Understanding Post-covid-19 Consumer Purchase intention for sustainable clothing: Insights from Romania

Abstract

Purpose: The past COVID-19 pandemic has improved consumer behaviors towards sustainability. Despite the situation, the textile industry’s overconsumption phenomenon has increasingly reduced limited natural resources in recent years, driven by consumer purchasing behavior. This fact has raised concerns about its environmental impact, encouraging a growing interest in understanding consumer behaviors toward sustainable clothing purchases after going through a health crisis. This paper addresses the remaining significant gap in the literature regarding the determinants triggering this behavior in the post-COVID-19 context.
Approach: To address this issue, our study proposes a comprehensive framework that extends the Theory of Planned Behavior to integrate pro-environmental constructs and social value orientations. Conducted in Romania, our empirical study investigated a sample of 1,250 respondents. We applied the Partial Least Squares—Path Modeling procedure to analyze the collected data and identify relationships among variables.
Findings: This study’s results illustrate the significant role of attitude, environmental concern, and altruistic orientation in shaping Romanian consumers’ purchase intentions toward sustainable clothes after the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, we discovered a strong mediation effect on the attitude formation process.
Originality: The study provides valuable insights into Romanian consumer behavior after the COVID-19 health crisis and emphasizes the urgency of addressing overconsumption in the textile industry and promoting sustainable consumption practices. Hence, with the found determinants, this study offers significant observations for policymakers and industry stakeholders wishing to encourage more sustainable consumer attitudes and behaviors, and eventually promote environmental sustainability within the textile industry.