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Introduction
Sustainability, along with its elements of social, environmental and economic preservation, is a popular topic in general cultural interest, academic and industry literature and the marketplace. Concern for the environment has been acknowledged for decades (Beard, 2008; Koch and Domina, 1997). Today, many companies have initiated sustainability efforts; however, these actions have not yet received full support in the marketplace. Consumers often think of themselves as concerned for the environment, despite self-reported limited actions reflecting this stance (Sheth et al., 2011; Zimmer et al., 1994). Consumers may be confused by the variety of information in the marketplace and may be disenfranchised by awareness of the past claims of environmental degradation that they have yet to experience (Kollmuss and Agyeman, 2002).
As companies begin to offer more sustainable options, they may be able to gain a larger share of the substantial and highly socially conscious Generation Y market (Jayson, 2006; Nayyar, 2001; Williams and Page, 2011). For this reason, identification of the factors influencing consumers’ evaluations of sustainable product merits research. One barrier to sustainable apparel purchases is the lack of available options (Hiller Connell, 2010). As companies work to provide more sustainable options, consumers’ perceptions of sustainable products in comparison to similar conventional offerings should be considered.
Retailers who seek to capture Generation Y consumers’ desire to make social change must overcome both skepticism and product-related barriers to sustainable purchases. Consumers lack knowledge about actual sustainable practices of apparel production and the apparel industry (Hill and Lee, 2012). Sustainable products are often difficult to find and may have different levels of style, quality and price than unsustainable apparel products (Carrigan and Attalla, 2001; Joergens, 2006). Even consumers concerned with sustainability will ultimately choose the product that meets their style, fit, quality and price desires (Joergens, 2006). Thus, retailers should provide easy access to both sustainable products and information about their impact in a transparent fashion; in addition, these products should be of relatively similar style, fit, quality and price to unsustainable products so as to ease consumer decision making and encourage sustainable purchases (Niinimäki, 2009). However, as consumer behavior is difficult to change, retailers may take slow steps toward these goals. Creating sustainable clothing manufacturing, production, and retailing is a long and...