Eco Fashion Brands and Consumption: Is the Attitude- Behaviour Gap Narrowing for the Millennial Generation?

The purpose of this research is to critically examine, in the context of the Fast-Fashion industry,rnthe relevance of Eco-fashion on young consumers attitudes and perceptions of the brands, in orderrnto disclose the relationships between Eco-fashion strategies and customers brand loyalty - orrnconsumers purchase intentions. In particular, the aim of this paper is to present arguments thatrnthere is a reverse trend of the attitude behaviour gap for fast fashion consumers in the UK, whichrnis narrowing thanks to the use of information that are widespread especially in the web 2.0. As arnresult of this trend, there is a growing implication for fast fashion retailers to extend their ecofashionrnlines, to attract brand loyalty, shift ideologies, thereby potentially impacting upon futurernpurchase intent. The research design reckons on a mono method, based on a quantitative onlinernsurvey conducted among 216-targeted respondents from four age groups and two differentrncountries (China UK). The findings reveal that, although fast-fashion consumers still lackrnknowledge about the negative impacts of this industry, Eco-fashion strategies are playing anrnincreasingly important role in fast-fashion consumption. Besides, the growing significance ofrnsustainability in the fast-fashion industry has impacted consumers attitudes towards the brands,rnthus influencing their customers loyalty and purchase decision-making. Academically, the valuernand originality of the research relies on the newness of the thematic, since so far only few studiesrnhave focused on exploring the more current relationship between Eco-fashion and fastfashionrnconsumers perspectives of the brands. On the contrary, in the business field, fast- fashionrnretailers - in order to earn long-term profit have realized the importance of developing andrnimplementing strategies aimed at exploiting the potentialities of the above-mentioned relationship.rnTherefore, this study has relevance also in terms of managerial implications for fast- fashion retailers, since it gives some suggestions for future directions and sustaining economic profit.