International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and

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Factors influencing purchase intention towards

environmentally friendly apparel: an empirical
study of US consumers

Yiwen Zheng & Ting Chi

To cite this article: Yiwen Zheng & Ting Chi (2015) Factors influencing purchase intention towards
environmentally friendly apparel: an empirical study of US consumers, International Journal of
Fashion Design, Technology and Education, 8:2, 68-77, DOI: 10.1080/17543266.2014.990059

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/17543266.2014.990059

Published online: 06 Dec 2014.

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International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education, 2015
Vol. 8, No. 2, 68–77, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17543266.2014.990059

Factors influencing purchase intention towards environmentally friendly apparel: an empirical

study of US consumers
Yiwen Zhenga† and Ting Chib∗
a Itochu Prominent USA LLC., 5206, 79th, Elmhurst, New York, NY11373, USA; b Department of Apparel, Merchandising, Design and
Textiles, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA
(Received 5 June 2014; accepted 17 November 2014 )

Understanding of the different roles of key factors in the formation of consumer purchase intention towards environmentally
friendly apparel (EFA) is crucial in developing effective marketing strategies. Building on the theory of reasoned action and
the theory of planned behaviour, with additional antecedents and moderators (i.e. perceived consumer effectiveness, past
behaviour, EFA knowledge), an enhanced consumer EFA purchase intention model was proposed and tested. Using 187
survey responses from US college students, factor analysis and structural equation modelling were utilised for data analysis
and hypothesis testing. Results demonstrate that the model has sound psychometric properties while the statistical criteria
are also well met. The model exhibits high explanatory power, accounting for 66.5% of variance in consumer EFA purchase
intention. Attitude, subjective norm, and PCE show significantly positive effects on EFA purchase intention, while perceived
behaviour control and EFA knowledge enhance the relationship between attitude towards EFA and EFA purchase intention.
Keywords: environmentally friendly apparel; purchase intention; US consumers

Introduction
In recent years, accelerated deterioration of natural
environment has attracted more consumers’ attentions.
Concern for the safety and long-term condition of the envi-
ronment has been growing worldwide (Connell, 2010).
More consumers are taking responsibility to change per-
sonal consumption behaviours with the hope that individ-
ual small efforts may add together to have a notable impact
on the environment (Kim & Damhorst, 1998; Mostafa,
2007). These consumers are called environmentally con-
scious consumers (a.k.a. green consumers or environmen-
tally friendly consumers) (Chan, 2001; Ha-Brookshire &
Norum, 2011; Lee, 2008). A product that has little to
no impact on the environment during manufacturing, use
or disposal is regarded as an environmentally friendly
product (a.k.a. green product) (Pickett-Baker & Ozaki,
2008). These products are often identified on labels or
packages by words such as natural, organic, recyclable,
environmentally friendly, and biodegradable.
With consumers becoming more interested in envi-
ronmentally friendly products, companies have started
to realise environmental issues could be a new source
of competitive advantage in business and are shifting
focus to provide environmentally conscious consumers
with more product options that meet their preferences,
reflect their values, and represent their lifestyle (Lin, 2009;
Lipson, 2008). This is particularly apparent in the US
apparel industry that has long been considered one of most
environmentally unfriendly businesses (Allwood, Laursen,
Rodríguez, & Bocken, 2006). Approximately 21 billion
pounds of apparel end up in landfill in the USA every year
(Dockterman, 2012). The manufacturing processes of man-
made and natural fibres, the spinning process from fibres
to yarns, the weaving process from yarns to fabrics, and
care of products consume a substantial amount of resources
(e.g. water, energy) and discharge millions of gallons of
effluent every year (Thiry, 2011). In addition, the chemi-
cals used in pre-treatment, dyeing, printing, and finishing
processes pose great environmental hazards and may cause
severe health problems to people involved (Allwood et al.,
2006; Ha-Brookshire & Norum, 2011).
Given the considerable negative impacts of the apparel
industry on the environment and the ever-increasing pub-
lic concern about environmental issues, a growing num-
ber of apparel companies have developed environmentally
friendly strategies and practices (Chi, 2011; Guevarra,
2012). Patagonia was the first major brand to make fleece
jackets out of recycled plastic bottles. Nike adopted water-
less dyeing techniques and used more organic and recycled
materials. Levi Strauss & Co. introduced eco jean product

*Corresponding author. Email: tchi@wsu.edu

† Current
address: Itochu Prominent USA LLC., 3402, 29th street, Astoria, NY 11106, USA.

