Eco-labels as visual heuristics: empowering online consumer agency in responsible fashion consumption

Purpose This study examines how eco-labels shape consumer agency and decision-making in online fashion retail. Integrating dual-process theory with a personal agency framework, we compare two third-party sustainability systems, Type I eco-labels and sustainability indices, to assess effects on perceived brand agency, personal agency and willingness to pay a premium. We further test whether the specificity of index information adds value over a recognizable Type I label in attention-scarce digital contexts and evaluate a serial mediation pathway from label exposure to willingness to pay. Design/methodology/approach A pretest validated realistic stimuli. Across two experimental studies, we evaluate the effects of Type I eco-labels and sustainability indices on willingness to pay a premium for sustainable fashion products, with perceived brand agency and consumer personal agency as proposed mediating factors. Findings The findings show that eco-label presence significantly increases perceived brand agency. The specificity of the information on the label, however, does not impact perceptions of brand or personal agency. Crucially, eco-label exposure influences pro-environmental purchase intentions through a sequential mediation: first via perceived brand agency and then through personal agency. Originality/value The study integrates dual-process theory with compensatory control to propose and test an agency-based mechanism: credible, easily decoded labels elevate brand agency, which enhances personal agency and willingness to pay. Offering one of the first direct comparisons of Type I eco-labels versus sustainability indices, we show that added information specificity yields no incremental benefit online. We advance theory on sustainable consumption and provide actionable design guidance for credible, simple and easily interpreted eco-labels.