Green Millennials? : A Qualitative Study on the Impact of Green Marketing on European Female Millennials Purchase Behavior in the Fashion Industry

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Green Millennials?

A Qualitative Study on the Impact of Green Marketing on European

Female Millennials Purchase Behavior in the Fashion Industry

MASTER DEGREE

THESIS WITHIN: Business Administration NUMBER OF CREDITS: 15 ECTS

PROGRAMME OF STUDY: International Marketing AUTHORS: Larissa Tamara Lenk and Isabel Rotkirch JÖNKÖPING May 2021

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Master Thesis in Business Administration

Title: Green Millennials? - A Qualitative Study on the Impact of Green Marketing on European Female Millennials Purchase Behavior in the Fashion Industry

Authors: Larissa Tamara Lenk and Isabel Rotkirch

Tutor: Lucia Pizzichini

Date: 2021-05-24

Key terms: Green Marketing, Sustainability, Fashion Industry, Sustainable Fashion,

Millennial, Purchase Behavior

Abstract

Background: Distinguishing from competitors nowadays turns out to be more difficult as

mass communication is a topical issue. Not only, but also in the fashion industry, sustainability is an upcoming topic, especially since this industry is deemed to be the second most polluting worldwide and strives for a change in consumerism. Particularly, millennials are perceived to be the generation being most aware of sustainable alternatives and aspire to protect the environment. Green Marketing is applied to thus promote green processes, products and the like to several customer segments.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to qualitatively explore the impact of green marketing on the purchase behavior of European female millennials in the fashion industry.

Method: The method chosen for this study were online focus groups with female informants from several European countries. Five online focus groups with a total of 31 informants were conducted. The qualitative study is based on an inductive and interpretivist approach. Due to the existence of known models, individual deductive elements were included for data collection. Finally, a theoretical framework was created.

Conclusion: The results show that green marketing is perceived in a diversified way.

Positively, green marketing is creating awareness towards considering sustainable fashion and a possible future change in the purchasing behavior. Negatively it is said, that green marketing is often associated with greenwashing and dishonest pursuits of the companies. Due to sustainability becoming more important and popular, green marketing is also related to a trend in marketing to keep up with competitors. However, green marketing in this study was found out to have no significant impact on the purchase behavior. Overall, the impact of green marketing depends strongly on the knowledge level of the informants in this study. It is noteworthy, that informants with basic knowledge are most likely to be influenced by GM.

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Acknowledgement

We would like to express our deepest gratitude to those who have encouraged and supported us throughout the process and development of this thesis.

Firstly, we would sincerely thank Lucia Pizzichini for being an amazing supervisor who has continuously provided us with great advice and support. She provided us with beneficial comments, feedback, guidance, and valuable suggestions for improving the research. This helped us during the process of fulfilling our research purpose.

Secondly, we would like to express our sincere appreciation to our fellow students in the seminar group for their time, detailed and helpful feedback during the seminar sessions which helped us to enhance the quality of the thesis.

Thirdly, we want to express gratitude to the informants that took part in our focus groups, spent their precious time, and contributed to this paper with many interesting points of views. Without their engagement, it would not have been possible to finalise this thesis.

Lastly, we want to thank our family and friends for all the unconditional support during the compilation of this thesis.

Jönköping, May 24th, 2021 Larissa Lenk

Place, Date Signature

Jönköping, May 24th, 2021 Isabel Rotkirch

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List of Abbreviation

American Marketing Association……….AMA Corporate Social Responsibility………CSR Generation Y………...Gen Y Green Marketing……….GM Motivation-Ability-Opportunity………...MAO Social Desirability………SD