© 2015 Taylor & Francis

 International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education
line made of organic cotton to the market. The North
Face redesigned its manufacturing process to be more
environmentally friendly (Guevarra, 2012).
In general, environmentally friendly apparel (EFA)
(a.k.a. environmentally responsible apparel, sustainable
apparel, or green apparel) should have one or more of
the following characteristics: apparel made from recycled
materials, apparel that can be worn over a long-term com-
pared to trendy apparel that goes out of style quickly,
apparel made of organically grown natural fibres, apparel
with low impact or no-dye processing, and apparel with
environmentally friendly labelling or packaging (Con-
nell, 2010; Kim & Damhorst, 1998). Results from a
recent nationwide survey of US consumers show that
about 36% of consumers were interested in shopping
EFA in 2010, a remarkable increase from 17% in 2006
(Mintel, 2010). As a leading market for environmentally
friendly products, the USA reported approximately $4 bil-
lion sales in EFA and accessories in 2012, growing from
less than half a billion dollars a decade ago (El Nasser,
2013).
Despite the great potential of this market and the recent
enthusiasm shown by industrial practitioners, timely and
systematic scholarly research devoted to understanding
this scenario (i.e. consumer purchase intention towards
EFA) has been lagging (Connell, 2010; Ellis, McCracken,
& Skuza, 2012). To address the gap in the literature
and provide essential understanding of this emergent phe-
nomenon, this study aims to empirically determine the
factors that significantly affect the US consumers’ EFA
purchase intention and provide new insights into the con-
sumer behaviour surrounding the EFA consumption. In
specific, the purposes of this study are fourfold. First,
building on the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and
Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), an enhanced con-
sumer EFA purchase intention model is developed through
incorporating additional antecedents and moderators. Sec-
ond, the psychometric properties of the developed model
are tested using the gathered primary survey data. Third,
the effects of significant factors on US consumer EFA pur-
chase intention are determined. Finally, based on the find-
ings, some marketing strategies are proposed for industrial
practitioners.
Literature review and hypothesis development
The review of literature includes the TRA and TPB that
provide the theoretical framework for the study and basic
constructs (i.e. attitude, subjective norms, and perceived
behavioural control (PBC)) for the analysis, and addi-
tional constructs and factors (i.e. perceived consumer
effectiveness (PCE), knowledge of EFA, and past EFA
purchase behaviour) that add theoretical reasoning and
help to enhance the explanatory power of the original
TPB.
69
Theory of reasoned action and theory of planned
behaviour
TRA was proposed by Ajzen and Fishbein (1973).
The components of TRA are three constructs that are
behavioural intention, attitude, and subjective norm. TRA
suggests that a person’s behavioural intention depends on
the person’s attitude about the behaviour and subjective
norms. Behavioural intention measures a person’s relative
strength of intention to perform a behaviour. In general, the
stronger the intention to engage in a behaviour, the more
likely it will actually be performed (Ajzen, 1991). Attitude
consists of beliefs about the consequences of performing
the behaviour (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1973). If a person has
positive attitude towards a particular behaviour, he/she is
more likely to form positive intention towards it (Man-
aktola & Jauhari, 2007). Subjective norm is viewed as a
combination of perceived expectations from relevant indi-
viduals or groups along with intentions to comply with
these expectations (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1973). Thus, if a
person believes significant others want him/her to perform
a behaviour and he/she is motivated to comply with, it is
expected the person is more likely to perform the behaviour
(Maya, López-López, & Munuera, 2011).
To improve the predictive power of TRA, Ajzen (1991)
further introduced TPB by adding another construct named
PBC to TRA. Ajzen (1991) argued that a person’s intention
to perform a specific behaviour is expected to control the
volitional factors that influence the behaviour. These fac-
tors indicate the extent of efforts to make and the degree
of willingness to try, of individuals, in order to produce
the behaviour (Lee, 2008). Therefore, PBC is defined by
Ajzen (1991) as a person’s perception of the ease or diffi-
culty of engaging in the behaviour of interest. In addition to
the direct impact on purchase intention, recent studies also
revealed that PBC might positively moderate the relation-
ship between consumers’ attitude and purchase intention.
Greater PBC results in a stronger positive relationship
between attitude and purchase intention (Chung & Kim,
2011). Thus, hypotheses 1–4 are proposed as follows.
H1: Consumers’ attitudes toward EFA positively affect
their intentions to purchase EFA.
H2: Consumers’ subjective norms positively affect their
intentions to purchase EFA.
H3: PBC positively affects consumers’ intentions to pur-
chase EFA.
H4: PBC positively moderates the relationship between
consumers’ attitudes toward EFA and their EFA purchase
intentions.
Advancement of TRA and TPB
Building on the TRA and TPB, there have been a great
number of further developments to better understand the
determinants of consumers’ purchase intentions towards
70 Y. Zheng and T. Chi
EFA or environmentally friendly products in general.
Additional antecedents and moderators, including EFA
knowledge, PCE, and past EFA purchase behaviour, have
been proposed and investigated by respective empirical
studies (e.g. Chan, 2001; Jin & Kang, 2011; Mostafa,
2007; Tan & Lau, 2011; Wang, 2006). Incorporation of
these constructs to the original TPB has helped to enhance
the explanatory power of TPB at different degrees for
consumers’ purchase intentions towards environmentally
friendly products. Therefore, this study integrated them
to the TPB to develop an enhanced research model for
understanding consumer purchase intention towards EFA.
EFA knowledge
Kim and Damhorst (1998) studied the effect of US con-
sumers’ EFA knowledge on their purchase behaviours. The
college student sample that they used showed insufficient
EFA knowledge in general but the relationship between
EFA knowledge and purchase behaviour was marginally
significant. Based on the analysis of the survey responses
from Chinese consumers, Chan and Lau (2001) found con-
sumers’ environmental knowledge positively affects their
purchase intension towards environmentally friendly prod-
ucts although the survey respondents did not show ade-
quate understanding of environmental issues. In another
study that investigated the antecedents of environmentally
friendly purchase behaviour among young consumers in
Hong Kong, Lee (2011) proved that consumers’ environ-
mental knowledge accounts for some 12% of the total vari-
ance in explaining their purchase behaviour. In addition to
the direct effect, some studies also found that consumers’
environmental knowledge could moderate the relationship
between attitude and purchase intension towards environ-
mentally friendly products (Chan, 2001; Mostafa, 2007).
Therefore, the following hypotheses 5 and 6 are proposed.
H5: EFA knowledge has significantly positive effect on
EFA purchase intention.
H6: EFA knowledge positively moderates the relationships
between attitude toward EFA and EFA purchase intention.
Perceived consumer effectiveness
PCE was first proposed by Kinnear, Taylor, and Ahmed
(1974). They conceptualised PCE as a measure of the
extent to which a person believes that an individual con-
sumer can be effective in pollution abatement. Individu-
als who perceive high consumer effectiveness relative to
