Analysis of Consumers' Attitudes Towards Sustainability Communication of H&M

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Analysis of Consumers’ Attitudes

Towards Sustainability
Communication of H&M
COURSE:Masters Thesis I
PROGRAM: Sustainable Communication
AUTHOR: Umar Usman Zaidi
SUPERVISOR: Ekaterina Kalinina
Examiner: Renira Gambarato
SEMESTER: Spring 2021
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Abstract
With the growing trend of the manufacturing of sustainable products by the apparel brands,
the eco-friendly consumers are becoming more interested in knowing the brands’
sustainability communication and their claims. This study has taken the Katz’s attitude
functions theory as a framework to better understand the factors which can help in calculating
the consumers’ attitudes towards the sustainability communication of H&M, the leading
apparel brand of Sweden. This research paper used qualitative research method and have
done the ‘focused group analyses’ to investigate the consumers attitude towards sustainability
communication of H&M. Four focus groups interviews were conducted and then transcribed
to generate themes to interpretate the results. Researcher utilized the Interpretative
Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach as a qualitative research method, to explore the
‘lived experience’ of the research participants. Author then interpretated the results and found
out that the consumers are aware from the H&M sustainability communication. Although
most of them positively influenced from the brand’s sustainability, yet some of them have
doubts on the sustainability claims of H&M.
Keywords:
Consumers’ attitudes, perception, brand sustainability, communication, sustainability claims,
environment, eco-friendly, H&M, consumers’ trust.
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Contents
Abstract: ..................................................................................................................................... 2
Keywords: .............................................................................................................................. 2
1. Introduction: ....................................................................................................................... 6
1.1: Background: .................................................................................................................... 7
1.1.1: Definition of Sustainability: ................................................................................. 7
1.1.2: Definition of Sustainability Communication............................................................ 8
1.1.3: Definition of Attitude: .............................................................................................. 8
1.2: Overview of H&M .......................................................................................................... 9
1.3: Aims .............................................................................................................................. 10
1.4: Objectives ...................................................................................................................... 10
1.5: Research questions: ....................................................................................................... 10
1. Literature review: ............................................................................................................. 11
2.1: Apparel industry and sustainability:.............................................................................. 11
2.1.1: Environmental aspect: ............................................................................................ 11
2.1.2: Economic aspect: ....................................................................................................... 13
2.1.3: Social aspect: .............................................................................................................. 13
3. Theoretical framework: ........................................................................................................ 19
3.1: Functional attitude theory: ............................................................................................ 19
3.1.1: Utilitarian:............................................................................................................... 19
3.1.2: Value expressive:.................................................................................................... 20
3.1.3: Social-adjustive: ..................................................................................................... 21
3.1.4: Ego defensive: ........................................................................................................ 21
3.1.5: Knowledge: ............................................................................................................... 21
4. Methodology: ....................................................................................................................... 23
4.1: Focus Group: ................................................................................................................. 23
4.2 Participants: .................................................................................................................... 24
4.3: Procedure: .................................................................................................................. 25
4.4: Data Analysis: ............................................................................................................... 25
4.5: Strengths and weaknesses of the study ......................................................................... 30
5: Results & Analysis............................................................................................................... 31
5.1: Utilitarian function ........................................................................................................ 31
5.1.1: Consumer attitude towards sustainability:.............................................................. 31
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5.1.2: Resources, Recycling and Waste Disposal:............................................................ 31

5.2: Value Expressive ........................................................................................................... 32
5.2.1: Influence of sustainability claims on purchasing: .................................................. 32
5.2.2: Environment Protection claims: ............................................................................. 33
5.2.3: Resources, Recycling and Waste Disposal:............................................................ 33
5.3: Social Adjustive ............................................................................................................ 34
5.4: Ego-defensive................................................................................................................ 35
5.4.1: Green Advertisement, Packaging and Labeling: .................................................... 35
5.4.2: H&M’s sustainability claims: ................................................................................. 36
5.5: Knowledge function ...................................................................................................... 37
5.5.1: Knowledge about benefits of sustainability ........................................................... 37
5.5.4: Environment Protection claims: ............................................................................. 39
6. Summary and Conclusion: ................................................................................................... 40
6.1 Limitation & Suggestion: ............................................................................................... 41
6.2: Implications:.................................................................................................................. 42
7: References:........................................................................................................................... 43
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Figure 1: Themes emerged through literature review and functional attitude theory ............ 28
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1. Introduction
Fashion retailers are facing the sustainability challenges, as their global supply chain is
responsible for pollution, chemical wastes, ecological hazards, the upswing in consumption,
and environmental catastrophes in developing countries(Javed et al., 2020). Companies often
use the labor force from the developing countries that are cheaper than the labor force found
in the developed countries (Zohry, 2005). Here, the prime challenge that triggers the
environmentalists is how to maintain the habitat sustainable. While buying clothes, people do
not tend to think of its impact on the environment. But it is a fact that the fast fashion leaves a
pollution footprint, with each step of the clothing life cycle generating potential
environmental and occupational hazards (GUNNER, 2019). For example, polyester, the most
widely used manufactured fiber, is made from petroleum (Claudio, 2007)which has the
potential to harm the soil invertebrates (Selonen et al., 2020).
In this scenario, it is important to know what the consumers think about the sustainability
communication of certain apparel brands that they usually use. Sustainable communication
emphasis the organization's social commitment to induce positive perception among
consumers (Bae, 2016). This study focuses on Sweden, the tenth largest economy of the
European Union (EU) in terms of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (Clark, 2021). Hennes
& Mauritz (H&M) is the leading apparel brand of Sweden, as they accumulated the revenue
of roughly 210 billion Swedish kronors as of January 2020 (Tighe, 2020). Based on its sales
in Europe alone, H&M produced the second largest turnover at 15 billion euros in 2019, after
Spanish company Inditex’s 18 billion euros which has quite a celebrated brands like Zara,
Bershka, and Pull & Bear (Sabanoglu, 2020). Swedes also spend an hefty amount on clothing
and footwear each year, as in 2018, the consumer expenditure was amounted nearly 88 billion
Swedish kronors (Ridder, 2020). H&M publishes its sustainability report each year since
2002 on its website. In that report, the organization highlights the contributions they have
made during the previous year in making the planet and the environment more sustainable.
They also make resolutions about the objectives which they would have to achieve in the
ongoing year for sustainability. It is pertinent for us to know how the consumers of H&M are
perceiving the sustainability communication of the brand, in order to contribute to the better
understanding of communication of stustainability by fashion brands.
In this study, the concept of sustainability will be explained in brief, as the general perception
about the terminology is all about protecting the environment. The relation between
sustainability and fashion, and the theoretical notion of attitude will also be covered. Overall,
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the intended thesis aims to evaluate the attitude of consumers towards sustainability
communication of a company. To make the findings more focused, the case study of H&M
has been selected as it seems committed to sustainability. The thesis has applied the theory of
functional attitude to analyze the different attitudes of different consumers. Interviews have
been conducted from the relevant participants. The significance of the study is that it expands
the academic study, fills research gaps, and provides practical information. It also suggests
the companies that are dedicated to sustainability that how they can trigger the favorable
behaviors of consumers.
1.1: Background
This section provides a short introduction of the main concept of this research, and that is
Sustainability. This chapter briefly discusses the how the concept of Sustainability
derived as well as all its three aspects.
1.1.1: Definition of Sustainability

The term Sustainability has been derived from the idea of Sustainable Development, which
was given by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), later
known as Brundtland Report, compiled by a committee headed by Gro Harlem Brundtland,
the then Prime minister of Norway. As per the commission’s report, sustainable development
is an economic development which satisfies the needs of the present without compromising
the ability of future generation to satisfy their own needs (Commission, 1987). The premise
of sustainability has been later explained as the resources of earth should not be used,
depleted, or damaged indefinitely, as they could later run out at some point (Portney, 2015).
After the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002, sustainability was fractionated
in three spheres that are economic (financial viability of the business model), environmental
(less harming production techniques, such as upcycling or recycling)and social (safe working
conditions and working environment)(Geissdoerfer et al., 2017). These spheres are
interconnected and are able to leave impacts on each other as well.
Sustainability also develops multiple prospects to achieve, for example what should be made
and what is to be sustained, for how long, and for the benefit of whom(Savaget & Acero,
2017).The term later got the attention of apparel brands when they started using that as a tool
to market their sustainable products (Binet et al., 2018). In this way, the term sustainability
took it stake in the apparel industry.
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1.1.2: Definition of Sustainability Communication

