The Effect of Green Trust and Attitude Toward Purchasing Intention of Green Products: A Case Study of the Green Apparel Industry in Indonesia

Abstract

This study aims to determine the behavior of consumer interest in sustainable fashion products in Indonesia and the factors that influence it. Personal values, Green Trust, and attitude toward green products are studied to get a proper picture of the ethical behavior of consumers. The method used is the Structural Equation Model (SEM) technique using AMOS 23 software. A sample of 103 participants used the convenience sampling technique. The study results show that green trust and attitude toward green products successfully mediate personal value and green purchase intention on ethical fashion products in Indonesia. In this study, it was found that personal values cannot directly influence the purchase intention of sustainable fashion products. The influence of Personal Value must first be mediated by green trust or attitude toward green products to further influence green purchase intention of ethical fashion products in Indonesia. This is not in line with previous studies. Indicators of personal values such as self-transcendence, self-enhancement, conservation, and openness directly cannot predict the behavior of purchase intentions for sustainable fashion products in Indonesia. From the descriptive conclusion of the data obtained, there are various types of meanings of individual values, and fashion consumers in Indonesia are more affected by contextual factors.

1. Introduction

Not many people realize the fashion industry has become the second-largest contributor to global pollution (Black, 2009). However, the information age has brought about a shift in people’s behavior so that they are more aware of the consequences of this situation. The production and implications of eco-friendly ethical fashion are a topic of discussion among academics. Many studies on this topic focus on how consumers respond to companies that produce fashion products ethically or not.

The Citarum River in Indonesia is considered to be one of the most polluted rivers in the world (D’Arrigo et al., 2011). Textile factories located on the riverside have dumped chemicals such as lead, mercury, arsenic, and other hazardous materials into the water, bringing health problems to the people and animals that depend on the Citarum River (Sahu et al., 2012). Greenpeace International, a global environmental organization found that Citarum has a very high alkalinity (Utami et al., 2020). Greenpeace in an article said that “the discharge (from the textile factory) is very high marine, will burn human skin in direct contact with the flow and will have a severe and fatal impact on aquatic life around the disposal area”.

The environmental and social impacts of fashion production have led to worsening global environmental conditions. If this industry has continued to grow in the same way since the 1960s, it will only make things worse as the current trend of unsustainable clothing is increasingly being produced at a lower cost. It is interesting to examine whether increasing public awareness about the environmental impact of this industry and the values that drive it to have an influence on their purchasing behavior, hereinafter referred to as ethical consumption.

Ethical consumption has become so popular in recent years (Szmiginet al., 2009; Pinto et al., 2011; Manchiraju & Sadachar, 2014). This theme became increasingly popular after 2009. Ethical consumption covers a wide range of issues such as animal welfare, the environment, fair trade, human rights, fair wages, and concern for personal health (Carrigan et al., 2004) and green consumption is considered as part of ethical consumption (Manchiraju & Sadachar, 2014; Nguyen et al., 2021).

Previous research on the purchase of green products by consumers shows that consumers have a positive attitude towards environmental protection (Vermeir & Verbeke, 2008; Joshi & Rahman, 2015). Consumers have expressed their demand for green products to companies (Bockman et al., 2009; Schmeltz, 2012; Saifullah et al., 2017; Do et al., 2020). Although the number of people willing to buy green products has increased in recent years, and some evidence shows that purchasing green products has increased, environmental concerns and positive customer attitudes towards green products do not necessarily make this product a product that is always sought after in the market. Green product market share remains limited to only 1–3% of the total market (Bray et al., 2011). This suggests that environmental considerations play a minor role in consumer purchasing decisions and people generally ignore the environmental impact of their purchases (Joshi & Rahman, 2015; Mohr et al., 2001).

Many studies have reported differences or “gaps” between positive consumer attitudes and actual green product purchasing practices (Vermeir & Verbeke, 2008; Tanner & Wölfing Kast, 2003). Hughner et al. (2007) found that while many consumers show a positive attitude towards purchasing organic food products (67%) as green products, only a small number of consumers (4%) actually buy the product. Similarly, a previous study found that 30% of consumers in the UK have reported concern for the environment, but rarely translated their concern into green purchases. It is thus clear that there is a gap between consumer thinking and actual action (Joshi & Rahman, 2015; Chen & Chai, 2010; Wheale & Hinton, 2007).

