Influences of Sustainability Labels on Fashion Buying Behaviour – A Study on the Example of Fair Trade in Germany

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to find out the influences of sustainability labels on fashion buying behaviour. Despite key information about Fair Trade is provided in all stores of the sample company, customers seem not to be aware of the Fair Trade concept. Therefore this paper aims to give recommendations for a fashion retailer in terms of elucidation about Fair Trade by answering the following research questions: Which influences do sustainability labels wield on customer’s buying behaviour? Are consumers of textile products aware of the function and backgrounds of the Fair Trade label?Design/methodology/approach – A paper-based questionnaire was administered to 128 customers of a German fashion retailer “Adler Modemärkte AG” in four city stores from which 127 were correctly completed. Additionally an adjusted self-completion questionnaire administered to 50.000 customers online from which a total of 1.712 were correctly completed. Descriptive analysis and cross-tabulations were applied to abstract the main research findings and evaluate the hypotheses. Findings – Key findings suggest that Adler should either enhance their communication strategy regarding Fair Trade or remove Fair Trade products from the assortment, as the majority of respondents are not aware of Adlers` Fair Trade products. The Fair Trade label could neither be identified as consumer-barrier nor sales support. Further findings revealed participants have more knowledge about Fair Trade than initially assumed. Research limitations/implications – Majorly women aged between 56 and 75 participated in the survey. Findings are limited to geography, the target group of the fashion retailer Adler, gender, age group and the research method questionnaire.