Sustainability Communication refers to business strategies in which firms integrate
sustainability activities into their operational as well as strategic goals. It is a general notion
for highlighting the sustainability strategies of firms (Tiago et al. 2021). It enables firms to
their consumers, customers, and stakeholders regarding the operations, sustainable
approaches, and business-like what to do and how to do in wake of the sustainable
approaches. Using the sustainability communication approach, companies explain to their
investors, stakeholders, and customers that how much the company cares about social and
environmental causes. A prominent factor in this approach is telling consumers the
company's commitment to sustainability. According to Tölkes (2020), honest communication
reflects the social and environmental contributions of companies successfully.
With reference to the proposed study, sustainability communication is defined as a firm's

strategic approach for engaging consumers towards the sustainability portfolio of a
sustainable journey of that company (Syakur et al. 2020). Therefore, only the attitude of
consumers towards the sustainability approach has only been covered in the study.
Considering the significance of sustainability communication, it is highly required to evaluate

how it influences a particular brand so that more focused information can be gathered for
analysis (Weder et al. 2021). Therefore, the following thesis intends to analyze the attitude of
consumers towards the sustainability communication of H&M. For this, the primary research
method has been selected to get the most relevant and recent information about the research
topic.
1.1.3 Definition of Attitude

The definition of attitude is presented so that the context of the term especially for the
research can be clearer. For instance, different scholars have explained attitudes in different
ways. According to Spears & Singh (2012), the term Attitude is not new, as the utilization of
this word is in many fields of studies such as psychology, marketing, and advertising. The
word is mostly used as a tool to predict consumer behavior and to facilitate social psychology
research purposes (Spears & Singh, 2012). It can be defined as an individual’s evaluation of
any object, which can be a brand as well (Mitchell & Olson, 1981). The terminology has been
widely regarded as an instrument to measure the consumers’ behavior in the field of
marketing/advertising.
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Individuals' attitudes provide a beneficial disposition for dealing with inputs they face (Maio
& Olson, 1995). As per Thurstone (1928), attitudes are an assessment of a variety of factors,
including a person's inclinations, feelings, prejudice or bias, preconceived conceptions, ideas,
fears, dangers, and convictions about a certain topic. Individuals acquire a state of readiness
through arriving at an attitude(ALLPORT, 1935).In this sense, attitude provides structure and
direction in an otherwise chaotic world(Cocolas et al., 2020). Considering this, the definition
of attitude specifically in this research is how H&M consumers feel or think about the
sustainability communication or approaches of the company. Also, what views do they hold
about H&M sustainability approaches.
1.2: Overview of H&M

H&M is a Swedish fast-fashion company that is known for constructing its sustainable supply
chain. It has been comprised of 6 different fashion brands and has over 4,100 stores (Shen,
2014). The aim of the company is to make good-quality and sustainable fashion products that
are affordable and accessible to consumers. H&M uses its scale for helping to drive
systematic change in the fashion industry environmentally, socially, and economically. It has
recognized that the incorporation of sustainable development into its business strategy can
guarantee the longevity of its business as well as improvement in the lives of workers (Dach
& Allmendinger, 2014).
The company develops eco-materials, provides safety training, reduce the emissions of
carbon during the distribution phase, monitors sustainable manufacturing, and promotes eco-
fashion. Moreover, sourcing managers of H&M prefer to select suppliers from countries that
have lower rates of human well-being (Shen, 2014). Also, managers set a higher inventory
level in the country with a higher rate of human well-being. The CEO of the company
considered the economic and human well-being and communicate their sustainability
approaches to their consumers.
The approach of H&M depends on a wide global vision of sustainability programs. Its vision
is then tailored to every particular context, collaborative initiatives, and designing programs
that are related to the effectiveness of sustainability (Cotal San Martin & Machin, 2021). The
company accepts the sustainable development goals and works in line with these goals. They
consider the framework of SDGs while designing strategies for their business.
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1.3: Aims
The aim of my research is to study attitudes of fashion brands’ consumers to the
communication of sustainability by fashion brands on the example of H&M.
1.4: Objectives
The United Nations (UN) have set the world’s shared plan in the name of Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) to end extreme poverty, reduce inequality, and protect the planet
by 2030 (Foundation, 2015). People around the world are part of this plan in their respective
capacities. Fashion apparel brands are also taking initiatives to cater for the need of their eco-
friendly consumers by producing and marketing sustainable products. In this scenario, it is
important to know how the consumers are perceiving the sustainability communication of the
fashion apparel brands. Based on these, the following research objectives have been
formulated:
• To evaluate the awareness of consumers about the sustainability communication by

H&M
• To demonstrate how consumers perceive sustainability communication by H&M
• To explore attitude differences among consumers of H&M
1.5: Research questions

1. How do consumers perceive H&M’s sustainability communication?
2. How sustainability communication influences the attitude of its consumer?
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1. Literature review
In this section, the researcher reviewed the relevant previous research that were conducted
and their implications. The perception of sustainability in the apparel industry, green
marketing, sustainability knowledge, consumers’ intention towards buying sustainable
products, and challenges in implementing sustainability in fashion industry are briefly
discussed below.
2.1: Apparel industry and sustainability

The induction of sustainability in the fashion or apparel industry has not recently occurred,
but rather it has seen several waves of environmental, social, and economic concern (Belz &
Peattie, 2012) such as anti-fur campaigns in the 1980s and protests against unethical working
conditions in the 1990s till 2000s (Gam, 2011). And since its inception in the apparel
industry, Fletcher (2008) in his study stated the four guiding principles that need to be
considered to classify fashion lines as ‘sustainable’. These are: every production should be
child labor free across the entirety of the supply chain., the materials that are used within the
production process should be less harming to the natural environment, recycled, upcycled,
and/or more durable, the ethical and social production process should be conducted in a
responsible manner, the workers should be paid fair wages and the production should be done
locally so that the job in the country of origin would be generated, and the need of long-haul
relationships over the supply chain is essential within the process of sustainable production.
2.1.1: Environmental aspect

The apparel industry (especially fashion brands) creates tons of waste each year which leaves
drastic impacts on the environment (Brewer, 2019). Over 10 to 20% of the textiles in the
fashion industry are estimated to be wasted, whereas about 15% of fabric that was made for
clothing ends up on the cutting room floor (Murphy, 2016). Apart from the fabric waste
generation, the apparel industry is also imposing environmental damages and climate change
pressures by yielding the waste of textiles, chemicals, and dyes (Zhang et al., 2021). This
depicts the grave situation of gloomy side of the apparel industry which is definitely not
suitable for the sustainable environment. Zhang and others (2021) further state that the
clothing underutilization and the lack of recycling is costing $500 billion each year. They
estimated that as per the full lifecycle of clothing, the fashion industry is responsible for 3.3
billion tons or 10% of global CO2 emissions and 20% of global waste streams.
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Green customers are keeping an eye to the clothing and textile industries’ sustainable
practices in emerging countries in this era of internet and social media (Javed et al., 2020).
Consumers highly demand their favorite brands to behave ethically (Shaw & Shiu, 2002) and
prefer products that generally perceived as environment friendly. Corporations are
emphasizing on green advertising which can be defined as any product or services which
implicitly or explicitly show a relationship with the biophysical environment(Streetman &
Banerjee, 2006). A study of Javed et al. (2020) shows that all sustainability messages are not
equal, and consumers react differently to subtle distinctions in the communication of the
company’s sustainability messages. To this end, the research of Javed et al. (2020) further
examined whether various types of sustainability claims based on the global supply chain
could lead to various green psychological variables such as purchase intention or not. The
green claims of H&M were chosen because as per Shen (2014), its ecological supply chain
structure includes eco-material preparation, green manufacturing, sustainable distribution,
green retailing, and green-conscious consumers.
Brands not only acknowledge the environmental concerns of their consumers, but they also
try to address their curiosity by highlighting the steps for sustainability taken by them. H&M
has been using organic cotton for many years and investing thick amount of money on the
sustainable cotton production (Shen, 2014). He further states that H&M actively runs the
global project called as Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), which provides the better farming
techniques to cotton farmers in order to guarantee that the farms produce real organic cotton.
Also, as per Shen (2014), H&M cooperates with the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) in
the strategy to save water, which helps improve the management of water resources
throughout the textile production cycle. These, however, are the claims of H&M with regards
to their courses of action for the sustainable environment. But a good majority of consumers
put consideration on some other things while buying their desired products.
Previous studies also found out that the consumers often show distrust on the sustainability
claims of the retailer, and because of this reason they show reluctance to buy the product
(Saicheua et al., 2011). This is a big challenge for the brands that needs to be overcome, and
it can be done effectively through better communication. Apparel/fashion companies should
use the significance of communication with their consumers, as it is found out to be highly
fruitful (Jørgensen et al., 2006). It has been observed that when the people are provided with
information about environmental effects, they tend to reflect upon their behavior and are
willing to change that behavior (Fisher et al., 2008). The study of Fisher and others (2008)
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further suggested that using the appropriate form of media for sustainability information
would be beneficial to the consumers.
2.1.2: Economic aspect

