UK: Ethical consumer behaviour in fashion market on the rise

MADE-BY, the European not-for-profit organisation that works with brands to make sustainable fashion common practice, commissioned an independent study in September 2010 to investigate the patterns of consumer behaviour with regard to sustainable fashion products in the UK market. The study illustrates that consumers are placing ever greater importance on ethical issues surrounding the consumption of fashion products, with good working conditions and fair prices representing the two main ethical concerns. Encouragingly, the study also reveals that around 30 % of shoppers in the UK currently seek to purchase sustainable products from companies that operate in a social as well as an environmentally-friendly way. Nonetheless, whilst 75 % of consumers recognise the social and environmental benefits of sustainable fashion as important, many of them object to carrying the additional costs that may arise from sustainable production and supply chain processes. Thus, there appears to be a discrepancy between consumers’ actions and their claimed views. In fact, whilst the majority of buyers display sympathetic feelings towards cotton farmers and clothing manufacturers in developing countries, ethics seem to take less of a priority over price during the purchasing process. (Graph: MADE-BY research on consumers' attitutes on sustainable fashion in the UK)
 

The ‘price’ factor certainly plays a crucial role in ethical fashion consumption and it often prevails over ethics during buyers’ purchasing decisions. “The research shows that sustainable fashion products are becoming increasingly desirable amongst shoppers. Even though only a few of them are willing to pay higher prices, the majority feel that the additional costs for sustainable production should be taken on by companies, instead of being handed over to consumers”, comments Allanna McAspurn, MADE-BY’s UK General Manager, on the results. The study also highlights a higher price-elasticity towards labels such as the MADE-BY ‘Blue Button’ in comparison to the past. Here, price sensitivity is relatively low as 32 % of the respondents claimed to be willing to pay a premium for products with the ‘Blue Button’ label. Furthermore, in comparison to men, women are more likely to pay an additional £ 1 to £3 for clothing items with the ‘Blue Button’ label. Similarly, the younger the shoppers, the more interested they are in the sustainable fashion industry. Such findings are certainly encouraging and signal an enhanced level of awareness of sustainable fashion amongst UK consumers. “For this very reason, sustainability is becoming an increasingly crucial issue on companies’ Corporate Social Responsibility agenda”, states Allanna McAspurn. On the other hand, the data also suggests that this is only the beginning of a very long journey towards sustainability, where significant investments and improvements are needed to meet consumers’ expectations.

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