Unsupervised Sampling Analysis on Consumer Exposure to Fast Fashion Consumption

Today, fast fashion is experiencing rapid growth, increasingly overshadowing ethical shopping practices. Even consumers with strong sustainability awareness find it increasingly challenging to align their ethical principles with their shopping behavior due to the overwhelming availability of fast fashion products. This study aims to deepen the understanding of consumer exposure to fast fashion by synthesizing existing analytical methods with data on the sustainability practices of fast fashion companies. We conducted an online survey with items assigned to predefined factors, calculated the sustainability performance of selected fast fashion companies, and integrated this information into the survey results. We then grouped items per factor using cluster analysis and investigated the strengths and directions of the relationships between factors and the identified clusters through descriptive analysis. The results indicate that respondents' shopping patterns, along with their opinions on the sustainability of selected fast fashion companies, have a discernible effect on their shopping behavior. A gap between consumers' attitudes and behavior was observed; however, the results also show positive tendencies, with consumers who have strong sustainability attitudes making up the largest share among those with strong sustainable shopping behavior. Notably, female respondents displayed a much more pronounced sustainable attitude. Generation Y exhibited a stronger environmental attitude toward shopping, as well as more pronounced sustainable shopping behavior, compared to Generation Z. No significant difference in shopping behavior between consumers from urban and non-urban areas was detected. This study links relevant attitudinal and behavioral information to the sustainability practices of fast fashion companies through sampling and unsupervised analysis methods, marking a further step toward understanding consumers' exposure to fast fashion consumption and the potential barriers influencing the discrepancy between purchasing attitudes and behavior.