ProjectJUST.com effects on sustainable clothing purchase intention
Description
Millennials might prefer sustainable food and electric cars, but their desire for low prices and stylish clothing leads them to retailers who use sweatshops and damage the environment. Activists have mobilized, but the effects of their efforts remain insufficiently assessed. This study assessed the effects of a sustainable clothing activist website, ProjectJUST.com, on Millennials’ intention to purchase sustainable clothing. One group who had visited ProjectJUST.com (n = 700), and another who had not (n = 685) responded to an online survey. A vetted structural equation model (SEM) derived from the theory of planned behavior was then fit across and within each group. Results suggested that perceived personal relevance had slightly more salient effects on intention to purchase sustainable clothing compared to the consumer knowledge that ProjectJUST.com contained. ProjectJUST.com users also felt relatively confident in their consumer knowledge, and they already intended to buy sustainable clothing when they landed on the website suggesting such websites serve as an important shopping resource but are unlikely to influence behavior change on a massive scale. H1: Behavioral intention will not be affected by behavioral control (a) but will be positively affected by subjective norm (b) and attitude (c). H2: Consumer knowledge will demonstrate positive indirect effects on behavioral intention via behavioral control (a), negative effects via subjective norm (b), no effects via attitude (c), and no direct effects (d). H3: Perceived consumer effectiveness will demonstrate negative indirect effects on behavioral intention via behavioral control (a), no effects via subjective norm (b), positive effects via attitude (c), and no direct effects (d). H4: Perceived personal relevance will demonstrate positive indirect effects on behavioral intention via behavioral control (a), subjective norm (b), attitude (c), and no direct effects (d). H5: Measured effects on behavioral intention will be similar in direction, strength, and significance between groups (a), and will be predicted by the same constructs (b).
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See data set for complete coding and procedural details.