Navigating Sustainability and Consumer Behaviour in Fashion: Brand Avoidance, Digital Influence, and Emerging Trends Among Gen Z and Millennials

There is a major transformation in the fashion sector because of increased requirements towards sustainability as well as changing behavior of such demographics as Gen Z and Millennials. Based on recent scholars’ insights, this review appraises the role that brand credibility, shared values, and customer engagement play in brand identification while noting the moderating role of brand engagement. Moral foundations, expected guilt, and individual responsibility are primary psychological forces that predict both anti-consumption behavior and environmentally conscious word-of-mouth. In addition, the synergy of personal and social norms with increased environmental awareness is associated with more conscious attitudes about fashion consumption and the disposal of clothing. The adoption of digital platforms, mobile-created, interactive content technologies is bringing change to the brand- consumer relationships, increasing interaction and proliferation of sustainability initiatives. Still, current challenges include digital saturation, inter-system communication barriers, and high energy consumption on new emerging inventions. The combination of Industry 4.0 technologies and blockchain is an opportunity or threat for circularity efforts of small and medium enterprises. The uncertainties in sustainability projects have developed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, spelling the need to keep pushing sustainable projects further. Additionally, in this study, materialism, body dissatisfaction, and the role of self-esteem and symbolic self-presentation on purchase decision are examined. Through interrelated analysis of behavioral, technological, and psychogenic factors, this research offers a holistic reflection of modern sustainable fashion consumption. The recommendations of this study are intended to help brands, policymakers, and researchers who are adjusting their actions about sustainability along with the values and preferences of the digital native generation.