It has also been perceived that the garments that are more sustainable are higher in cost, and
so the margin of affordability becomes less (Rutter et al., 2017). Consumers therefore less
intend to buy the products that have been claimed as more sustainable due to this rhetoric.
However, the factors such as image, money, or well-being create a bigger influence on the
consumers’ purchasing decisions, so that the justification of higher price for ethical garments
could become weaker (Jägel et al., 2012). Consumer values increasingly favor sustainable
development in products and services, thereby fostering the need to develop new operational
and managerial practices that support sustainability in supply chain management(Bask et al.,
2013). Studies have proven that the consumers often associate sustainable fashion with the
raw materials (Blazquez et al., 2020; Cervellon & Wernerfelt, 2012; Henninger et al., 2017).
This indicates that the information and education about the sustainable fashion to the
consumers is quite superficial.
2.1.3: Social aspect

The apparel industry is ill-famed for social sustainability-related problems, if more
elaborately the workplace accidents such as factory fires and building collapses (Akbar &
Ahsan, 2020). Extensive industrial accidents have caused several worker deaths and injuries.
For example, the Ali Enterprises factory fire in Pakistan in 2012 caused 286 worker deaths
(Walsh & Greenhouse, 2012); whereas the Tazreen Fashions factory fire in 2012 resulted 112
deaths and 300 injuries; and the Rana Plaza building collapse in 2013 caused 1,136 worker
deaths and more than 2,000 injuries in Bangladesh (Dhooge, 2016). This clearly depicts the
adverse working conditions in the apparel industry in the third world countries, and also
supports the notion that the safety of the workers of the factories has been compromised. The
reason why the factory workers have been exploited is related to the issues like earning a
living wage, the usage of child labor, abuse of the rights of women workers, absence of trade
unions, worker health and safety problems and dangerous factory working conditions (Egels-
Zandén & Merk, 2014; Jones & Hoang, 2012; Winter & Lasch, 2016).
While assuming the consumers’ assessments about the sustainability communication of the
brands, it has been observed that the production country also plays an important role
(Lazzarini et al., 2017). The study of Lazzarini (2017) further finds out that the consumers
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mainly relied on an ‘our own country is best’ heuristic and on sustainability labels to evaluate
the environmental impact and social sustainability of food products. They used labels as cue
for evaluating environmental and social sustainability. The environmental impact of
seasonality appeared to be underestimated. This paves the way for the notion that the socio-
cultural aspect of the production of anything is the most important sustainability dimension
for consumers, and the sustainability of local products should be promoted through this
aspect alongside the economic and environmental ones (Paloviita, 2010). The study of
Rudyanto & Siregar (2018) further states that the pressure building on the companies by the
environmental advocates and the consumers results in having higher quality of sustainability
reports.
a. Green marketing
Vergura et al. (2020) defined green marketing as a practice of advertising products on the
basis of their perceived sustainability for the environment. Daneshfar et al. (2020) described
green marketing as the considerable efforts of a company for advertising business practices
that are based on environmental sustainability. Presenting the significance of green
marketing, Haq et al. (2020) believed that green marketing has become a highly broader
movement towards business practices that are socially and environmentally conscious.
Lorenz et al. (2021) resulted that green marketing is often confused with public service
campaigns. Differentiating both concepts, it was stated in a similar study that public service
campaigns are an attempt to get people to change their habits whereas green marketing is an
attempt to make people only buy products that are better environmentally.
Kirgiz (2016) argued that with the aim of taking the consumers on board with regards to their
steps for sustainability, brands have started the marketing of their eco-friendly products,
known as green marketing and it is perceived by many to be a means of promotion or
advertisement used to market the products in an environmentally sensitive manner. Similarly,
Esty & Winston (2006) found that by launching green products in the market through the
emphasis on its eco-friendly design, the brand will be more likely to gain the consumer’
loyalty and trust. Szabo & Webster (2020) demonstrated the idea that as soon as the
consumers comprehend the eco-friendliness of the products, they are more inclined to buy
them. In support of this, Olk (2021) added that today consumers are more concerned with
social and ecological factors - this boosted green marketing and made it an imperative factor
for corporate public relations. In support of this, Pimonenko et al. (2020) added that
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consumers expect companies for demonstrating their commitment to perform their operations
that could satisfy the governance, social, and environmental criteria. According to de Freitas
Netto et al. (2020), companies are more likely to give social impact statements periodically to
explain their progress towards sustainability goals. Starbucks is a real-life example of green
marketing as the company seemed committed to the development of renewable energy. A
survey reported that over 55% of consumers were more likely to acknowledge sustainable
products from companies to have a positive impact on society and the environment
(Barkatullah, 2020). In Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia, a similar attitude towards
green activities has been shared by 65% of consumers.
On the contrary note, Garhwal (2019) referred to greenwashing and stated that when green
marketing activities of a company failed to be substantiated by operational changes or
investment, consumers stated criticizing them for misleading or false advertising. Extending
this, Hameed et al. (2021) added that green marketing activities have been criticized because
it favors large or big corporations because they can afford to spend a significant amount for
carrying on the program. Olk (2021) presented another aspect and found that green products
have merely captured a tiny space in the marketplace even in the developed countries. It has
been supported by Beinö & Alexanderson (2020) who clarified statistically that merely 2%of
environmentally preferable products captured a respective place in the market while the sales
of green products are less than 1%. Hameed et al. (2021) argued that some products are sold
not because they are environmentally friendly but because of cost-effectiveness, convenience
and health benefits. For instance, organic foods and hybrid cars can be presented as
prominent examples.
Rejecting these studies, Pimonenko et al. (2020) stated that the lack of trying by companies
resulted in the failure of green marketing. Also, Oates (2020) demonstrated that the
marketing efforts of companies are not significant as they are dedicated to making green
products convenient, cost-effective, available, and effective. Considering this, Sitny (2021)
suggested encouraging people to adopt environmentally friendly products through appealing
and aspirational advertisement messages.
b. Sustainability knowledge
The consumers must comprehend the environmental and social impact of products or
services, as well as must aware of which products are produced in eco-friendly ways
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(D’Souza et al., 2006). Procedural, effectiveness and social knowledge have an ability to
create an impact on ecological/sustainable behavioral intentions, values and attitudes(Kong et
al., 2016). The study of Malkus and Meinhold L (2005) indicates that the consumers with
greater environmental knowledge are more likely to engage in pro-environmental purchase
behaviors. Additionally, the study of Zanoli and Naspetti (2002) says that the consumers who
bought organic food products more than once in a week had greater product knowledge
compared with infrequent organic food consumers. It is pertinent to mention here that the
study of Blazquez and others (2020) proves that the consumers seek to adapt the sustainable
fashion, but their knowledge with regards to the sustainable fashion is not enough to help
them in decision making. This actively demonstrates that the need to educate the consumers
with regards to the environmental knowledge is essential to calculate their perception on the
sustainability communication of the brands.
c. Consumers’ intention toward buying sustainable products
With the passage of time, the concern for the environment is being increasing among the
consumers, and companies are focusing more on making sustainable products to cater this
need (Gam, 2011). Despite this, consumers still do not like to buy the products which are
sustainable because of the limited choices, lower ornaments, and most importantly their
higher cost as compare to the products which are not made as environment friendly (Kong et
al., 2016).
When analyzing the consumers’ attitude or behavior towards sustainability, the studies have
shown some mixed findings. Although people show positive attitude towards the
sustainability approach, but that does not necessarily mean that it would be reflected in their
behavior too (Ceylan, 2019). At the same time, as per the findings of Ceylan (2019), by
conducting a more detailed evaluation of the behavior and attitudes, the participants who
show positive attitudes towards environment sustainability practices are likely to reflect these
attitudes towards their behavior. Ceylan (2019) further adds that the consumers are not only
cognizant about the ecological fashion approaches, but they also support it. Nevertheless,
they do not provide their due support in the implementation phase (Ceylan, 2019). Connell
(2010) also maintained that the consumers generally seem to have a positive connotation and
perceptions towards sustainability, but they cannot base their consumption decisions solely
on this aspect, as the consumers feel they do not know a lot about sustainability in the apparel
industry. For example Gam and Banning (2011) analyzed consumers’ self-expressed
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definitions of sustainability in the apparel industry. They established that consumers mainly
focused on environmental aspects, such as the use of organic materials, as well as recycling
the products. Current research stresses the lack of consumer knowledge of the impact of
garment purchases and indicates that consumers demand more information on the
implications of their consumption to make more educated decisions(Connell, 2010). The
study conducted by Ha-Brookshire and Bhaduri (2011) suggested that the attitudes and
intentions of the consumer to buy a certain product are affected by prior knowledge about the
apparel industry and its values and practices. Besides the consumers try to learn more about
what organizations do and how they produce garments, they do not necessarily believe on the
information provided by these organizations and are rather suspicious of what the
organizations’ actual intentions are (Ha-Brookshire & Bhaduri, 2011) which further
highlights the challenges of communications.
Studies have also maintained that the buying attitude of the consumers has also been linked to
aspects of aesthetic preferences (Lai et al., 2017), fit (Gam, 2011), symbolism, enjoyment
(Oh, 2002), a thrust of the sense of self-worth, and improve of self-presentation (Goldsmith et
al., 1993). The attires act as a catalyst of self-expression and create a recognition (Winge,
2015), which actually indicates a strong emotional consumer experience(Niinimäki, 2015).
Gam (2011) says that these evaluative criteria help create the incorporation of sustainability
in apparel purchasing decisions complicated and stresses the need for more research into
consumers’ perceptions of sustainable fashion garments.
d. Consumers’ level of trust towards the sustainability claims
Trust has been considered as an important dimension which motivates information updating
and, therefore, knowledge attainment and credibility of information sources (Costa-Font et
al., 2008). The previous studies of (Huffman et al., 2004; Magnusson & Hursti, 2003;
Siegrist, 2000) say that the trust is directly linked to individual values and anticipated as a
key element of the acceptance of biotechnology. Costa-Font and others (2008) further
maintain that the concept of trust is related to confidence and credibility in someone or
something.
The concept of trust is related to confidence and credibility in someone or something.

