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Globally, green consumerism and retailers’ concerns for environmental responsibility have accelerated due to climate changes and increased concerns for environmental issues (Hamilton and Zilberman, 2006). According to an international survey by BBC World News and Synovate, approximately 72 percent of the respondents worried about climate change and more than 61 percent of them have experienced purchasing green products (Hanson, 2013). The 2013 Green Gap Trend Tracker survey found that more than 70 percent of US consumers consider routinely or sometimes the environmental issues when they make a decision for purchasing products or obtaining services (Miller and Washington, 2014). Environmental consumption of apparel products is also increasing and numerous apparel brands operate green strategies and provide green apparel products as consumers’ interest in green apparel products is increasing. Despite these trends, limited studies regarding consumers green behavior in apparel products have been conducted (Lee, 2011; Mahenc, 2008; Sampson, 2009) and some focused only on green issues in the production stage without looking at consumer buying habits.
Another serious gap in the green apparel consumption is limited understanding of green apparel consumption behaviors in other countries. The level of consumer awareness toward green apparel consumption behavior might be different due to the country’s development status and cultural differences. However, most studies have examined consumers’ green behaviors within one country (Bahn and Wright, 2001; Chen et al., 2006) and a cross-cultural examination is a rarity. This study employed China as a representative developing country because of its huge significance to the world as consumers and producers of goods. As an economy progresses, the patterns of green consumption in a developing country may move toward those in developed countries. Therefore, comparing a developed country with a developing country will help in anticipating the pattern of change in the developing country.
The purpose of this study is to understand consumers’ purchase intention toward green apparel products using the theory of planned behavior (TPB). In specific, this study aimed to compare US and Chinese consumers to understand how green apparel behaviors differ by a country’s green market status and cultural differences. In this study, green apparel products were confined to eco-labeled apparel products that had the label of no-pesticides, no-synthetic dyes, and organic or natural fibers. For the research purpose,...