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List of Tables

Table 1: Lead-Times of Fast Fashion Brands ... 14

Table 2: Different Definitions of Sustainable Fashion ... 17

Table 3: Eco-Efficiency and Eco-Sufficiency ... 18

Table 4: Keywords of Secondary Data ... 31

Table 5: Overview of the Informants Characteristics ... 34

Table 6: List of Requirements ... 36

Table 7: Overview of Codes ... 41

Table 8: Coding Scheme ... 42

Table 9: Level of Knowledge ... 42

Table 10: Findings of Green Marketing Content Perception ... 49

Table 11: Findings Campaign Videos ... 53

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List of Figures

Figure 1: The 4P´s of Green Marketing ... 9

Figure 2: 3 R´s – Reuse, Reduce, Recycle ... 10

Figure 3: Timeline of Events Considering Sustainable Fashion ... 19

Figure 4: Offer-Purchase Cycle in the Fashion Industry ... 20

Figure 5: Proposed Framework ... 25

Figure 6: Informants Assigned to Knowledge Level ... 43

Figure 7: Green Content Aspects ... 50

Figure 8: Drivers for Purchasing Fashion ... 58

Figure 9: Relation of Knowledge and Influence of Green Marketing ... 66

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1. Introduction

In this section, the background and problem discussion of topics regarding the fashion industry and green marketing are presented. The purpose of this thesis is demonstrated along with a research question and two subordinated matters.

1.1 Background

The public is facing the biggest challenge today which is the climate change precipitated by human behavior (Greenpeace, n.d.). Greenhouse gas emission released through manufacturing factories, depletion of water, and deforestation cause a rise in global temperatures (Greenpeace, n.d.; Muthu, 2017a). Namely, the fashion industry is deliberated the second most damaging industry affecting climate change (UN News, 2019). Approximately 10% of global CO2 emissions, 20% of industrial water pollution, 190,000 tons of oceanic primary

microplastic pollution, and more than 92 million tons of textile waste per year are caused by the fashion industry (Niinimäki et al., 2020). Further, harmful labor conditions are regularly associated with conventional fashion production (Benson, 2018; UN News, 2019).

Now picture a setting where a millennial female fashion consumer wants to buy a T-Shirt. The decision is between a fast-produced and a sustainable alternative. Both products look the same and appear to have the same quality, but the story behind is different – in any way. Besides, one product is advertised to be sustainable, the other is not. The question is how does Green Marketing (GM) impact the purchase decision in the fashion industry in this context?

The attention towards sustainability issues regarding the fashion industry increased. It is therefore necessary to motivate consumers to buy sustainable fashion (van Weele & Weele, 2014). Consequently, this leads to a slight development of green fashion and branding and therefore an upward trend of GM (Chan & Wong, 2012; Lu et al., 2013). With the introduction of GM in the 1980s (Ottman & Reilly, 2004), marketers flooded consumers with environmentally-friendly products and environmental propositions. Besides, it was found that consumers prefer a brand if they think the brand acts favourably towards the environment. Consumers are also more likely to favour companies that respond to environmental issues (Chase, 1991; Kirkpatrick, 1990). Therefore, companies strive to improve their ecological status by implementing various GM claims (Smith et al., 1990). However, GM can also lead to mistrust and thus to a negative impact on purchase behavior (Petty et al., 1994).

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To understand the connection between GM and the impact on female millennials the purchase behavior in the fashion industry, it is vital to determine the understandings and opinions of these consumer groups regarding the topic. Millennials are individuals born between 1981 and 1996 (Dimock, 2019b). Likeweise known as Generation Y (Gen Y), they are deemed the most dominant consumer group worldwide (Subha, 2019). Moreover, female individuals are perceived as the main consumers of fashion (David, 2020).

1.2 Problem Discussion

Sustainability has high importance, not only regarding growing population and a decline in resources but also concerning the economic and social progress and environmental protection. Latter especially refers to the movement in the manufacturing sector where the clothing industry can be seen in a subordinate role (Saricam & Okur, 2018).

The textile sector is one of the most entrapped branches regarding sustainability issues, containing environmental, social, economic, and even governmental concerns. The supply chain of the textile industry is considered eminently convoluted. Particularly, it can be characterized by consisting of a multitude of processes and parties involved. This is due to the variance of fibres or different methods of spinning and fabrication (Muthu, 2017b).

To integrate sustainability into the textile industry, a rethinking of the entire supply chain must take place as well as a shift in consumerism away from the so-called fast fashion trend (Nature Climate Change, 2018).

