Production and consumption in the fashion industry have been steadily growing over the last decade, making the fashion industry one of the most polluting industries in the world.
Consumers and fashion brands are increasingly becoming aware of the importance of replacing the existing consumer culture with sustainable, circular patterns of production and
consumption. I pinpointed consumer-brand identification as an important factor in establishing long-term relationships with brands in the sustainable fashion industry. The purpose of the
empirical research was to discover whether and to what extent consumers identify with sustainable fashion brands, based on congruence between their sustainable values on one hand
and fashion style on the other. The results show that the establishment of a close bond between the consumer and brand can be influenced by both, the congruence of sustainable values as well as their fashion style. The finding shows that identification with sustainable fashion brands is significantly influenced by the desire to preserve one's identity, while achieving the desired social self-image through the use of sustainable fashion brands does not increas consumer- brand identification. The results of the empirical research also confirmed that identification with sustainable fashion brands influences long-term brand affiliation in the form of brand purchase, brand loyalty and willingness to spread positive word-of-mouth about the brand.
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