environmental protection show a high level of ecologi-
cal concern than those who perceive less personal efficacy
(Kinnear et al., 1974). In this view, PCE and attitude
should be treated as two distinct constructs (Berger &
Corbin, 1992). The behaviours of individuals who perceive
high consumer effectiveness are much more responsive to
changes in environmental attitudes than the behaviours of
those who perceive less personal efficacy. Purchase inten-
tion and behaviour are affected by whether individuals
believe or not their behaviours would lead to the desired
outcome (Ellen, Wiener, & Cobb-Walgren, 1991). Roberts’
(1996) study showed that PCE is one of the best pre-
dictors of environmentally conscious consumer behaviour,
accounting for 33% of the variance in behaviour. Tan
and Lau (2011) found that PCE significantly affects con-
sumers’ purchase behaviour of environmental products.
They explained the reason that consumers bought envi-
ronmental products is that they believe their actions or
efforts of purchasing such products benefit environmental
protection. Thus, the following hypothesis 7 is proposed.
H7: PCE positively affects consumer purchase intention
toward EFA.
Past behaviour
The proposition that incorporation of past behaviour into
TPB enhances exploratory power for current purchase
intention or behaviour finds supports in some prior stud-
ies (De Cannière, Pelsmacker, & Geuens, 2009; Han &
Kim, 2010; Smith et al., 2007; Sparks & Shepherd, 1992).
In Sparks and Shepherd’s (1992) study of the determi-
nants of consumers’ intentions to buy organic vegetables,
past consumption was the second most explanatory fac-
tor after PBC. Smith et al. (2007) demonstrated that past
behaviour accounted for some 9% variance in predicating
purchase intention. In a study of customers’ green hotel
lodging decision-making, Han and Kim (2010) proved that
the frequency of past behaviour has a positive impact on
customers’ revisit intentions. It was also found that past
behaviour significantly affects apparel purchase behaviour
(De Cannière et al., 2009). Therefore, hypothesis 8 is
proposed.
H8: Past behaviour positively affects consumers’ purchase
intentions toward EFA.
The proposed model and developed survey instrument
Based on the above extensive literature review, a research
model with developed hypotheses is proposed to reveal
the antecedents and moderators of consumer EFA pur-
chase intention. The model is illustrated in Figure 1. The
survey instrument consists of one section to collect demo-
graphic information and multiple sections to gather the
responses to the measures of antecedents, moderators and
EFA purchase intention in the proposed model.
The measures included were derived from previous
pertinent studies. This procedure provides proof of the
content validity of measures (Cadogan, Cui, Morgan, &
Story, 2006; Morgan, Vorhies, & Mason, 2009). The com-
plete constructs and corresponding measures/scales are
presented in the Appendix. For attitude, the measures were
derived from Chan (2001) (Cronbach’s alpha: 0.73). Three
 International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education
EFA
knowledge
Attitude
H1
H6
H4
H3 H5
PBC
Purchase
H2 intention
Subjective
norm
H7
PCE
H8
Past
behaviour
Figure 1. Consumer EFA purchase intention model.
statements coded by a seven-point semantic-differential
scale are: (1) I __ (from 1 dislike to 7 like) the idea of
EFA purchases behaviour; (2) EFA purchase behaviour
is a __ (from 1 bad to 7 good) idea; and (3) I have
a/an __ (from 1 unfavourable to 7 favourable) attitude
towards EFA purchase behaviour. The measures for sub-
jective norm were adopted from Lee (2010) (Cronbach’s
alpha: 0.88). Three statements measured by a seven-point
Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree)
are: (1) people important to me support my EFA purchase
behaviour; (2) people who influence me think that I should
purchase EFA; and (3) people whose opinions I value pre-
fer that I should purchase EFA. The measures for PBC
were adopted from Taylor and Todd (1995) (Cronbach’s
alpha: 0.70). Three statements measured by a seven-point
Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree)
are: (1) purchasing EFA was entirely within my control;
(2) I had the resources and ability to acquire EFA; and
(3) I have complete control over the number of EFA that
I will buy for personal use. The measures for EFA knowl-
edge were adopted from Kim and Damhorst (1998). For
nine statements, the respondents are asked to answer ‘true’
or ‘false’ for each statement. Five statements are true and
four items are false. The respondent obtains a score of 1
for each correct answer and a score of 0 for each incorrect
answer. The summation of all scores reflects the level of
EFA knowledge from the respondent. An example of these
nine statements is ‘dyeing and finishing processes use a lot
of water’.
The measures for PCE were derived from Nils-
son (2008) (Cronbach’s alpha: 0.78). Three statements
assessed by a seven-point Likert scale (1 = strongly
disagree to 7 = strongly agree) are: (1) by purchasing
EFA, every consumer can have a positive effect on the
71
environment; (2) every person has the power to influence
environmental problems by purchasing EFA; and (3) it
does not matter whether I purchase EFA or not since one
person acting alone cannot make a difference. The mea-
sures for past behaviour were adopted from Sparks and
Shepherd (1992). The respondents are asked to indicate
how many apparel that they bought per quarter belong
to the following categories: (1) buy apparel made from
recycled materials and (2) buy apparel made of organi-
cally grown natural fibres. The mean score of purchase
frequency is used to reflect the degree of past behaviour
(Sparks and Shepherd, 1992). The measures for EFA
purchase intension are gathered from Chan (2001) (Cron-
bach’s alpha: 0.83). Three statements assessed by a seven-
point scale (1 = likely to 7 = unlikely) are when I buy
apparel next time are: (1) I will consider buying EFA
because they have less negative environmental impact; (2)
I will consider switching to other brands for environmental
protection reasons; and (3) I will switch to environmentally
friendly alternatives of an apparel product.
Methodology
Research subjects and data collection procedure
Apparel is one of the most popular products to purchase for
college students (Case & King, 2003). This group of con-
sumers is more homogeneous in terms of socioeconomic
characteristics and more innovative in terms of learning
and trying new products (Peterson, 2001). They represent
an important future market for environmentally friendly
products (Lee, 2008). Therefore, the US college students
were our research subjects.
The developed survey instrument was first reviewed
by three professors who are familiar with research topic
and survey techniques, and then was tested through a pilot
study with five college students. The suggestions from
the participants were used to refine the instrument with
regard to arrangement, wording accuracy, and relevance.
This helped to make the final survey instrument more valid
and clearer. In early 2013, the survey was conducted in
multiple sessions of a required general education course
(i.e. ECONS 102 Fundamentals of Macroeconomics) in a
US national university. Two hundred and sixty college stu-
dents were solicited to complete the questionnaire during
the classes. The survey took about 20 min to complete. One
hundred and eighty-seven eligible returns were received
with a response rate at 72%, which was very satisfactory.
The profile of survey respondents is presented in
Table 1. Fifty-six per cent were female, while 44% were
male. Eleven per cent of the respondents were between 18
years and 19 years old. Eighty-seven per cent of them fell
into the range between 20 and 25 years old while only
2% aged 26 years or older. The majority of the respon-
dents were white Caucasian at 60%, while 13% were Asian
or Pacific islanders, 9% were Hispanic/Latino, 7% were
72 Y. Zheng and T. Chi