This research seeks to answer the question of whether consumers’ personal values can predict behavioral intentions to consume ethical fashion products. This question is important to answer because first, few studies have been conducted in the context of ethical consumption behavior, but very few studies have been conducted in the context of the ethical purchasing gap (Bray et al., 2011); Furthermore, trust and attitude also need to be confirmed whether they can fully predict consumer behavior intentions in purchasing sustainable fashion products. This research is expected to provide an overview of ethical consumers in the clothing industry in Indonesia so that it can help business people implement the right strategy in their business.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Theoretical Framework

Ethical fashion is defined as fashionable clothes that follow the morality of fair trade by striving for the environment or workers not to be harmed in the process (Joergens, 2006). Conscious fashion is also used to describe ethical fashion because it emphasizes environmental and labor conditions (Joergens, 2006). Meanwhile, Purchase Intention can be stated as a rational position of buyers who lead individuals to decide whether to obtain certain products or services in the near future (Hashmi et al., 2016).

In the context of ethical consumption, the clothing industry is a relatively new concept and literature has proven that consumers have taken the initiative to express their concern for environmental and social issues by changing their consumption patterns over the past two decades (Bae, 2012).

2.2. Hypothesis Development

2.2.1. Personal Values

Value is defined as “a concept or belief, relating to the final desired state” (Schwartz & Bilsky, 1987). Value is moral principles and standards that guide the behavior of individuals or groups when they acquire, use, and dispose of goods and services (Bateman & Valentine, 2010).

Conventionally, in the literature, one can identify two moral paradigms that influence ethical behavior: consequentialist/teleological (which states that ethical behavior is related to the consequences or results of actions); and deontologists (who argue that ethical behavior is linked to obligations or rules) (Bateman & Valentine, 2010). Ethical consumption involves a consequential/teleological and deontological approach.

According to consistency models that value behavior (eg Fritzsche’s model), is value-predicting behavior (Maio et al., 2006). Some studies (Wheale & Hinton, 2007; Doran, 2009; Kim & Chung, 2011) find that individual/ consumer values influence ethical consumption. In addition, the role of personal values has been explored in a variety of consumer-based studies. A large number of studies have explored individual or consumer types of value. However, this study only focuses on the value proposed (Doran, 2009). Various ethical consumption studies such as fair trade consumption and sustainable food consumption have used the Schwartz value framework (Wheale & Hinton, 2007).

This study adopts the value model proposed by Fritzsche and Oz (2007), which is an example of a consistent value behavior model. According to Fritzsche’s model, personal value is a predictor of a person’s intention to engage in ethical behavior (Schwartz, 1994). The model is proposed in the context of business ethics, where professionals face ethical dilemmas in their professional lives. In accordance with Fritzsche’s Model, ethical dilemmas are presented in the form of vignettes to predict behavioral intentions involved in ethical behavior. This is considered appropriate in the context of ethical fashion consumption because the current study intends to investigate ethical fashion values and understand how these values can be translated into ethical fashion consumption practices. From the explanation above, a hypothesis is obtained:

H1: Personal value is positively associated with green trust.

H2: Personal value is positively associated with attitude toward the green product.

Testing the effect of personal value on green purchase Intention is carried out directly or indirectly with the following hypothesis.

H3a: Personal Value, either directly or through green trust, has an impact on Green Purchase Intention toward ethical fashion consumption.

H3b: Personal value, either directly or through attitude toward green product, affects green purchase intention toward ethical fashion consumption.

2.2.2. Green Trust

In the context of green products, such as organic food, sustainable tourism, and renewable energy, the term of green trust is defined as the willingness to depend on a product, service, or brand based on trust or expectation resulting from the product’s credibility, virtue, and ability in environmental performance (Chen, 2010). Green trust is a belief in the environmental performance of a product (Chen & Chang, 2013).

Green trust is driven by the environmental friendliness of products and services that are recognized by consumers. Consumers perceive that ‘green’ characteristics contribute to increased quality, lower risk to the environment, and increase overall satisfaction (Chen, 2010; Chen & Chang, 2013).

Previous research found that lack of consumer confidence and trust in claims, as well as characteristics of green, are significant barriers to buying green products (Wheale & Hinton, 2007; Chen & Chang, 2012).

