Why consumers care less about worker welfare
For many fashion retailers, concerns surrounding worker-welfare violations has long been salient, with claims of physical and sexual harassment, child labour, sweatshop conditions, poor and unsafe working conditions, long hours, and low wages acknowledged in the media as well as academic and industry literature. The increasingly complex nature of global fashion supply chains and growing global inequalities has facilitated an environment where exploitation can thrive. Additionally, the COVD-19 pandemic has worsened the existing poor conditions and labour practices for garment workers worldwide.
Despite increasing coverage on these issues, some fast-fashion retailers such as Zara, H&M, Primark, and Boohoo still reported significant sales growth. This indicates that consumer’s concerns for worker welfare do not always translate at the cash register, which is often referred to as the “ethical behaviour gap” or “purchase intentions gap”. Findings from the literature also suggests a lower level of concern by fashion consumers for consumer welfare, compared to their personal needs and issues relating to animal welfare and environmental sustainability.
While previous research has investigated why consumers continue to consume the work of modern slaves, this study seeks to understand why these consumers are less concerned about garment worker welfare than other issues and why claims of exploitation are less likely to result in behavioural shifts towards pro-social consumption. It contributes to the research area of ethical purchasing gap by drawing on the moral intensity framework and applying the concept of psychological distance in a fast-fashion context for the first time.
Method and sample
Due to the exploratory nature of the research, semi-structured interviews were conducted for about 40 minutes each, with a sample of all-female Australian fast-fashion consumers aged between 18 and 55 years old (N=21). Potential interviewees were recruited through social media groups, and a pre-questionnaire was distributed with screening questions to select consumers who felt that worker welfare was a major issue within the fashion supply chain had had purchased from a fast-fashion retailer within the last six months.
The interviews started off with general questions about consumption habits, fast-fashion purchasing behaviour, and awareness of exploitative practices, then proceeded with more specific questions about why consumers continued purchasing fast fashion despite possible exploitative practices. A clear interview guideline and reassurance of anonymity throughout the process helped minimise social desirability bias. All interviews were recorded and transcribed; and thematic analysis was conducted with the NVivo platform..
Key findings
- Psychological distance between consumers and the manufacturer was a major barrier to pro-social consumer behaviour and the level of concern towards modern slavery. As modern textile workers are often from countries that are proximally and culturally distant, Western consumers were unable to connect with the issues of worker welfare occurring in these countries.
- Despite an awareness of these exploitative practices, participants seemed to accept these occurrences were necessary to ensure accessible clothing. This indicates an underlying social consensus that these practices in the fashion industry are considered socially acceptable and normal within the cultural that they exist.
- Despite acknowledging modern slavery as an issue within the fashion industry, participants struggled to define the exploitative practices, felt a sense of confusion regarding the impact of their purchase decisions, and were overwhelmed by the number of existing moral issues. On the other hand, other areas of concern, namely environmental impacts, were more likely to elicit pro-social behavioural change due to their higher level of relatability, the relative ease to source information, high exposure to marketing messages, the availability of appropriate consumer-driven initiatives, and the visible impacts of behavioural change.
Recommendations
This research provides a deeper understanding of consumer perceptions towards worker welfare and the underlying factors impeding fashion consumers’ level of concern towards worker exploitation along the fashion supply chain. Consumers indicate a desire to purchase clothing free of exploitation, yet they felt lacking the tools to make these decisions confidently.
These insights help guide industry, government, and non-government organisations to craft messaging strategies to assist in effectively communicating initiatives to enhance worker welfare. As a result, these messages can elicit positive change in consumer purchasing behaviour towards pro-social products.
Researcher
More information
The research article is also available on eprints.