Table 1. Profile of survey respondents. re-computation of factor loadings, coefficient alpha, and
item-to-total correlations, and also a re-examination of fac-
Demographic Per cent Demographic Per cent
tor structure using the reduced number of measurement
variables (%) variables (%)
variables. This iterative procedure was repeated until all
Gender Ethnicity requirements were met.
Male 44 White, 60 For testing the model and hypotheses, the two-step
Caucasian structural equation modelling (SEM) approach (Anderson
Female 56 African- 7
American, & Gerbing, 1988; Byrne, 1998) was conducted. In step
Black one, we established the measurement model (i.e. latent
Age Asian, Pacific 13 construct) adequacy for five latent constructs, namely
islanders attitude, subjective norm, PBC, PCE, and purchase inten-
18–19 11 Hispanic, 9 tion through assessing model-to-data fit, unidimensional-
Latino
20–25 87 Others 11 ity, reliability, and construct validity of all measurement
≥ 26 2 models. A measurement model is unidimensional if all the
Average discretionary Average apparel measurement variables of the model measure one com-
money per semester expenditure mon latent construct (Ping, 2004). Unidimensionality of
(excluding food, rental, per quarter a model is suggested if its chi-square test is insignifi-
tuition and fees)
< $500 36 $0–49 19 cant (Jöreskog & Sörbom, 1998). After all measurement
$500–$999 25 $50–99 17 models met unidimensionality, their reliabilities were then
$1000–1999 15 $100–199 17 assessed using the criteria of both Cronbach’s coefficient
$2000–2999 11 $200–299 14 alpha (Nunnally, 1978) and construct reliability (Fornell
$3000–3999 4 $300–399 15 & Larcker, 1981) of 0.70 and greater. Construct validity
$4000–4999 2 $400–499 4
≥ $5000 7 $500–599 6 consists of convergent validity and discriminant validity.
≥ $600 8 All of the measures’ loadings are significantly high, and
all goodness-of-fit indices meet recommended values and
Note: Total eligible responses were 187. suggest convergent validity. The common goodness-of-fit
(GFI) indices used in this study include normed chi-square
( < 2), the room mean square error of approximation
African-American, and 11% were others. With regard to
(RMSEA) ( < 0.08), the GFI ( > 0.90), the normed fit
discretionary money per semester (excluding food, rental,
index (NFI) ( > 0.90), and the non-normed fit index (NNFI)
tuition, and fees), 36% of the respondents indicated it was
( > 0.90) (Byrne, 1998). An additional indication of con-
less than $500, while 25% were between $500 and $999,
vergent validity is the average variance extracted (AVE)
15% were between $1000 and $1999, 11% were between
with a desired threshold of 0.5 (Fornell & Larcker, 1981).
$2000 and $2999, 4% fell into a range of $3000 to $3999,
Discriminant validity is shown by the confidence interval
2% were from $4000 to $4999, and 7% were $5000 and
of two standard errors around the correlation between each
higher. Majority of the respondents averagely spent less
respective pair of latent constructs. If the confidence inter-
than $399 on apparel per quarter. In specific, 19% were
val does not capture 1.0, discriminant validity is proven
less than $49, 17% were between $50 and $99, 17% were
(Anderson & Gerbing, 1988). Then, in step two, full struc-
from $100 to $199, 14% were between $200 and $299, and
tural model adequacy was evaluated via hypothesis test-
15% were between $300 and $399. Only 23% respondents
ing, model-to-data fit, and parameter estimates using path
spent more than $399 on apparel per quarter. In specific,
analysis with SEM (Byrne, 1998).
4% were between $400 and $499, 6% were between $500
and $599, and 8% spent more than $600 per quarter.

