Digital Product Passports in Online Fashion Resale: Supporting Circular Fashion, Transparency, and Consumer Trust

As online luxury fashion resale platforms continue to emerge and expand, persistent challenges related to trust and product authenticity have become increasingly pronounced. digital product passports (DPPs) offer a potential solution to these trust-related challenges by providing detailed information about a product, thereby enhancing product transparency and traceability throughout the product lifecycle. Drawing on signaling theory, this study investigates how DPP-enabled platforms influence consumers’ purchase intentions toward luxury fashion resale consumption. An online survey generated 307 valid responses. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to test the proposed hypotheses. A multi-group chi-square difference test was also conducted to test the moderating role of DPP usage experience. The results demonstrate that trust and attitude are decisive predictors of consumers’ intention to purchase second-hand luxury fashion products from DPP-enabled platforms. Risk reduction alone does not directly drive intention, highlighting the distinction between eliminating uncertainty and fostering positive motivation. This study focuses on consumer perception and intention regarding DPPs within the luxury fashion resale market, an area that has received limited empirical attention. By integrating signaling theory with fashion resale and digital innovation, this study offers novel insights into the role of technological transparency in driving consumer engagement in circular fashion.