‘Trusting in someone involves a risk that the person will act unreliably’(Siegrist, 2000).
Therefore, in order to reduce risk, consumers are likely to believe the opinion of experts who
appear to hold similar values to themselves (Siegrist, 2000). Consequently, to increase
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consumers’ knowledge, it is important that the information received by consumers are not
only ‘believable’ but credible (Bredahl et al., 1998). The building of credibility was analyzed
by Yee et al. (2005), who revealed that the benevolence and integrity of producers are key
factors in building consumer trust.
e. Challenges in implementing sustainability in fashion industry
Execution of the sustainable actions in the apparel industry is counted amongst the most
important elements. Hur & Cassidy (2019) say that the internal challenges (on personal and
organizational levels) and external challengers (on social and cultural levels) have been faced
by the fashion designers when it comes to incorporating sustainability. These challenges, as
per the findings of Hur & Cassidy (2019) consist of four factors: little consensus over the
understanding of sustainability in fashion design, perceived trade-off with other design
criteria, like aesthetic styles, costs, and fashion trends, in substantial knowledge of existing
sustainable design tools, and lack of design-led approaches and tools to support sustainability
in fashion design. This can cause real hurdle in the enforcement of sustainable strategies in
the fashion industry.
Furthermore, recycling of the used material also comes out as a big challenge. Goods making
use of post-consumer waste is extremely limited by dimensions, types, colors, and shapes of
available material stock, which often has to be disassembled manually in a time-consuming
process (Dissanayake & Sinha, 2015). Villa Todeschini et al. (2017) say that some brands get
over this issue by making strong relationship with the suppliers, creating effective
coordination, and by conveying their desired approaches.
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3. Theoretical framework
3.1: Functional attitude theory

The Functional attitude theory (FAT) also underpins our research, which says that the beliefs
and attitudes are influential to various psychological functions. The attitudes can be dominant
on the process such as being utilitarian (useful), social, relating to values, or a reduction of
cognitive dissonance(Katz, 1960). Studies say that the people develop attitudes to cater their
goals, and that although any particular attitude might serve multiple functions, it would
generally serve one more than the others (Katz, 1960; Ketchum, 1956).
The theory explains that attitudes and beliefs impose significant impacts on the psychological
functions of consumers. For instance, attitude towards sustainability communication can be
influential on the processes like being social, utilitarian, or deduction of cognitive dissonance.
These factors can be used while interacting with consumers (Keating, 2021). According to
Bakti et al. (2020), the function attitude theory suggests that attitudes are adopted by
consumers due to having sound psychological functioning. Notably, the attitude function is
highly integral whether the attitude is correct or accurate. Weder et al. (2021) mentioned that
an attitude serves numerous functions while all these functions are perceived as exclusive
mutually (Nystrand & Olsen, 2020). This means that different consumers would have
different opinions regarding the sustainability communication of the company. Katz (1960)
has categorized attitude functions as utilitarian, social-adjustive, value expressive, ego-
defensive, and knowledge.
3.1.1 Utilitarian
Katz (1960) described the utilitarian function of an attitude when the consumers use attitudes
as ways to maximize rewards and minimize the punishment. He further stated that this
function serves the balance between attaining reward and avoiding punishment (Katz, 1960).
To put it another way, this is where the consumers buy certain things which brings a
determined benefit for them. Previous studies have shown that the consumers show
reluctance to buy the sustainable or green products because of the higher prices (Kong et al.,
2016; Rutter et al., 2017). This actively demonstrates that the utilitarian attitude function
applies on certain class of the consumers, and it highly influences on their decision-making.
The attitude works for performing a utilitarian function for providing consumers with an
effective way so that products can be distinguished (Nguyen, 2020). For instance, the product
that can bring pleasure while others that lead to some pain. In the case of H&M, utilitarian
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functions work for exploring the attitude of consumers towards sustainability communication
in terms of maximizing the utility of those consumers. In simple words, the attitude of
consumers is derived from satisfying their needs and desires through sustainability
approaches (Sapunkov & Molodenkov, 2021). For instance, consumers’ attitude toward
products of the company has a utilitarian function if consumers focused on the practical
factors of their sustainability strategies, for instance, the practical implementation of these
communications. Um & Yoon (2021) mentioned that when influencing agents desired to
tailor messages to a targeted audience whose attitude works a utilitarian function, they started
stressing the ways that could improve the lives of the audience.
3.1.2: Value expressive

Value expressive function of an attitude refers to the role played by the attitude in the
expression of core values, as stated by Katz (1960). He further added that it is the function of
an attitude which reflect individuals’ personality traits, values, and self-concept (Katz, 1960).
To rephrase it, consumers who are environment friendly or belong to the mindset which
promotes sustainability, tend to buy the products which have green tags on them, regardless
of their price. In the value-expressive function, attitudes facilitate the abstract value of
people. In the case of sustainability communication, the value-expressive attitude
aggressively facilitates the ability of consumers to not merely voice their concerns but also
remain persistent with their values. In comparison with other attitudes like utilitarian attitude
or social-adjustive attitude, this attitude is different as no one having any benefit from having
such benefits. Vergura et al. (2020) insisted that a consumer who has such an attitude merely
have a sense of satisfaction by using sustainability products or viewing a company that has
been consistent with the consumer's principle. If the products of H&M are wanted by an
environmentalist whose attitudes towards the company's product served a value-expression
function, the company's message start focusing on the corporation or sustainable efforts of
the company's i.e., how they support green technology (Sapunkov & Molodenkov, 2021).
Justifying this, Nguyen (2020) noted that firms must know the values that are being served by
the consumer's attitude for targeting a persuasive message (Nystrand & Olsen, 2020).
Notably, the efforts of the corporation towards using sustainable products would only be
persuasive if the attitude of consumers towards the firm and its products were anchored to
values associated with other aspects like labor practices, wages, and equality alongside
sustainability.
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3.1.3: Social-adjustive
The social aspect is a prominent way of regulating relationships with consumers. According
to Keizer (2020), attitude works as a function of social-adjustive that facilitates the capability
for interacting with a favorable social group or for impressing attractive others (Sapunkov &
Molodenkov, 2021). In the case of H&M, the attitude of consumers towards sustainability
communication serves as a social adjustive function if consumers become concerned with
whether their sustainable products making them socially popular or not. A firm that wants to
target the social-adjustive function of their consumers stresses pivotal issues that society may
face environmental issues if they do not apply sustainable approaches (Nystrand & Olsen,
2020). Consumers adopt an attitude due to social pressure or other similar benefits.
3.1.4: Ego defensive

