# The Intricacy of Consuming Fast-Fashion Clothing: The Role of Guilt and Sustainability Values

## TL;DR

This paper explores how guilt and sustainability values influence consumer behavior in fast-fashion clothing purchases.

## Contribution

The study introduces a novel framework linking sustainability values, guilt, and consumer behavior through multiple empirical studies.

## Key findings

- Sustainability values are positively linked to experiential purchases and negatively linked to materialism.
- Guilt is associated with equity and exclusiveness in the slow-fashion movement.
- Consumers often feel pride rather than guilt when recalling clothing purchases, regardless of labeling.

## Abstract

The consumption of clothes creates paradoxes in which values, motives, and emotions interact to generate consumption experiences. To test some of these interactions, we conducted three correlational studies, studies 1, 2, and 3, one experiment, study 4, and one qualitative study, study 5. Study 1 found negative relationships between sustainability values and materialism and positive relationships between sustainable values and the preference for experiential purchases. Study 2 found positive relationships between two components of the slow-fashion movement, equity and exclusiveness, and guilt, and a negative relationship with functionality, another component of slow fashion. Study 3 found an indirect relationship between sustainable values and guilt through their positive and significant relationship with increased awareness of the environmental impact of the fast-fashion industry, supporting a mediation model. Study 4 found that participants were was more likely, regardless of whether the purchase of clothing was labeled as fast fashion or not, to experience pride than guilt when recalling recent past purchases. Last, in study 5, we found that consumers buy clothes to look good and pay attention to quality and value without significant concerns for environmental issues. The implications for consumer behavior were discussed.