When trust becomes an attitude or expectation and has a specific character, the conceptualization requires a different model according to the research context. Several approaches can be used to measure trustworthiness, but construct complexity is better suited to using multi-factor measures (Mezger et al., 2020). From the explanation above, a hypothesis is obtained:

H4: Green trust is positively associated with green purchase intention toward ethical fashion consumption.

2.2.3. Attitude Toward Product

Attitude has become the main variable that successfully predicts pro-environmental intention and behavior. Consumers who have a positive attitude towards green products tend to make green purchases (Pham et al., 2019). Previous studies have revealed that many consumers have favorable attitudes towards organic food and purchase of these products (Pham et al., 2019). Smith and Paladino (2010) tested and confirmed a significant positive relationship between attitudes and intentions towards organic produce among Australian students. Iranian study shows that attitude is the strongest predictor of young consumers’ intention to buy green products, in this case, organic food.

Ajzen and Fishbein (1980) defined attitude as a person’s positive/negative evaluation of certain behaviors. Furthermore, they perceive attitude as a positive or negative evaluation of an object, action, problem, or person. Attitude is a collection of beliefs about a particular object or action, which can be translated into an intention to take action. The intention on the other hand is the determination to act in a certain way. Attitude is an evaluation that benefits or does not benefit individuals from certain behaviors. Attitude affects the intention held, if the attitude is better, the greater the intention to do the behavior.

Attitude is a predictor of purchase intention and has an impact on purchasing behavior. In addition, attitudes are necessary, because consumers need an understanding of their attitudes and motivations to overcome the purchase barriers they face (Smith & Paladino, 2010). The attitude of consumers to buy sustainable fashion products consists of their belief, knowledge, and attention to the concept of the fashion product. Recognizing the seriousness of environmental problems that may be caused by the use of excessive energy and non-renewable natural resources, an excessive supply of food and products, environmentally unfriendly production processes, and environmental disasters, more and more individuals are aware of environmental problems and feel natural resources are limited and the environment is more fragile than they ever believed. Such environmental awareness instills positive attitudes towards society and environmentally friendly activities and encourages people to engage more frequently in environmentally friendly behavior in their daily life. From the explanation above, the hypothesis is obtained. In addition, the research framework of this study is displayed in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Research Framework

H5: Attitude toward the green product is positively associated with green purchase intention toward ethical fashion consumption.

3. Methodology

3.1. Sample and Procedure

Data was collected through online and offline surveys through several social media channels and communities. During the data collection period, respondents who filled out the questionnaire came from several regions in Indonesia and were concentrated in Java Island, and the rest of the respondents came from the islands of Sumatra and Riau Islands. The sampling technique used is a non-probability sampling technique, namely convenience sampling, where the criteria for the respondent are someone who knows or has bought ethical or sustainable fashion products. The final total respondents who filled out the questionnaire were 144 people but 41 people were not used because they did not meet the criteria for being respondents so that the processed data came from 103 participants.

3.2. Instrument

The survey consists of four parts to measure four variables: 17 statements to measure personal variable value by adapting the value framework from Schwartz (1994), 15 questions to measure green trust variables taken from the factors and items built by Mezger et al. (2020), 4 questions to measure attitudes adapted from Sreen et al. (2018), and 4 questions measuring interest adapted from Yadav and Pathak (2017). This questionnaire uses a five-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). The validity and reliability of the instrument were tested first using SPSS software version 26.

3.3. Measures and Analysis

The measurement model was tested through the equation model of the Structural Equation Model (SEM) using AMOS Statistics 23 software.

4. Results

A total of 144 responses were obtained from online and offline surveys, of which 103 could be used. The mean age of participants was 20–30 years with vulnerable ages <20 years to >50 years. The domicile area of the participants is dominated by West Java, Indonesia and 72.2 percent of the participants are women. About 37.5 percent of the participants had bachelor’s degrees and 32.6 had master’s degrees, and 66.9 percent of the respondents earned in the 0–5-million-rupiah interval. More details can be seen in Table 1.

Table 1: Demographic Profile of the Respondents

4.1. Measurement Model

The result of the measurement model test for exogenous and endogenous constructs can be seen through the loading factor coefficient value of each indicator which is presented in Table 2.

