| Summary: | Consumer willingness to pay is a widely addressed topic in the sustainability research spectrum, and sustainable clothing stands as a pressing issue around the globe due to environmental concerns. However, the tendency is still less towards willingness to pay for sustainable clothing due to its premium prices. Therefore, I intend to identify how price transparency shapes consumer willingness to pay for sustainable clothing when the approximate manufacturing cost is disclosed. The Theory of Planned Behavior has been utilized as a guideline to understand how purchase intentions are formed and shaped in the pre- and post-cost disclosure situations.
The qualitative approach was considered, and 20 semi-structured interviews were conducted. Interviewees were represented from 10 different countries. Results indicate that perceived price disparity between the retail price and the approximate cost lowers the consumers’ willingness to pay for sustainable clothing due to an increased skepticism towards sustainability claims and the premium prices. Distrust has been identified as a mechanism, and altogether, the identified factors and the mechanism address” how and why” price transparency in sustainable clothing has decreased consumers’ willingness to pay compared to the pre-cost disclosure. These findings further contributed to building a new framework by extending the Theory of Planned Behavior in a sustainable context, price transparency as a major determinant towards willingness to pay. The practical implications are discussed in order to enhance sustainable purchasing along with ethical pricing practices.
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