Clothing take-back program: why do Malaysian consumers intend to participate?

Purpose In response to the importance of sustainability in the fashion industry, leaders aim to develop initiatives collaboratively involving consumers, manufacturers and recycling facilities, such as clothing take-back programs (CTBPs). Recognizing its critical role and impact on the fashion industry’s footprint, this study aims to explore factors influencing consumer participation intentions in CTBPs. Extending the theory of planned behavior (TPB) includes fashion involvement, environmental concern and recycling convenience, and it integrates responsibility and personal norms from the normative action model. Design/methodology/approach This study utilizes an online questionnaire survey and uses partial least squares structural equation modeling to evaluate the proposed model. The survey was distributed via social media using convenience and snowball methods. It gathered 418 usable responses, achieving an 88.94% response rate. Findings The results reveal that fashion involvement and environmental concern positively influence attitudes toward participating in CTBPs, and ascribing responsibility significantly impacts personal norms. Consumers’ intentions to participate in CTBPs are significantly influenced by their attitude, perceived behavioral control and individual norms. Originality/value This study makes novel contributions to the literature. First, it extends the TPB by incorporating fashion involvement, responsibility and personal norm from the value-belief-norm, providing a more comprehensive understanding of consumer intentions toward CTBP. Second, as a pioneer study in the Malaysian context, this study adds to the contextual evidence of this research field. Finally, the findings offer valuable insights for policymakers and industry stakeholders by identifying key factors influencing consumer participation in sustainable fashion initiatives.