Table 2: Test of the Construct Measurement Model

Table 2 shows that the loading factor value (λ) for each manifest variable is greater than 0.5. This means that each of the manifest variables is declared valid in forming exogenous and endogenous constructs. Then the CR (construct reliability) value must be above 0.7 and VE (variance extracted) must be above 0.5, so it can be concluded that all exogenous constructs have good construct validity and reliability.

This analysis will use the input covariance matrix for further estimation. The choice of input with a covariance matrix is because the covariance matrix has the advantage of providing valid comparisons between different populations or samples, which is sometimes not possible when using a correlation matrix model.

4.2. Structural Equation Model Analysis

In testing the structural equation model, SEM analysis was carried out using the help of AMOS 2.3 software. The results of structural modeling can be seen in Figure 2.

Figure 2: The Result of the Full Model

From Figure 2 it can be explained that the direction of the relationship between Personal Value and Green Trust is positive with a total influence of 74.2%. Personal Value relationship with Attitude toward Green Product is positive, with a total effect of 55.4%. Then the direction of the relationship between Personal Value, Green Trust, and Attitude Toward Green Products with Green Purchase Intention is positive with a total effect of 77.7%. Thus, all exogenous variables have a positive relationship direction with endogenous variables. That is, if the variable X increases, it will increase the Y variable and vice versa.

4.3. Model Fit Test (Goodness of Fit Model)

The Goodness of fit criteria of the structural equation model above is presented in Table 3.

Table 3: Goodness of Fit Research Model Testing

Based on Table 3, the recapitulation of the goodness of fit test shows that in general, the research model has a good fit between the research model formed with the data obtained in the field.

4.4. Hypothesis Testing

The next objective in the structural model analysis is to estimate the influence parameters between variables, which will also prove the research hypothesis. The following is a summary of the parameter estimation results from the SEM analysis that has been carried out as presented in Table 4.

Table 4: The Result of the Structural Model

Based on Table 4, several conclusions are obtained. First, the coefficient of regression standardize (path coefficient) between the Personal Value variable and the Green Trust variable is 0.861 (positive) and has a t count of 10.868 or greater than 1.96, hence H0 is rejected. This means that the Personal Value variable has a positive and significant effect on Green Trust so that hypothesis 1 is accepted.

Second, the coefficient of regression standardize (path coefficient) between the Personal value variable and the Attitude Toward Green Product variable is 0.744 (positive) and has a t count of 4.434 or greater than 1.96, hence H0 is rejected. This means that the Personal Value variable has a positive and significant influence on Attitude toward Green Product so that hypothesis 2 is accepted.

Third, in hypothesis 3a, the t test is carried out twice; first is to see whether Personal Value has a significant direct influence on Green Purchase Intention and the second is whether Personal value has a significant influence through the existence of Green Trust. The coefficient of regression standardize (path coefficient) between the Personal Value variable and the Green Purchase intention variable is 0.271 (positive) and has a t count of 1.777 or less than 1.96, hence H0 is accepted. To test the significance of Green Trust as a mediating variable in the model, it can be checked from the single test results with the first finding the path coefficient value (estimate) and standard error for each path. Then look for the standard error value together between the two paths. Based on the results of the calculation, the t value for testing the effect of mediation on this hypothesis is 2.554. If α = 0.05 then t table = 1.96. From the above calculations, it can be concluded that t count (2.554) is greater than t table (1.96) with a significance level of 0.05, hence, it can be concluded that Green Trust is able to mediate the relationship between Personal Value and Green Purchase Intention where the type of mediation is full mediation which means that if it is not mediated, Personal Value cannot directly affect Green Purchase Intention. Thus, the conclusion is that hypothesis 3a is rejected.

Fourth, with the same test step, the t test is carried out twice, to see whether Personal Value has a significant direct influence on Green Purchase Intention and furthermore whether Personal value has a significant influence through the existence of Attitude Toward Green Product. The coefficient of regression standardize (path coefficient) between the Personal Value variable and the Green Purchase Intention variable is 0.271 (positive) and has a t-count of 1.777 or less than 1.96, hence, H0 is accepted. To test the significance of Attitude Toward Green Product as a mediating variable in the model, it can be examined from the results of the single test. Based on the results of the calculation, the t-value for testing the effect of mediation on this hypothesis is 2.818. If α = 0.05 then t-table = 1.96. From the above calculations, it can be concluded that t-count (2.818) is greater than t table (1.96) with a significance level of 0.05, hence, it can be concluded that Attitude Toward Green Product is able to mediate the relationship between Personal Value and Green Purchase Intention where the type of mediation is full mediation, which means that if it is not mediated, Personal Value cannot directly affect Green Purchase Intention. Then the conclusion is that hypothesis 3a is rejected.

