Nudging Toward Sustainable Fashion Purchases: The Case of the Greek Market

The fashion industry is one of the largest worldwide polluters responsible for significant environmental damage. The current shift to overconsumption and the emergence of the fast-fashion paradigm has further accelerated the negative environmental impact of the sector. To change the cause of events and lead the path toward a more sustainable future green nudges, appear to be an effective mechanism able to steer individuals’ behavior toward more favorable choices. The effectiveness of eco-label and social nudge on elevating Greek consumers’ purchase intention toward sustainable apparel was examined. Moreover, based on the theory of reasoned action (TRA) consumers’ purchase intention is influenced by their sustainable attitudes and subjective norms, hence both factors were taken into consideration while their predictive role was examined. To measure the effectiveness of the social and eco-label nudge moderated by consumer sustainable attitudes and subjective norms an online experiment was conducted. A total of (N=225) Greek consumers were recruited and randomly distributed into four experimental groups i.e. control, social nudge, eco-label nudge and combined nudges groups. Initially, the participants were asked to fill a short questionnaire indicating their purchase intention, sustainable attitudes and subjective norms. The finding showed a significantly positive effect of the eco-label nudge on respondents’ purchase intention, however, social nudge appeared to have no significant effect. Moreover, no significant effect was found for the combined nudges on purchase intention compared to the no nudge, eco-label or social nudge manipulations. Both the sustainable attitudes and subjective norms appeared to be influential factors, however, none of them acted as a significant moderator in the relationship between the nudges and participants’ purchase intention.