The Fabric of Decision-Making: Exploring How Knowledge and Motivations Influence Sustainable Fashion Purchasing Behavior

Consumer purchasing behavior continues to intrigue researchers around the globe. For consumer fashion purchasing decisions, many intricate factors work in tandem to result in a fashion purchase. This thesis analyzes how pre-existing knowledge and motivations affect Generation Z and Millennial fashion purchasing decisions. Research highlights that these two generations are the most common consumers of fast fashion – an industry that prioritizes manufacturing low-cost and low-quality garments at an unsustainable level. To address gaps in understanding around sustainability-related purchasing behavior, this study refined prior research by clarifying the definitions of sustainability terms for participants to ensure a more accurate connection between knowledge, motivations, and purchases. The quantitative results of this study suggest the existence of an attitude-behavior gap between consumers' pro-sustainability attitudes and their unsustainable fashion purchase decisions, while an increase in sustainability knowledge can yield an increase in the odds of a sustainable fashion purchase. The qualitative results suggest consumers value affordability, "cuteness", and convenience when purchasing fast fashion, which is similarly mirrored in ultra-fast fashion purchases. However, for sustainable fashion purchases, consumers tend to emphasize quality, environmental benefits, and weather-related factors in their fashion purchasing decisions. This study contributes to the understanding of how Generation Z and Millennial consumers' purchasing behaviors (mis)align with their attitudes and indicated motivations, and what actions can be taken to address barriers to purchasing sustainable fashion.