Katz (1960) further added that the ego defensive function of an attitude is observed when the
consumers buy a certain brand to enhance their self-esteem or boost their ego. They tend to
ignore the messages which threaten their own ego (Knight Lapinski & Boster, 2001).
Lapinski & Boster (2001) also asserted that this function also serves to protect against
potential threats from incoming information that challenges the self-image.
It is an attitude that drives an ego-defensive function in which consumers do not accept the
unpleasant aspects of the sustainability approaches and communications of H&M. Daneshfar
et al. (2020) demonstrated that ego-defensive attitude is highly connected with the protection
of self-esteem while risks to self-esteem tend to involve personal failings or unacceptable
behavior. This means that the attitude of consumers would be rationalizing towards
sustainability communication of H&M if consumers start defending its approaches. When a
consumer has this positive or defensive attitude towards sustainability communications, it has
been considered as an ego-defensive attitude (Vergura et al. 2020).
3.1.5: Knowledge
Knowledge function of an attitude is a function of attitudes that serves the individual in
understanding the environment (Business School 2018). Consumers’ attitude serves a
knowledge function if sustainability communication of H&M assists consumers to gain more
insights into the operation and structure of the social and environmental impacts (Nystrand &
Olsen, 2020). In this complex world, such an attitude facilitates making sense of the world.
For instance, sustainability communication provides knowledge about why different
sustainability strategies are required and what can be its benefits. According to Haq et al.
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(2020), the only purpose of the knowledge function is to driving attitudes that serve for
learning different factors rather than any other purpose. In the case of H&M, an attitude
towards its sustainability communication may evolve due to consumers interest in the
sustainable approaches (Keating, 2021). Notably, these attitudes can be altered by discussing
how an understanding of consumers regarding sustainability is inadequate as well as if any of
the other attitudes provides more accurate aspects of these approaches.
The drive to establish and retain consistent views, according to Maio & Olson (1995), reflects
psychological demands that are addressed by having such attitudes. Attitudes, according to
the functional theory of attitudes, serve underlying needs and motivations(Katz, 1960). As a
result, the motivations of an individual determine the purpose of an attitude. Katz’s (1960)
attitude function theory offers one perspective on attitude formation that supports the goal for
attitude consistency - that looking into the underlying psychological drivers of attitudes will
help you grasp what they are for. He further states that the attitudes are complicated
structures, and each one is likely to be shaped by driving elements that comprise several
attitude functions(Katz, 1960). It's crucial to comprehend how attitudes work in order to
interpret the relationship between attitudes and other behavioral categories (Maio & Olson,
1995).
The attitude functions theory provides a framework for understanding a variety of

psychological factors that influence attitudes and behavior(Cocolas et al., 2020). The social
adjustive and value-expressive functions, for example, accommodate for social influences
and values, respectively, as maintained by Cocolas et al. (2020). Using the attitude functions
paradigm can provide insight into the potential interaction between these aspects, unlike
earlier research that has focused on the role of values(Büchs, 2017), and cognitive
dissonance(McDonald et al., 2015).The analysis of the consumers’ attitudes towards the
sustainability communication of H&M is going to determine by using this theory. The study
aims at contributing to field of media and communication research and sustainable
communication studies by providing some light on consumer’ attitudes and perceptions to
communication of sustainability efforts by fashion brands.
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4. Methodology
In the current research, qualitative methods were used to focus on the participant's thoughts,
feeling, and subjective experiences rather than the cause-and-effect relationship of the
variable. Qualitative research focuses on the essence of the events, incidents, and participant's
perceptions and attitudes regarding them. It focuses more on the quality of the experiences
perceived by the participants (Willing, 2008). In the present study, the qualitative research
method was used with the focus groups method to collect the data from the participants of
each group.
4.1: Focus Group

Qualitative research is a method of interpreting results while focusing on the perceptions,
attitudes, and experiences of the participants regarding the phenomena to be discussed. It
helps to investigate the phenomena according to the individual's perspective. Focus group
design was used in the present study because it helps the researcher to create a setting for the
participants to discuss the views and opinions of the individuals on a phenomenon. The aim
of the focus group is to provide a satisfactory setting for the individuals to discuss the
phenomena among his focus group participants.
This helps the researcher to examine the individual's view and opinion regarding the
discussed phenomena and their views about the world (Heary & Hennessy, 2020). The Focus
group method helps the author to help the participants during the discussion to generate
themes regarding the topic of discussion. This also provides an opportunity for the researcher
to change the flow of the discussion, to introduce or provide cues, and also researcher doesn't
have to force the participants to complete the questionnaires as the researcher might already
have got enough data to complete the results (Donaldson, 1978). Focus group is the best
methodological choice in the study because it allows the researcher to specifically focus on
the attitude of consumers of H&M. As the researcher merely want to analyze how
sustainability communication drives particular attitude of H&M consumers, the selection of a
focus group would be appropriate. Another rationale for selecting focus group is that it helps
in drawing feelings, attitudes, reactions, experiences, and beliefs of participants in a manner
where other methods are not effectively applicable (Heary & Hennessy, 2020). In this
manner, the researcher can easily gather relevant information.
During a focus group, the author played the role of the interviewer and provided cues during
the discussions as a moderator. This helps the participants to introduce a topic during
24
discussions, also to provide prompts to the participants to raise an issue or to resolve any
difference of opinions among the members as well. The researcher also played an important
role while solving any dispute raised during the discussion and helps the submissive
participants to voice their opinions (Wilkinson, 1998).
In the current study, the researcher has focused on groups by dividing them into 4 sections.
Each section has five participants; therefore, the total number of participants in the four
sections was 20. (1) The first focus group consisted of those consumers who were not
interested in sustainability and did not read reports regarding the sustainability approach of
H&M, the group is referred as (A). The rationale for selecting these consumers was to
compare the responses of consumers with other focus groups. (2) The second focus group
was comprised of those consumers who were interested to know sustainability efforts of the
H&M but have insufficient time for getting the information. By focusing on this group, the
researcher intended to evaluate how much they were informed regarding the sustainability
and environmental protection of H&M, the group is referred as (B). (3) The third focus group
consisted of those consumers who were interested in sustainability and its relevant effects.
For this, they also read reports for knowing about the claims of the H&M brand for
establishing their own opinions, the group is referred as (C). (4) The fourth and final group
was an experimental group that was comprised of the consumers reading reports at the
request of the researcher and then they discussed sustainability communication, the group is
referred as (D). All of these groups were segregated for comparing the interview responses of
participants and groups for analyzing the result as well as to highlight the differences of
opinions. Moreover, it allowed the researcher to evaluate how these factors (i.e., Knowledge
about sustainability efforts or interests of consumers about sustainability efforts of the brand)
can influence the attitude of consumers.
4.2 Participants
20 participants (10 males, 10 females) were selected for conducting 4 focus groups which
consisted of 5 participants in each focus group. All of them were the residents of Sweden.
The Focus group shouldn't consist of participants more than five as it will be difficult for the
moderator or researcher to control them during the discussions. And also, it is difficult for the
researcher to record all the data during the discussions. This also facilitates the researcher to
give attention to all the participants to play an active role during the groups and to collect
data from the discussions (Nyumba, Wilson, Derrick & Mukherjee, 2018; Creswell, 2014).
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Convenience and snowball sampling techniques were used to select the sample for the current
study comprised of participants with an age range from 18 years to 24 years. According to
Statista Research Department (2018), individuals of age group 18 years to 24 years pay more
attention to sustainability and its effect on the environment while buying products.
Researcher approached individuals who reported to be frequent buyers of H&M using social
media networks and also approached the participants that were referred by other participants
who were frequent buyers of H&M. The researcher approached the participants and described
them the purpose of the study and asked their consent/opinion regarding taking part in the
study focuses on the attitude of the individuals regarding H&M sustainability
communication.
4.3: Procedure
Consent was taken from all the focus group participants to participate in the research. They
were explained about the purpose and nature of the study, also their right to withdraw from
the research at any point. They were told that their participation in the present research will
be voluntary, and their identity will be kept anonymous. Also, that there will be no risk and
harm given to the participants during the study. Four online/virtual focus groups were
conducted using semi-structured interviews to collect data from the participants. As a
principal of the focus group were followed in the current study each group was conducted for
45 minutes and then 15 minutes pause was given to the participants for refreshment and
relaxation (Mohay, 2000). Moderator (researcher) was present during the focus group
interview to facilitate the participants during the discussions. The researcher provided cues
and prompts during the discussions to focus the attention of the participants. Also,
encouraged the other participants to take part in the discussions through open-ended
questions. Focus groups interviews were held through the online medium Zoom due to
restrictions of Covid-19. Each focus group and the interview were audiotaped to ensure the
participants' comments were recorded verbatim. Then the researcher transcribed the interview
to generate sub-themes and master themes to interpret the results.
4.4: Data Analysis

