The values and motivations behind sustainable fashion consumption

Abstract The growth in ethical consumption behaviour and greater interest in sustainable fashion from a production side provides grounding for the emergence of a new consumer market for sustainable fashion. To date, however, most studies in this field focus on the production end of the emerging market, with little exploration of the consumers. Of the work, there is on sustainable fashion consumption; the majority discuss perceptions of sustainable fashion by the general population, with little work sampling actual consumers of sustainable fashion. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the values and motivations underpinning actual sustainable fashion consumption. Thirty‐nine in‐depth interviews were conducted with a sample of frequent sustainable clothing consumers. The study follows a means‐end theory approach linking purchased products back to purchasing criteria and personal values. This study therefore contributes to the overall understanding of sustainable fashion consumption and gives insights into purchasing criteria and behavioural choices of sustainable fashion consumers. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.