Results and discussion

Data analysis method
The statistical assumptions including variable normality,
multicollinearity, and correlations were first examined.
Then, factor analysis using the varimax rotation method
was utilised to reduce a larger number of measurement
variables to a smaller number of factors (Stewart, 1981).
Measurement variables with low factor loadings (less than
0.50), high cross-loadings (greater than 0.4), and item-
to-total correlations (less than 0.3) were excluded from
the factor matrices (Anderson & Gerbing, 1988). The
deduction of certain measurement variables required the
Normality and multicollinearity of investigated con-
structs/variables were first examined. Skewness, kurtosis,
and histogram were used to examine the normality assump-
tion. There were no violations of normality assump-
tion. The variance inflation factor (VIF) was used to
examine multicollinearity. A recommended maximum VIF
value of five (Rogerson, 2001) was adopted as the crite-
rion. There were no multicollinearity issues among con-
structs/variables. After factor analysis, the measurement
variable labelled as PCE3 (refer to the Appendix) was
dropped due to low factor loading. All the factor loadings
 International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education 73

Table 2. Correlations and properties of all latent constructs, EFA knowledge, and past behaviour.

Construct 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Attitude 1 (0.104, 0.408) (0.051, 0.375) (0.518, 0.746) – – (0.410, 0.650)

