Consumer Behavior

Promoting Sustainable Consumption: The Roles of Consumers’ Domain-specific Environmental Knowledge and Personality Traits

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Abstract

The resource-intensive textile and apparel (T&A) industry confronts challenges in transitioning towards an ecologically friendly market. The shift towards sustainability is causing substantial changes in consumer lifestyles and cultural practices, resulting in increased uncertainty in pro-environmental consumer behaviors. Adapting the Environmentally Responsible Behavior model, this study aims to investigate the influence of consumers' subjective and objective domain-specific environmental knowledge (SUEK and OBEK) and personality traits - including personal environmental responsibility (PER), eco-centric and anthropocentric environmental beliefs (EEB and AEB), as well as internal and external environmental locus of control (IN-ELOC and EX-ELOC) - on sustainable consumption intention (SCI) for T&A products. The findings reveal that participants' SUEK related to the T&A industry, their PER and EEB positively influenced their SCI for T&A products. This research contributes to literature on consumers' SCI in the T&A industry, providing insights for brands, retailers, educators, policymakers, and stakeholders striving for a more sustainable industry.

Keywords: sustainable consumption intention, domain-specific environmental knowledge, personality traits, textile and apparel industry, PLS-SEM, Environmentally Responsible Behavior model

How to Cite:

Zeng, L., Moore, M. M. & Rothenberg, L., (2024) “Promoting Sustainable Consumption: The Roles of Consumers’ Domain-specific Environmental Knowledge and Personality Traits”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 80(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/itaa.17125