Fifth, the value of the coefficient of regression standardize (path coefficient) between the Green Trust variable and the Green Purchase Intention variable is 0.393 (positive) and has a t-count of 2.931 or greater than 1.96, hence, H0 is rejected. This means that the Green Trust variable has a positive and significant effect on Green Purchase Intention so that hypothesis 3 is accepted.

Finally, the coefficient of regression standardize (path coefficient) between the Attitude Toward Green Product variable and the Green Purchase Intention variable is 0.302 (positive) and has a t-count of 2.640 or greater than 1.96, hence, H0 is rejected. This means that the Attitude toward the Green Product variable has a positive and significant effect on Green Purchase Intention so that hypothesis 6 is accepted.

5. Discussion and Implication

Consumers’ concern for environmental problems has increased and green products are increasingly available in the market today. However, environmental consumption has not had an impact on fashion purchasing decisions because sustainable fashion products are more expensive, there are fewer product choices, there are disadvantages in relation to aesthetic and functional aspects, and there is a lack of relevant information (Kong et al., 2016). Socially and ecologically responsible consumer behavior intentions influence the entire consumption process, from pre-purchase to post-disposal (Mohr et al., 2001). Eco-friendly or sustainable consumers seek out clothing made from eco-friendly textiles and invest in fashions that offer ecological alternatives (D’Souza et al., 2006).

Many studies have shown that the attitude-behavior relationship is strengthened when attitudes are exposed to specific environmentally friendly behavior (e.g., recycling), rather than to general environmental problems. The greater the positive attitude, the more likely the intention to buy and, therefore, the more likely the consumer will buy green products compared to conventional alternatives.

Attitude has become the main variable that successfully predicts pro-environmental intentions and behavior. As a general rule, consumers who have a positive attitude towards green products tend to make green purchases. Previous studies revealed that many consumers have favorable attitudes towards organic food and purchase of these products. Smith and Paladino (2010) tested and confirmed a significant positive relationship between attitudes and intentions towards organic products among Australian students. Many previous studies also showed that attitude is the strongest predictor of young consumers’ intention to buy organic food.

Trust is understood to be able to predict consumer intention behavior in purchasing sustainable fashion products. Competence, responsibility, openness, and authentication are very important for ethical consumers. When they trust the products and manufacturers who make sustainable fashion products, their intention to buy these products will be even greater.

In this study, it was found that personal values cannot directly influence the purchase intention of sustainable fashion products. The influence of Personal Value must first be mediated by green trust or attitude toward green products to further influence green purchase intention of ethical fashion products in Indonesia. This is not in line with previous studies. Indicators of personal values such as self-transcendence (benevolence, universalism), self enhancement (hedonism, power, achievement), conservation (security, conformity, tradition), and openness (stimulation, self-direction) directly cannot predict the behavior of purchase intentions for sustainable fashion products in Indonesia. Several respondents have confirmed directly that one of the options for practicing the concept of ethical fashion could be by using products that they believe are more beneficial to nature (namely, reuse and upcycle) and in accordance with their purchasing power. From the descriptive conclusion of the data obtained, there are various types of meanings for individual values, and fashion consumers in Indonesia are more affected by contextual factors.

Green trust and attitude toward green products as mediating variables play a full role in the influence of personal value on green purchase intentions of ethical fashion products in Indonesia. This can be of concern to stakeholders where consumer trust and positive attitudes need to be built more seriously.

6. Conclusion

Green consumption is considered as part of ethical consumption. Environmentally friendly consumers are considered as potential buyers who consider the environmental impact of the products, they use with the aim of changing their buying and consumption behavior to reduce its impact on the environment (Zahid et al., 2018).

This research can answer the previous question, namely whether the personal values of consumers can predict behavioral intentions to consume ethical fashion products. According to the results of research, personal values cannot directly predict the interest of Indonesian consumers to buy ethical fashion products. Personal values can predict the interest in buying the product if it is through the mediation of green trust variables and attitude toward green products.