Subjective norm 0.256** 1 (0.123, 0.439) (0.061, 0.381) – – (0.230, 0.506)
PBC 0.210** 0.281** 1 (0.121, 0.453) – – (0.065, 0.385)
PCE 0.632** 0.221** 0.289** 1 – – (0.428, 0.676)
EFA knowledge 0.202** 0.120 0.103 0.090 1 – –
Past behaviour 0.253** 0.095 0.081 0.203** 0.092 1 –
Purchase intention 0.530** 0.368** 0.220* 0.552** 0.050 0.128 1
Mean 5 4 5 5 3 3 5
Std. deviation 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.5 2.6 1.3
Cronbach’s alpha 0.882 0.868 0.770 0.826 – – 0.868
Construct reliability 0.890 0.880 0.783 0.830 – – 0.878
Chi-Square test p value 0.082 0.165 0.131 0.186 – – 0.157
AVE 0.730 0.710 0.570 0.720 – – 0.720
Normed Chi-square 1.53 1.71 1.89 1.82 – – 1.65
RMSEA 0.04 0.05 0.07 0.05 – – 0.04
GFI 0.93 0.94 0.92 0.94 – – 0.95
NFI 0.95 0.95 0.94 0.96 – – 0.97
NNFI 0.96 0.97 0.95 0.97 – – 0.98

Note: EFA knowledge and past behaviour are ordinal variables. Confidence intervals of paired latent constructs are included in the right
upper part of the table.
*Correlation is significant at p < .05 (two-tailed).
**Correlation is significant at p < .01 (two-tailed).

of the remaining measurement variables to their respective
latent constructs are high and statistically significant.
Measurement model test results and discussion
Table 2 presents the correlations and properties of all five
latent constructs, EFA knowledge, and past behaviour.
The results indicated all measurement models met the
model-to-data fit requirements. The chi-square tests of all
measurement models were insignificant, which established
the evidences of unidimensionality. Cronbach’s coefficient
alphas and construct reliabilities of all constructs were
greater than 0.70, indicating that reliability was rigorously
met. All measurement variables’ loadings were signifi-
cantly high (loadings > 0.60 and t-values > 1.96) and all
of the goodness-of-fit indices exceeded the criterion val-
ues, suggesting convergent validity. In addition, the AVE
scores for all models were above the desired threshold of
0.50. None of the confidence intervals captured 1.0; thus,
the criteria of discriminant validity were met.
Structural model test results and discussion
Once the adequacies of all measurement models were
demonstrated, the structural model fits and proposed
hypotheses concerning the main and moderating effects
were tested. Ping’s (1995) estimation technique for interac-
tion latent constructs in the structural equation model was
used. To minimise the volume of linear latent constructs
and non-linear latent construct measures in a model, the use
of single indicants for constructs in the model involving
interaction terms has been recommended (Morgan et al.,
2009; Ping, 1995). For each interaction term, the single
indicant was created by multiplying together the single
indicants of the interaction term’s component constructs
(Ping, 1995). This technique has been extensively applied
in prior empirical studies (Agarwal & Malhotra, 2005;
Cadogan et al., 2006; Morgan et al., 2009; Ping, 2004;
Völckner & Sattler, 2006).
The structural model was then assessed. The model
fits the data well at normed chi-square of 1.72, RMSEA
of 0.06, GFI of 0.94, NFI of 0.95, and NNFI of 0.96. A
full model was specified with all constructs and interac-
tion terms included. The unrestricted model (all parameters
were freed) accounts for 66.5% of the variance (R2 ) of
consumer EFA purchase intention, while only 61.2% of
the variance (R2 ) was explained by the restricted model
(the parameters linking interaction terms to purchase inten-
tion were fixed at zero, and the remaining parameters were
freely estimated). It is evident that the unrestricted model
provides a prominent improvement over the restricted
model. Thus, the hypotheses were evaluated based on the
test results of unrestricted model. Table 3 provides the
path coefficient estimates and corresponding t-values on
the main effects and the moderating effects.
Among the eight hypotheses, five are supported while
three are rejected. The relationship between attitude
towards EFA purchase and EFA purchase intention is pos-
itively significant (γ = 0.25, t = 2.64), supporting H1.
A positive attitude towards EFA purchase enhances EFA
purchase intention. Subjective norm positively affects the
consumers’ EFA purchase intention (γ = 0.22, t = 3.13),
supporting H2. The relationship between PBC and EFA
purchase intention is insignificant (γ = 0.01, t = 0.15),
74 Y. Zheng and T. Chi

Table 3. Path coefficient estimates and hypothesis testing.

Path (γ ) X → Y Path (γ ) Z → Y Moderating effect X *Z → Y

Hyp. Predictor (X ) Outcome (Y) Moderator (Z) Effect t Effect t Effect t Support for Hyp.*

H1 Attitude PI – 0.25 2.64 – – – – Yes

H2 SN PI – 0.22 3.13 – – – – Yes
H3 PBC PI – 0.01 0.15 – – – – No
H4 Attitude PI PBC 0.25 2.64 0.01 0.15 0.20 2.38 Yes
H5 KN PI 0.03 0.57 – – – – No
H6 Attitude PI KN 0.25 2.64 0.03 0.57 0.21 2.17 Yes
H7 PCE PI – 0.35 3.51 – – – – Yes
H8 PB PI – 0.08 1.06 – – – – No

