Advances in Management and Applied Economics

The sustainability claims’ impact on the consumer’s green perception and behavioral intention: A case study of H&M

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• Abstract

   

  The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether various kinds of sustainability claims based on the supply chain drive different extents of green psychological variables and behavioral intention. In this study, we selected the sustainability claims of the H&M group, as this group indulges in a sustainable fashion i.e. commitment of doing business that generates revenues for shareholders, protects the people, and the planet. The H&M sustainability program can be categorized into social and environmental practices. We collected data from 316 Chinese respondents. The finding of one-way ANOVA revealed that eight types of sustainability claims drive the same level of green trust and green loyalty. However, the social claims such as “building safety in Bangladesh” and “animal welfare” significantly bring a high impact on the green psychological variables (i.e. green brand image, green satisfaction, green brand equity, and green purchase intention). The outcomes of this study are helpful for fashion/clothing and textile industry marketing managers to understand the consumers’ preferences towards ethical practices and trade-offs between claims while developing a positioning strategy.

   

  Keywords: Supply Chain sustainability claims, Fashion, and Textile industry, Triple bottom line, Marketing, green psychological variables.