No. 3 (2024)
Essays

Sustainability labelling in Fashion: Manipulating consumer engagement

PDF
  • Ermanno Petrocchi
Ermanno Petrocchi
University of Macerata
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/fh-2706

Published 30-06-2024

Keywords

  • AI,
  • AI ethics,
  • digital technologies,
  • sustainability,
  • consumer behavior

How to Cite

Petrocchi, E. (2024). Sustainability labelling in Fashion: Manipulating consumer engagement. Fashion Highlight, (3), 192–201. https://doi.org/10.36253/fh-2706

Copyright (c) 2024 Ermanno Petrocchi

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

 This paper analyses the impact of persuasive technologies in sustainable fashion. The analysis focuses on this sector as it shows certain ambiguities that pose significant risks for digital consumers. The main controversial aspect concerns sustainability labels and the rationale behind their implementation. This controversy appears extremely compromising when it meets the functioning of the digital world. The persuasion provided by digital technology becomes ethically problematic for some specific digital consumers. By analysing consumer preferences, the paper affirms that agents with a weak preference for sustainable fashion risk being manipulated by PTs. However, manipulating individuals in their garment choices raises ethical concerns related to the formation and expression of people’s identities.

PDF

References

  1. Angner, E., A Course in Behavioral Economics. Palgrave Macmillan (2016).
  2. Cinelli, M., Morales, G.D.F., Galeazzi, A., Quattrociocchi, W., Starnini, M.: The echo chamber effect on social media. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(9), e2023301118 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2023301118
  3. Elster J., Ulisse e le Sirene, Bologna: Il Mulino (1983)
  4. Gossen, M., Jäger, S., Hoffmann, M.L., Biessmann, F., Korenke, R., & Santarius, T. (2022). Nudging Sustainable Consumption: A Large-Scale Data Analysis of Sustainability Labels for Fashion in German Online Retail. Frontiers in Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2022.922984
  5. Grunert, K.G., Hieke, S., & Wills, J. (2014). Sustainability labels on food products: consumer motivation, understanding and use. Food Policy 44, 177–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2013.12.001
  6. Hwang, C. G., Lee, Y.-A., & Diddi, S. (2015). Generation Y’s moral obligation and purchase intentions for organic, fair-trade, and recycled apparel products. Int. J. Fash. Des. Technol. Educ. 8, 97–107. https://doi.org/10.1080/17543266.2014.996917
  7. ISO (2016). ISO 14021:2016, Environmental Labels and Declarations – SelfDeclared Environmental Claims (Type II Environmental Labelling).
  8. ISO (2018). ISO 14024:2018, Environmental Labels and Declarations – Type I Environmental Labelling – Principles and Procedures.
  9. Jacobs, K., Petersen, L., Hörisch, J., & Battenfeld, D. (2018). Green thinking but thoughtless buying? An empirical extension of the value-attitude-behaviour hierarchy in sustainable clothing. Journal of Cleaner Production, 203, 1155-1169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.07.320
  10. McNeill, L., & Moore, R. (2015). Sustainable fashion consumption and the fast fashion conundrum: fashionable consumers and attitudes to sustainability in clothing choice. International journal of consumer studies, 39(3), 212-222. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12169
  11. Minkov, N., Lehmann, A., Winter, L., & Finkbeiner, M. (2020). Characterization of environmental labels beyond the Criteria of ISO 14020 Series. Int. J. Life Cycle Assess. 25, 840–855. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-019-01596-9
  12. Piazza, T., & Croce, M. (2022). Che cosa sono le fake news. Carocci editore.
  13. Sunstein, C.R. (2002). The law of group polarization. Journal of Political Philosophy, 10(2), 175–195. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9760.00148
  14. Wiederhold, M., & Martinez, L. F. (2018). Ethical consumer behaviour in Germany: The attitude‐behaviour gap in the green apparel industry. International journal of consumer studies, 42(4), 419-429. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12435