Note: SN, Subjective norm; PBC, perceived behaviour control; KN, EFA knowledge; PCE, perceived consumer effectiveness; PB, past
behaviour; PI, purchase intention; when α = 0.05, critical t-value = 1.645; when α = 0.10, critical t-value = 1.282 (since all hypotheses
are directional, one-tailed tests were used).
*Hypotheses are supported or rejected at α = 0.05 level.

failing to support H3. The moderating effect of PBC on the
relationship between attitude towards EFA purchase and
EFA purchase intention is positively significant (γ = 0.20,
t = 2.38), supporting H4. This indicates the effect of atti-
tude towards EFA purchase on EFA purchase intention can
be enhanced by PBC.
The effect of environmental apparel knowledge on EFA
purchase intention is insignificant (γ = 0.03, t = 0.57),
failing to support H5. This shows that a consumer’s level
of environmental apparel knowledge has no significant
effect on his/her EFA purchase intention. However, the
moderating effect of environmental apparel knowledge
on the relationship between attitude towards EFA pur-
chase and intention to buy EFA is positively significant
(γ = 0.21, t = 2.17), supporting H6. A higher level of
environmental apparel knowledge enhances the strength
of the relationship between consumer’s attitude and EFA
purchase intention. PCE significantly affects EFA purchase
intention (γ = 0.35, t = 3.51), supporting H7. This shows
that a higher level confidence in individual contribution
to environment through purchasing EFA leads to greater
EFA purchase intention. Finally, the relationship between
past EFA purchase behaviour and EFA purchase inten-
tion is insignificant (γ = 0.08, t = 1.06), failing to support
H8. This indicates whether a consumer previously pur-
chased EFA or not does not significantly affect his/her EFA
purchase intention.
Conclusions and implications
The apparel industry has imposed a substantial influ-
ence on natural environment. In recent years, an increas-
ing number of apparel companies have started to make
more efforts to mitigate the negative impacts of apparel
businesses on environment. These efforts include using
environmentally friendly materials, promoting sustainable
product development, implementing sustainable produc-
tion and dyeing/finishing techniques, supplying recycling
services, and so on. However, in contrast, understanding of
consumers’ purchase intention towards EFA is still limited.
Furthermore, the empirical findings of consumer purchase
intention towards other environmentally friendly products
cannot be simply applied to EFA. Re-examination of these
findings in the context of EFA is needed. The great poten-
tial of EFA market in the USA provides a solid rational for
this study.
Overall, the major contributions of this study to the
literature are threefold. First, building on the TRA and
TPB, additional antecedents and moderators (i.e. PCE, past
behaviour, EFA knowledge) were included to propose an
enhanced consumer EFA purchase intention model. The
model exhibits high explanatory power for consumer EFA
purchase intention, collectively accounting for 66.5% of
variance. Second, since the proposed model shows sound
and stable psychometric properties while the statistical cri-
teria are also well met, it offers a valid and reliable tool
to investigate the issue for other products or countries.
Finally, in addition to the good accountability of traditional
constructs in TRA and TPB, some new findings from the
enhanced model add special insights to the understanding
of US consumers’ EFA purchase intentions. Specifically,
the extent to which an individual believes that he/she can
be effective in pollution abatement positively affects his/her
EFA purchase intention. Although some previous studies
indicated there should be a logical cause–effect relation-
ship between the past EFA purchase behaviour and the
level of environmental apparel knowledge and consumers’
purchase intentions, this study does not find empirical
evidence to support these speculations.
This study also imparts some managerial implications.
The empirical finding shows that EFA purchase attitude
influences US consumers’ EFA purchase intentions. Com-
panies should develop marketing strategies and promo-
tional campaigns to cultivate and promote favourable atti-
tudes among target consumers towards EFA consumption.
In advertisements, companies should emphasise the impor-
tance of EFA consumption in doing well for the future
generations and the preservation of natural environment.
 International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education
As the effect of attitude on EFA purchase intention is
enhanced by the environmental apparel knowledge, clear
information regarding how the EFA products may help
conserve natural resources and about the exact benefits
that EFA computation contributes to sustainability com-
pared to traditional apparel should be stated in the product
labels and advertisements. Although the increase in the
EFA knowledge does not directly lead to higher EFA pur-
chase intention, it is essential for companies to educate the
target consumers about the environmental benefits of EFA.
The consumers’ PBC can enhance the effect of the atti-
tude on the EFA purchase intention. Companies should
increase the availability of EFA through different sales
channels and try to lower consumers’ high price percep-
tions of EFA. The convenient accessibility to affordable
EFA could improve consumer perceived capability to buy
EFA and therefore strengthen the effect of favourable
attitudes on the EFA purchase intention.
The consumers’ purchase intention towards EFA is
influenced by the perceived social pressures and their will-
ingness to comply with such pressures. If relevant groups
(i.e. families, friends, and influential people) purchased
EFA products, the higher social pressure could be exerted
on these consumers to buy such products. The informa-
tion through word-of-mouth may play a critical role in
attracting potential consumers for EFA.
PCE has a significant influence on consumers’ EFA
purchase intentions. Companies should make more efforts
on convincing consumers that their consumption of EFA
would contribute to the environmental preservation and
human well-being. Advertisements could emphasise the
fact that it is possible to alleviate the environmental deteri-
orations through individual’s EFA consumption behaviour.
Only when they believe this, consumers become more
willing to buy such products. In an industrial level, PCE
could be improved through creating an influential indus-
try standard to rate the products’ greenness. At a company
level, PCE could be increased among consumers by offer-
ing transparent EFA production information such as letting
consumers know how the products were produced, what
materials were used, how the new production process
is less impactful to natural environment. It is critical to
educate consumers the difference between EFA and tradi-
tional apparel in terms of their attributes and environmental
impacts.
Limitations and future studies
Although this study provided a more systematic under-
standing of the formation of US consumers’ EFA pur-
chase intentions, it still confronts some limitations. First,
it should be noted that the conclusions and implications
in this study are limited to the EFA. The primary data
and information were gathered from the convenience col-
lege student sample. The generalisation of findings to
other environmentally friendly products or other groups of
75
consumers requires further validation. Second, since this
study is focused on EFA, the survey instrument is prod-
uct specific. The application of survey instrument to other
studies requires appropriate revisions. Finally, this study
adopted a quantitative approach. Although the quantitative
approach allows examination of the causal relationships
between individual factors and EFA purchase intention, it
is considered weak in discovering the underlying reasons
to the phenomenon. Qualitative methods used in future
studies might provide a more detailed reasoning about the
relationships identified in the quantitative analysis.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the
authors.
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 International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education 77

