What does (not) drive willingness to pay for sustainable fashion? Evidence from a discrete choice experiment on organic, fair-trade, and recycled attributes

Abstract In the fashion industry, customers’ intentions to purchase sustainable products often do not translate into actual behavior. While qualitative research has identified barriers and drivers of sustainable consumption, quantitative evidence on their relative importance remains limited. This study addresses this gap by examining how customers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for sustainable fashion is shaped by potential influencing factors. Using data from 359 valid responses collected through a discrete choice experiment, we investigate organic, recycled, and fair-trade fashion. The data are analyzed using linear models that incorporate potential Barriers , Additional Consumer-Related Dimensions , sustainability type fixed effects, and interaction terms. The results show that Perceived Consumer Effectiveness and sustainability related Knowledge significantly increase WTP. In contrast, WTP is significantly lower for recycled products but significantly higher among customers with stronger Nature Vacation Preferences . Surprisingly, several commonly discussed drivers, including Perceived Price Acceptability of Sustainable Products , Trust , Social Norms , and Availability , do not exhibit significant direct effects on WTP for sustainable fashion. Additional interaction analyses help explain these patterns. In particular, several Barriers become significant for customers with high Climate Change Awareness , indicating that the effects of these Barriers differ across customer segments. Overall, the findings suggest that WTP for sustainable fashion is shaped by a complex interplay of cognitive factors, product characteristics, and Additional Consumer-Related Dimensions rather than by isolated determinants.