The researcher had used a qualitative research method called Interpretative Phenomenology
Analysis (IPA) to conclude the results and represent the data in the graphical and visual
illustration that will be added in the result section for a better understanding of consumer
attitude on sustainability communication of H&M. Data was analyzed using IPA.
26
The IPA method was suggested by Jonathan Smith. This method helps to understand and
explore the world through the perspective of the participants. This helps the researcher to
understand the personal, emotional, and social world a participant holds for themselves
(Smith & Osborn, 2003). Interpretative phenomenology helps the researcher to understand
and record the experience, any phenomena according to the participant's perspective. This
method's purpose is to capture the participant's experiences, the nature of the experiences, and
the quality of that experience (Willing, 2008).
Once the researcher conducted the interviews with the participants, he has written down the
verbatim of each participant word to word. Then he read the written interviews back and forth
to get a complete understanding of the participant's experiences. The written interviews
transcripts were then interpreted using the principles of IPA.
Reading and rereading the text, again and again helped to get familiar with the text and
participant's explanations of the experiences, in the first step. This helped in making notes for
constructing relevant themes in response to the interviews. In the second stage, the researcher
came up with the labels and themes based on the participant's interviews and texts based on
the topics of the discussion. The main themes were based on the text material and captured
the essence of the phenomena discussed.
While in the third stage, the researcher attempted to make clusters of the themes, while many
themes and labels fall in the main theme clusters because they share the same concept and fall
in the same category naturally. The themes categorized into one cluster share the same
meaning and context, meaning and experiences of the phenomena. Themes, labels, and
categories were made into the order of relationship with the text and phenomena.
In the fourth stage, the researcher made a summary table in which all themes were clustered
to generate the master themes. The themes included in the tables and analysis must reflect the
participant's explanations of the phenomena and reflect their thoughts, emotions, and
experiences of the phenomena under examination. During this process, some of the themes
that were generated earlier were excluded as they did not fully represent the phenomena and
some of them were overlapping. Some were not representing the phenomena as it is
presented. So, the number of clusters, labels, and themes may vary depending on the text
from the interviews of the participants. Some phenomena were discussed widely by the
participants while some of them were hardly discussed among the participants. Similarly, the
number of quotations or verbatim of the participants may vary regarding a theme or a cluster.
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These themes and clusters were generated from the participant's interviews and their
verbatim. Interpretation of the focus group interviews led toward results about the attitude of
costumers regarding the sustainability communication of the H&M brand (Willing, 2008).
Table 1: Selected themes in the study
Major Themes Super-ordinate Themes Sub-ordinate Theme
Knowledge about Have information. Yes, I have

Benefits of Knowledge about Yeah, I have read about it but not much.
sustainability sustainability Should be more focused.
(Henninger, 2015) Have quite good knowledge.
Green advertisement, Environment Protection Yes, a good step.

packaging and Saving Earth Plastic is harmful.
labeling (Strähle, Green packaging Not very credible
2017) Eco-friendly Important for green customers
Prefer them.
Influence of More willing Good to find cheap price clothes which are also
sustainability claims Have positive interest. sustainability.
on purchasing Motivate to support the Yes, to save resources and wastage
(Carrington, Neville & claim. Priority given to sustainability.
Whitwell, 2014) More willing to support it
Consumer attitude Positive Important for future benefits

towards sustainability Eco-friendly Saving Earth
(Lundblad & Davies, Climate change affect negatively
2016) Prefer sustainable product.
Doing Good
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H&M sustainability Social Media following Have doubts.

claims (Guthrie et al., Have read about it Don’t belief about their claims.
2006) good initiative Fake claims
Not enough efforts
Not genuine claims
Belief it’s true.
Due to pressure
very sustainable
innovative way using different approaches.
communicating in effective ways
open and more transparent
fully belief as its one of the leading brands.
Environment Using waste and biomass Good to know if its environment friendly.
Protection claims material Not genuine
(Valor, Carrero & very sustainable
Redondo 2014) make efforts by using sustainable fabric
yes, making things better
agree with claims
Resources, Recycling Waste and biomass Cheap products prices

and waste disposal material usage Have doubts
(Lindsay & Strathman, Using recycle material Might be underpaid
1997) Organic products Using sustainable products like textile fabrics
Saving resources
Saving Earth
Using proper ways to dispose wastage
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4.5: Strengths and weaknesses of the study

The strength of the study is recruiting 20 participants for interview that would enhance the
reliability of the study. Another strength is using IPA technique that helps to segregate data
into different themes so that the researcher could add relevant information. Moreover, to
enhance the validity and reliability of the research, the researcher has supported the extracted
information from the previous studies.
A prominent weakness of the study is to conduct information in a qualitative manner that

makes it difficult to validate the information statistically. Moreover, due to dividing
participants into different groups, it would be difficult for the researcher to cite their
interviews. The researcher needs to select not only relevant information but precise required
information.
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5: Results & Analysis

This chapter is highly significant as it presents the extracted raw data from the participants
and interprets the findings in accordance with the seven generated themes. The analysis of the
research findings has been presented by applying the IPA technique in which the emotions,
thoughts, and perspectives of each participant can comprehensively be discussed. Using this
information, the researcher analyzed the attitudes of H&M consumers for presenting results.
The focus groups are abbreviated as Fg.
5.1: Utilitarian function
5.1.1: Consumer attitude towards sustainability

Literature had shown that sustainable consumers have many motivations while
making decision of buying any product. Such as they tend to focus on creativity of the brand,
product liked by peer groups, have artistic values in the product designs, and most
importantly feeling guilt free as they are buying sustainable products which are not harmful
for the environment (Lundblad & Davies, 2016).
Lately changes in climate causes awareness among masses and motivates the individuals to
run campaigns to save environment and become a part of it by consuming sustainable
products in their everyday lives. These moves the consumers to buy sustainable products
especially prefer fashion products which are sustainable, made from organic materials, easily
recyclable, reusable for others and can be redesigned again for the future use (Henninger,
2015). Also, a participant reported that
“It is hard to be fully switch to green products due to cost and

limitation of variety but yes, it is my priority regarding by purchasing”
(Fg 4, P 2, A (112-113)
5.1.2: Resources, Recycling and Waste Disposal

Islam, Hassan & Hossain (2011) found a positive relationship between consumer’s attitudes,
environment, and green products advertisement. They found that consumer who have
awareness regarding sustainability and environment were greatly influenced by such
information and claims of the brands. Consumers with knowledge of environment get
influenced with the brands who make products which are not toxic for the environment. As
one of the participants also stated that
32
“They claim to reuse material and also to save resources by upgrading their materials,
processing, and labor use. And most importantly they claim to use organic materials and then
reuse it” (Fg 3, P 1, B (76-78)
So, interviewees reported that they all have basic knowledge that products made from
sustainable material and products that can be easily reusable and recycle will help them to
protect the environment from chemicals and makes them feel like contributing towards the
environment.
The group B develops the favorable attitude towards sustainable communication by H&M for
receiving some rewards in the form of achieving environmental or social benefits. It seems
that they are likely to adopt positive attitude as the company is dedicated to providing job
opportunities and reuse materials.
5.2: Value Expressive
5.2.1: Influence of sustainability claims on purchasing

Another recent trend shown in the consumers is to spend more money if the products are
sustainable as the green fashion buyers don’t prioritize money over green products. As they
feel that they are spending more money for buying natural material such as organic wool,
cotton etc. over chemically processed materials. They feel like they are spending more money
in order to save environment by playing their constructive roles towards environment and
Earth (Lundblad & Davies, 2016). As another participant responded that
“I am more than willing to pay more for sustainable products” (Fg 4, P 3, D (75)
These initiatives from the manufacturers makes it easy for the consumers to develop an
insight towards the manufacturing brand, such as using ingredients to manufacture a product,
its production process etc. This increases transparency of the sustainable brands and create
positive image of the brands for their consumers. Such initiatives cause to change the
attitudes and perception of the buyers to increases their purchasing behavior towards H&M
brands as they are sustainable and becoming more and more transparent day by day
(Thøgersen, Haugaard & Olesen, 2010).
“It makes me more willing to buy H&M products because of their

sustainability claims” (Fg 4, P 3, C (84-85)
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5.2.2: Environment Protection claims

It makes the governments and authorities to focus on marketers to produce materials,
products to be more and more sustainable in order to protect the environment. Authorities are
forcing manufacturers to produce goods that are environment friendly and to protect the
Earth. Thus, manufacturers are making more and more products sustainable to be available in
the market for the buyers. One of the participants reported that
“I believe H&M are moving forward in terms of sustainability” (Fg 4, P 1, B (69-70)
Buyers understand that buying sustainable products make them more satisfied
emotionally, psychologically and also influence others’ peers (Menges, Schroeder, &
Traub, 2005).
Sustainable products make customers aware of their organic materials used in them which
influences them to buy products that is environmentally friendly and causing less harm
towards the ecosystem. This also influences the attitudes of the consumers to buy more eco-
friendly products as it brings positive consequences for the users and the society (Rahbar &
Wahid, 2011). As one of the interviewees responded that
“I care for the environment, I prefer to buy sustainable product” (Fg 4, P 4, C (76)
So, consumers are well aware of the effect of the chemicals on the environment and its direct
effect on the living beings. This shifts the consumers from non-sustainable products to
sustainable buying.
This showed that the group C expressed their basic values towards sustainability approaches
of H&M. The sustainability communication by H&M reinforced their self-image. Therefore,
their behavior is more based on value-expressive function.
5.2.3: Resources, Recycling and Waste Disposal