Appendix. Constructs and corresponding measures and scales.

Construct Measure and scale Source

Attitude towards EFA Seven-point semantic-differential scale Chan (2001)

AT1: I (from 1 = dislike to 7 = like) the idea of EFA purchases behaviour. [0.80]
AT2: EFA purchase behaviour is a (from 1 = bad to 7 = good) idea. [0.87]
AT3: I have a/an (from 1 = unfavourable to 7 = favourable) attitude towards EFA
purchase behaviour. [0.89]
Subjective norm Seven-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree) Lee (2010)
SN1: People important to me support my EFA purchase behaviour. [0.69]
SN2: People who influence me think that I should purchase EFA. [0.94]
SN3: People whose opinions I value prefer that I should purchase EFA. [0.88]
Perceived behaviour Seven-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree) Taylor and Todd
control (1995)
PBC1: Purchasing EFA was entirely within my control. [0.60]
PBC2: I had the resources and ability to acquire EFA. [0.77]
PBC3. I have complete control over the number of EFA that I will buy for personal use.
[0.84]
PCE Seven-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree) Nilsson (2008)
PCE1: By purchasing EFA, every consumer can have a positive effect on the
environment. [0.82]
PCE2: Every person has the power to influence environmental problems by purchasing
EFA. [0.86]
PCE3: It does not matter whether I purchase EFA or not since one person acting alone
cannot make a difference. (R) (Dropped due to low factor loading)
EFA knowledge Answer ‘true’ or ‘false’ for each statement. Five items were true (1, 4, 7, 8, and 9) and Kim and Damhorst
four items were false (2, 3, 5, and 6). Obtain a score of 1 for each correct answer and (1998)
a score of 0 for each incorrect answer. The summation of all scores reflects the level
of EFA knowledge
EK1: Chemical pollutants are produced during manufacturing of synthetic or
manufactured fibres such as polyester
EK2: Chemical pollutants are not produced during processing of natural fibres such as
cotton
EK3: Fibres such as wool cannot be commercially recycled
EK4: Natural fibres are usually biodegradable
EK5: The use of larger quantities of natural fibres will significantly decrease energy
consumption
EK6: Nationally mandated standards for clean air and water have not yet been imposed
on textile companies
EK7: Air pollution can occur during some common dyeing processes of textiles
EK8: Dyeing and finishing processes use a lot of water
EK9: Special finishes on fabrics may create problems for recycling
Past behaviour Indicate how many pieces of different EFA that they bought per quarter. The mean score Sparks and Shepherd
of purchase frequency is used to reflect the degree of past behaviour (1992)
PB1: Apparel made from recycled materials
PB2: Apparel made of organically grown natural fibres
EFA purchase Seven-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree) Chan (2001)
intension
PI1: I will consider buying EFA because they have less negative environmental impact.
[0.73]
PI2: I will consider switching to other brands for environmental protection reasons.
[0.96]
PI3: I will switch to environmentally friendly alternatives of an apparel product. [0.85]

Note: R, reverse measures.

The factor loading of each measure to its latent construct is provided in parenthesis. EFA knowledge and past behaviour are ordinal
variables.