customers’ post-purchase price search intention in the context of online price matching guarantees. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, v. 54, 1-10. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2019.102015
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.201...
).

Regardless of the refutation of hypothesis H3a, the result leads to important reflections: in a first analysis, it is possible to conclude that conscious consumption may not be a variable that depends on price in a fashion buying process (Joshi & Rahman, 2017Joshi, Y., & Rahman, Z. (2017). Investigating the determinants of consumers’ sustainable purchase behavior. Sustainable Production and Consumption , 10, 110-120. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2017.02.002
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2017.02.00...
). That is, when there is the willingness to consume consciously, the consumer does so without it affecting their perception of what they consider more or less expensive in terms of price.

Additionally, the absence of relationships with statistical significance may indicate that price may not be a relevant factor in fashion products purchase decision, as pointed out by Ghali-Zinoubiand and Toukabri (2019Ghali-Zinoubiand, Z., & Toukabri, M (2019) The antecedents of the consumer purchase intention: Sensitivity to price andinvolvement in organic product: Moderating role of product regionalidentity. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 90, 175-179. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2019.02.028
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2019.02.0...
). Lastly, a third reflection consists in the fact that the analyzed clothing LPA has a characteristic of manufacturing products with low prices (ABIT, 2018Associação Brasileira da Indústria Têxtil e de Confecção. (2018). Obtido em https://www.abit.org.br/cont/perfil-do-setor.
https://www.abit.org.br/cont/perfil-do-s...
), which could lead individuals to perceive that the price of products, regardless of whether they are ecological or not, would be lower than in other locations (Dellarmelin et al., 2017Dellarmelin, ML, Severo, EA, & Lazzarotto, J (2017). A influência da inovação sustentável e do luxo sobre a disposição a pagar e a intenção de compra do consumidor.REAd. Revista Eletrônica de Administração (Porto Alegre),23(2), 258-273. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1413.2311.058.62218
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1413.2311.058....
; Ferreira & Coelho, 2017; Marian et al., 2014Marian, L., Chrysochou, P., Krystallis, A., & Thøgersen, J (2014). The role of price as a product attribute in the organic food context: an exploration based on actual purchase data. Food Quality and Preference, 37, 52-60. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2014.05.001
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2014....
). It would also explain the lack of significant relevance between the constructs of price sensitivity and fashion conscious consumption in the analyzed context.

5. CONCLUSION

Considering the context of fashion products presented in this investigation, the findings show that the consumers’ perception of corporate social responsibility actions influences conscious consumption, that hat the purchase of green products has a negative influence on conscious consumption and the price sensitivity did not obtain statistical significance to exert influence, contradicting the proposed theoretical model. This leads to the understanding that, in a fashion context, the actions carried out by companies regarding social responsibility are more perceived by consumers than the characteristics of green products, in a way that influences their conscious consumption, and the consideration of price as a barrier to sustainable consumption will depend on the context and the object of research.

The findings also show that the purchase of green products decreases consumers’ price sensitivity when it comes to the fashion context, but the same was not identified in the relationship between the perception of social responsibility and price sensitivity. These results lead to the observation that previous experiences with green products have more effect on the price issue than the actions taken by organizations regarding the social aspect related to fashion products.

From a theoretical point of view, this research contributes to the debate about the variables that influence conscious consumption, by proposing an analysis among the constructs purchase of green products, price sensitivity and perception of corporate social responsibility actions. Additionally, these results bring important contributions to support the advances of sustainability studies within the field of consumer behavior, by assessing the factors that can influence the conscious consumption of individuals and, consequently, their sustainable products purchase decisions.

In addition, an important theoretical contribution of this research is found in the result of the relationship between price sensitivity and conscious consumption, contradicting studies that indicate price as a strong barrier to the consumer when purchasing green/sustainable products, such as those from Otto and Pensini (2017Otto, S., & Pensini, P (2017). Nature-based environmental education of children: Environmental knowledge and connectedness to nature, together, are related to ecological behaviour. Global Environmental Change, 47, 88-94. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2017.09.009
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2017...
), Al Mamun et al. (2018Al Mamun, A., Mohamad, MR, Yaacob, MRB, & Mohiuddin, M (2018). Intention and behavior towards green consumption among low-income households. Journal of Environmental Management, 227, 73-86. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.08.061
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.0...
), and Lin et al. (2020Lin, H., Tseng, TH, Yeh, C., Liao, Y., & Wang, Y (2020). What drives customers’ post-purchase price search intention in the context of online price matching guarantees. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, v. 54, 1-10. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2019.102015
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.201...
). In the present study, it can also be inferred that price does not demonstrate to be a relevant variable for the development of conscious consumption of the consumers who buy in the clothing LPA of Pernambuco, considering that both constructs have satisfactory statistical results individually but did not show significance when analyzed together.

From a managerial point of view, the results obtained also demonstrate relevant contributions, especially regarding the importance of the price variable in the market of sustainable fashion products. That is because, it was demonstrated that when there is the willingness to consume consciously, the consumer does it without being affected by the perception of what they consider more or less expensive in terms of price. Another relevant practical contribution for managers is related to the companies’ social responsibility actions, in the sense that it is essential they build their communication to strengthen consumer perception of the company’s environmental responsibility actions, since, regarding fashion products, the social perspective had more impact on conscious consumption than the green characteristic of the product.

It is important to acknowledge that the study presents some limitations. First, despite the appropriate number of respondents (Hair Jr. et al, 2006Hair Jr., J., Black, WC, Babin, BJ, Anderson, RE, & Tatham, RL (2009). Análise multivariada de dados (6ª ed.). Porto Alegre: Bookman.), it is not possible to describe the sample as representative. This is because the snowball technique may not guarantee that everyone in the population has a non-zero chance of participating in the study. Second, the lack of specification on the type of sustainable fashion product may have led to a more generalized result about consumer perception. Applications of this model taking into consideration a specific sustainable fashion product or product category could lead to a different result. Third, this study evaluates the consumption behavior in a cross-sectional approach rather than a longitudinal one.

For future investigations, it is suggested to work with an experiment based on information about social responsibility on the labels of clothing items to verify the influence of such actions on consumer environmental awareness, price sensitivity and perception of corporate social responsibility. Furthermore, because this research analyzed the data obtained in a region where the clothing segment is very important economically, the application of this same study in contexts in which the financial dependence on the clothing sector is less prominent may bring different results.

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  • ERRATUM

    In the English version of the article “Fashion Conscious Consumption and Consumer Perception: A Study in the Local Productive Arrangement of Clothing of Pernambuco”, with DOI number: 10.15728/bbr.2022.19.1.6, published in the journal Brazilian Business Review, vol. 19, n. 1, p. 96-115, the authors noted missing data in Table 2, on page 105 of the article. They provided a new table, which is now published together with this Erratum note. This occurrence has no consequences for the analysis of the results presented on the research and has no effect on the conclusions drawn and presented in the article.
    Table 2 -
    Data reliability and dimensionality

Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    25 Feb 2022
  • Date of issue
    Jan-Feb 2022

History

  • Received
    28 June 2020
  • Reviewed
    21 Sept 2020
  • Accepted
    24 Mar 2021
  • Published
    07 Jan 2022
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