Increase in consumer perceptions towards environment moved the authorities to make
products that are more sustainable for the environment. Now brands are advertising their
products as reusable, biodegradable, easily recyclable products, customized products, and
eco-friendly (Carlson et al., 1993; D’Souza, 2005). This grasps the attention of the consumers
and helps to make a positive attitude towards H&M sustainable products because such claims
were also made by H&M brand to attract its customer’s attention who prefer green products
by claiming to reuse their materials, using organic materials etc. Consumer also belief their
claims are true and stated that
“They used organic cotton and recycled it” (Fg 4, P 4, C (71)

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5.3: Social Adjustive

Adopting sustainability in fashion industry consist of many features, like using
organic materials for production, using sustainable manufacturing process that requires more
time, friendly towards environment, trained labor etc. Recently, consumers have shown
progressive attitude by using sustainable products more and more. And by reinforcing
authorities to make more sustainable products available for the consumers and buyers.
Consumers still do not like to buy the products which are sustainable because of the limited
choices, lower ornaments, and most importantly their higher cost as compared to the products
which are not made as environment friendly thus, now more and more brands, designers are
taking into account the sustainable products into their consideration while making products
(Lundblad & Davies, 2016). Individuals showed great increasing interest in sustainable
products and brands which claims to be manufacturing sustainable fashion accessories which
are ecological friendly. It’s reinforcing for the consumers to buy products which are
beneficial for environment as well. They feel satisfactory as they are not becoming the reason
of creating extremely drastic impacts on the environment. One of the interviewees said that
“Naturally, I feel good about if it causes less harm” (Fg 4, P 1, A (58)

Bjørner, Hansen & Russell (2004) discussed in their research paper that it’s beneficial for the
environment, industry and for consumers to buy sustainable products more frequently by the
consumers rather than once in a while. This will help the consumers to cause a huge
significant impact on the environment as well as influencing other buyers’ attitudes towards
sustainable products. Communication between producers (brands) and the consumers exists
for the sake of having the sustainable products. If organization fails to comply with the social
norms of the society, the consumers would be more likely to exhibit their sense of resentment
(Deegan, 2002). As consumer form one of the focus groups stated that
“I take into consideration sustainable products because it is very

important for our environment and for me” (Fg 4, P 3, C (57-58)
Buying attitude of the purchasers is an ever-changing process depending upon the recent
market trends, their personal opinions, products features and qualities, peer group conformity,
presentation of one’s image and other situation factors like availability of the product,
35
creativity and artistic value in the products, goods prices etc. Recently, consumers were
keeping in mind about the brands claims of their environmentally friendly activities,
processes, management of their wastes while manufacturing, their book keep records system,
using products for recycling, saving of energy, water and other resources while
manufacturing (Lindsay & Strathman, 1997; Wang, Qian, & Yu,2013). These claims from
H&M brand positively moved the attitudes and perception of the consumers towards H&M
goods making them more satisfactory while considering all the above-mentioned aspect to be
fulfilled.
5.4: Ego-defensive
5.4.1: Green Advertisement, Packaging and Labeling

This generated theme was based on client’s responses about having awareness of benefits of
using green packaging, advertisement and labeling from different brands to conserve the
environment. Participants responded that they want to have products which are free from
plastic as it will takes years to decompose, leaving effect on the environment. Some of the
interviewee responded that use of green products, packaging, marketing, labeling had
positively affected their attitudes towards H&M brands. One of the Participants responded
that
“I do not like when products are heavily packed with plastic”. (Fg 4, P 1, D (57).
As H&M brand have communicated about their brand’s efforts to be sustainable through
different mediums, this had helped them in building a positive perception. Also, the efforts of
other brands in the market to be more sustainable made H&M stand out or catch customer’s
attention more. Esty and Winston (2006) also emphasized that by launching the green
products in the market through the emphasis on its eco-friendly design, the brand will be
more likely to gain the consumer’ loyalty and trust. Use of sustainable labeling are getting
more and more attention from the brand manufacturers in the markets, raises awareness
among masses to form positive attitudes towards them including H&M (Henninger, 2015).
Use of sustainable products and labeling shows consumers that brand and their manufacturers
are making efforts to fulfill the ethical responsibility towards their consumer by satisfying
their expectations (Valor, Carrero& Redondo 2014). As one of the participants from the focus
group revealed that:
“I prefer products and it’s packaging wholly sustainable” (Fg 2, P 2, D, (53-55).

36
Manufacturers are using the eco-labeling due to which their consumers develop affirmative
attitude towards their brand. It also helps the H&M brand to stand out among the others for
the consumer to decide to purchase the product, as it spread awareness among the masses
(Bjørner, Hansen, & Russell, 2004; Blackburn, 2009).
As most of the participants who have knowledge of sustainability prefer using sustainable
products for themselves and others as it is beneficial for the environment and the Earth. One
of the interviewees responded that:
“I think that biodegradable packaging is an extremely important consideration

for a sustainable environment because packing is as important as a product
for green consumer” (Fg 4, P 3, B (58-59).
5.4.2: H&M’s sustainability claims

Brands who claim to be sustainable are motivating the market and purchasers by their claims
of using organic products, reuse and recyclable products that are not harmful for the
environment. They are motivating others by making themselves an example by minimizing
the risk towards the environment and other living beings. And also, presenting equal chance
for everyone by providing good working conditions towards their workers (Lundblad &
Davies, 2016).
Researcher interpreted from the interviews of the focus groups that consumers prefer H&M
over other brands because of its sustainable, reusable, and recyclable products. Also, their
products provide them the sense of individuality, creativity in their products designs, while
introducing and following with the latest fashion trends. As consumers often buy goods based
on their impulse such as their likeliness towards a product, they feel like buying and
shopping, based on their temperaments and sentiments etc. As participants from the focus
groups reported that sustainability claims of H&M make them more motivated and willing to
buy their products
“H&M sustainability report/claims motivates me to support the cause” (Fg

3, P 2, C (56)
Consumers believe that H&M is making efforts to make their brand and the products
sustainable. As per the consumers, they have seen changes in their products’ materials and its
usage. Functional attitude theory also supports this notion as Katz (1960) suggested that
consumers who are environment friendly or belong to the mindset which promotes
37
sustainability, tend to buy the products which have green tags on them, regardless of their
price.
Consumers are fully satisfied with H&M’s claims of using organic materials for the
manufacturing of the products. As one of the interviewees reported that:
“I Believe in H&M claims as they used wool without assaulting the sheep
and they also banned the use of animal skins. They are on a good track”
(Fg 4, P 4, D (99-100)
The fashion clothing and other products in fashion business have been rapidly changing
according to trends and needs of the consumers. In this scenario, H&M introduced
customized fashion products for the consumers to save the clothes from getting wasted. This
helps the consumers to adopt to environmentally friendly purchasing behaviors (Gam, 2011).
H&M’s efforts of making such huge changes have caused an impact on its customers;
attitudes and were also noticed by many. Whereas few participants still expressed their
concerns regarding the communication of H&M brand about sustainability. As few
participants stated to have doubts regarding H&M claims as they were being pressured by the
governments, authorities, and individuals to become sustainable.
“I do not think that H&M is doing anything to protect the environment” (Fg 4, P 3,
A (69)
The above findings revealed that participants have adopted a defensive approach for
supporting the sustainability approaches of H&M. Particularly; the attitude of group D is
more defensive towards H&M’s sustainability communications.
5.5: Knowledge function
5.5.1: Knowledge about benefits of sustainability

When participants were questions regarding having knowledge of sustainability during focus
groups, most of the participants know what sustainability is. Whereas the experimental group
participants have most knowledge about sustainability, green products, environment changes
and worst effects etc. as they have studied about sustainability.
The researcher concluded that participants from the experimental focus group were aware of
sustainability and famous brands manufacturing sustainable products for their consumer. As
one of the participants responded that:
38
“Sustainability is the key factor for the betterment and future of the planet Earth,
because the phenomena of climate change have severely affected the world” (Fg 4,
P 2, C (58-59).
The participants acknowledged that adopting sustainability or using sustainable products in

their daily lives is beneficial for them and for others. As they were aware of the hazard effects
of chemicals and other substances on climate, marine and wildlife which had eventually
severe disturbances by the ecosystem. Kong et al., (2016) also highlighted that procedural
effectiveness and social knowledge have an ability to create an impact on
ecological/sustainable behavioral intentions, values, and attitudes. Therefore, the clients or
consumers prefer using products in their everyday life that are sustainable and prefer brand
that make claims to manufacture and produce sustainable products for their consumer. The
findings suggested that the attitude of all the participants towards sustainability
communication of H&M is based on knowledge function as most of them aware of benefits of
sustainable strategies.

Sustainability has become a global trend. Many manufacturers and brands have made
sustainability a major point while making decisions. As it become an integral point for both
the producers and buyers. Yet, many of the people still not consider using sustainable
products in their daily lives. But in fashion manufacturing business, it turns out to be one of
the most influencing factors for the consumers as buyers prefer brands who claim to be
sustainable (Strähle, 2017). One of the participants showed interest in sustainability by saying
that
“I like the spirit” (Fg 4, P 1, B (86)

Consumers were motivated by their goals to contribute towards their environment, society
and towards others gains while buying sustainable fashion goods, as their choices can impact
in several ways (Carrington, Neville & Whitwell, 2014). H&M buys also feel relived while
buying their products as the brands become public about their sustainability steps and efforts
to be chemical free and also showing creativity while designing their products. They also
become transparent about using organic materials such as wool, cotton, and other organic
materials in their products manufacturing while using earth resources in a practical way. So,
participant responded towards these claims as
39
“I feel good about buying from H&M brand products which are causing less
harm towards the environment due to its sustainability claims and becoming
more organic” (Fg 4, P 3, B (78)
5.5.4: Environment Protection claims

Recent campaigns on climate change make the authorities moved to give attention
towards the climate and environment protection for the sake of living beings survival
(Pereira, 2015). Increase in population and need for the resources for the usage or availability
of the resources keep on pressuring industries to make more and more while using carbon
more and more also emitting carbon which is harmful for environment (Mitchell, 2012;
Khurana &Ricchetti, 2016). As participants also mentioned that
“It is better for our future to focus on Sustainability” (Fg 3, P 1, C (99)
Therefore, it has been analyzed that the attitude based on knowledge provide structured
and meaningful information to group B regarding sustainability communication by H&M.
To this group, the sustainability communication provides clarity by supplying them with
the standards of evaluation.
40
6. Summary and Conclusion

Sustainability has become a very important aspect of the business industry in recent years.
The consumers must comprehend the environmental and social impact of products or
services, as well as must be aware of which products are produced in eco-friendly ways.
Furthermore, the consumers are well-aware of the H&M brands’ efforts taken to manufacture
and produce sustainable fashionable products while maintaining the quality and prices
affordable. Many individuals are concerned about the hideous effects of chemicals on the
environment and on Earth. They have information that non-sustainable products and other
non-sustainable actions had left worst effect on Earth which led to climate changes, ocean
acidification, and wildlife dangers etc. So, H&M’s communication on its sustainable products
is leaving quite effective implications on the consumers. Majority of the clients believe that
H&M’s claims and communication regarding sustainability are true, whereas few of the
individuals still have doubts regarding their sustainability rhetoric. They want H&M brand to
communicate about their sustainability efforts more rigorously and effectively on social
media. So that they can have more accurate information about it through different innovate
ways and mediums.
1. To evaluate the awareness of consumers about the sustainability communication

by H&M
The study has found that all the focused group including group A, who is not interested
sustainability approach aware of sustainable approaches and activities of H&M. They have
awareness about the labeling, packaging, and other factors that portrayed a sustainable image
of H&M. Moreover, the participants know the consequences of adopting sustainability
approaches. These moves the consumers to buy sustainable products especially prefer fashion
products which are sustainable, made from organic materials, easily recyclable, reusable for
others and can be redesigned again for the future use. They are well-aware of the effect of the
chemicals on the environment and its direct effect on the living beings. This shifts the
consumers from non-sustainable products to sustainable buying.
2. To demonstrate how consumers perceive sustainability communication by H&M
All focused group except group A positively perceived the sustainability communication
by H&M. Sustainable initiatives cause to change the attitudes and perception of the
buyers to increases their purchasing behavior towards H&M brands as they are
sustainable and becoming more and more transparent. They encouraged and appreciated
41
the company for their commitment and efforts towards sustainability approaches.
Notably, there are some participants from group D who are less satisfied with the
sustainability communication by H&M. In contrast, the participants from group A have
adopted negative attitude toward sustainability communication by H&M as they seemed
unwilling or unhappy to adopt sustainable activities. Consumers with knowledge of
environment get influenced with the brands who make products which are not toxic for
the environment. Few participants from group C and D believed that H&M is not
extensively applying sustainable approaches to deal with environmental and social
impacts.
3. To find the attitude differences among different consumers of H&M
The 20 recruited participants were divided into four groups, namely, group A, B, C and
D. By applying the functional attitude theory, it has been found that the attitude of group
A towards sustainability communication of H&M is based on social adjustive function as
they unwillingly adapt their sustainable products. The attitude of group B is based on
knowledge function as they want to have information about the sustainability approach of
H&M. Also, their attitude towards sustainability communication is utilitarian as they
interested in sustainability approach for getting some sort of rewards. The attitude of
group C is based on value expressive as they strictly follow the reports of H&M regarding
sustainability communication because their values are being satisfied. Finally, the attitude
of group D is based on value expressive and ego defensive. For instance, some
respondents expressed how much they are concerned about sustainability while
participants also tried to take a defensive mode to justify each strategy of H&M.
6.1 Limitation & Suggestion

Due to Covid-19, people are restricted to gather around. So, interviews and discussion are
held virtually with each focus group. Interviews and discussion should be held in person to
have more fruitful discussions among participants. Also, moderator will provide cues to steer
the discussions.
▪ A random sampling would possibly be a better approach for this study which can
reduce research bias and result in an even distribution of samples’ demographic data.
▪ The same research, although as quantitative research. A larger sample of the

population would help to take this research further.
42
6.2: Implications
• The research results will help H&M brand to bring attention towards consumer’ doubts
regarding their sustainability claims, workers’ right, social media communication etc. to
make a better connection between H&M and consumers.
▪ This research focused on the general scope of consumers’ perceptions toward H&M
brand sustainability communication and the factors that influences the repeat consumers.
Additional probing questions on about the relationship between satisfactions and choices will
be more beneficial for the further research.
43
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1

Analysis of Consumers’ Attitudes

5.1.2: Resources, Recycling and Waste Disposal:............................................................ 31

1.1.1: Definition of Sustainability

1.1.2: Definition of Sustainability Communication

With reference to the proposed study, sustainability communication is defined as a firm's

Considering the significance of sustainability communication, it is highly required to evaluate

1.1.3 Definition of Attitude

1.2: Overview of H&M

• To evaluate the awareness of consumers about the sustainability communication by

1.5: Research questions

2.1: Apparel industry and sustainability

2.1.1: Environmental aspect

2.1.2: Economic aspect

2.1.3: Social aspect

c. Consumers’ intention toward buying sustainable products

d. Consumers’ level of trust towards the sustainability claims

The concept of trust is related to confidence and credibility in someone or something.

e. Challenges in implementing sustainability in fashion industry

3.1: Functional attitude theory

3.1.2: Value expressive

3.1.4: Ego defensive

The attitude functions theory provides a framework for understanding a variety of

4.1: Focus Group

4.4: Data Analysis

Table 1: Selected themes in the study

Major Themes Super-ordinate Themes Sub-ordinate Theme

Knowledge about Have information. Yes, I have

Green advertisement, Environment Protection Yes, a good step.

Consumer attitude Positive Important for future benefits

H&M sustainability Social Media following Have doubts.

Resources, Recycling Waste and biomass Cheap products prices

4.5: Strengths and weaknesses of the study

A prominent weakness of the study is to conduct information in a qualitative manner that

5: Results & Analysis

5.1: Utilitarian function

5.1.1: Consumer attitude towards sustainability

“It is hard to be fully switch to green products due to cost and

5.1.2: Resources, Recycling and Waste Disposal

5.2: Value Expressive

5.2.1: Influence of sustainability claims on purchasing

“It makes me more willing to buy H&M products because of their

5.2.2: Environment Protection claims

5.2.3: Resources, Recycling and Waste Disposal

“They used organic cotton and recycled it” (Fg 4, P 4, C (71)

5.3: Social Adjustive

5.3.1: Influence of sustainability claims on purchasing

“Naturally, I feel good about if it causes less harm” (Fg 4, P 1, A (58)

5.3.2: Consumer attitude towards sustainability

“I take into consideration sustainable products because it is very

5.4.1: Green Advertisement, Packaging and Labeling

“I prefer products and it’s packaging wholly sustainable” (Fg 2, P 2, D, (53-55).

“I think that biodegradable packaging is an extremely important consideration

5.4.2: H&M’s sustainability claims

“H&M sustainability report/claims motivates me to support the cause” (Fg

5.5: Knowledge function

5.5.1: Knowledge about benefits of sustainability

The participants acknowledged that adopting sustainability or using sustainable products in

5.5.2: Influence of sustainability claims on purchasing

“I like the spirit” (Fg 4, P 1, B (86)

5.5.3: Consumer attitude towards sustainability

5.5.4: Environment Protection claims