The issue of fast fashion occurred after the 1980s. Until that time, the expression through fashion was insignificant (Bhardwaj & Fairhurst, 2010). Due to a higher fashion-consciousness in the 1990s, individuals over years developed to have the ambition to construct the identity of people through fashion which applies to the social norms (Bhardwaj & Fairhurst, 2010; Murray, 2002; Thompson & Haytko, 1997). Drivers in being fashionable exceed the importance of behaving sustainably (McNeill & Moore, 2015). The fast-clothing sector enhances purchase behavior by shifting consumer’s mindsets to a steady fashion consumption associated with low-cost production. This leads to the possibility of offering new styles every week (McNeill & Moore, 2015). Regarding the cost, a study found supporting, that if sustainable fashion is perceived as expensive, consumers develop a likely negative attitude towards the offer which by implication dwindles their buying intention (Maloney et al., 2014). Corresponding with Nosto (2021), merely 32% tend to pay more

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money for a brand that is devoted to sustainability and 29% are likely to pay a higher price for “a sustainably-made version of the same item” (Nosto, 2021, p. 3).

In this context, the focus should be laid on the target group of millennials. Not only does this generation provide a remarkable market potential, but also is Generation Y considered to adopt sustainable behaviors, integrate them in their purchasing decisions and expect responsibility concerning environmental and social issues from certain fashion companies (Amed et al., 2019). However, sufficient execution of this behavior is still missing (Ketelsen et al., 2020).

Subsequently, sustainable fashion brands or products increasingly move into the focus. Nowadays, popular fast-fashion giants such as H&M develop sustainable approaches, and small fully sustainable fashion brands are founded (Khandual & Pradhan, 2019).

Due to the oversupply of communicating the newest trends, the importance of sustainable fashion consumption still slides into the background (Buzzo & Abreu, 2019). Therefore, millennials need to be steadily made aware of this matter (van Weele & Weele, 2014). The concept of GM comes to the fore in this place (Lu et al., 2013). GM in the context of the fashion industry means inventing products that are made and advertised in an environmentally friendly way. A company intends to advertise their clothing products which promote environmental protection and security (Cherian & Jacob, 2012). Information about green products must be gritted tangibly as well as visually to make it trustworthy for the buyer (Fraj & Martinez, 2006). Furthermore, companies need to consider GM to become a competitive business (Lu et al., 2013; McDaniel & Rylander, 1993).

This marketing approach emphasizes the importance of targeting the generation of millennials because particularly fast fashion brands attract those people. Notably, this generation is more likely to follow a sustainable lifestyle. Millennials are the most involved generation regarding sustainability and social issues (Sustainability Management School, 2019). On contrary, this can also lead to a negative perception of the GM trend in terms of greenwashing (Bonera et al., 2020), thus it is important to establish a connection between the topics and investigate them critically.

Therefore, our study aims to address the gap in the literature to which extent GM can impact the purchase behavior of European female millennials in the fashion industry. We want to identify the perception, understandings, and opinions about GM actions in the fashion industry. Herewith we plan to investigate the potential purchase behavior of European female

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millennials by showing not only, but also various green marketing campaigns and identifying their effect.

Accordingly, our study is designed to come up with a new conceptual framework derived from our findings. The literature lacks the provision of a framework concerning the influence of GM on purchase behavior in general. Nevertheless, as our study aims to include the factor of pro-environmental behavior, singular components of the work of Ölander and Thøgersen who proposed the Motivation-Ability-Opportunity-Model, shortly MAO-model (Ölander & Thøgersen, 1995) will be rediscovered. Concerning the utilization of the model in context of GM, it is essential to mention, that only three elements will be integrated especially in the data collection and analysis process.

1.3 Purpose

By looking at the fashion industry sustainability became an emerging topic recently. GM can be used as a valuable strategy to distinguish from competitors (McDaniel & Rylander, 1993). Therefore, companies in the clothing sector need to be able to understand the impact of GM respectively the perception and expectations towards the strategy and thus the derived purchase behavior of European female millennials towards this movement. In which way GM has an impact on our chosen target group in the given industry has not been researched so far.

The purpose of this thesis is thus to discover the impact of green marketing on the purchase behavior of European female millennials in the fashion industry.

We aim to find results, that can be interpreted and hypothetically answer our research question:

RQ1: How does green marketing affect female millennials buying behavior in the fashion industry?

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The following are the subordinated research questions that should guide us through the thesis:

RQ 1.1: How does price affect the behavior of European female millennials to buy sustainable fashion?

RQ 1.2: What green marketing content affects female millennials in their buying behavior?

A contribution to research and theory in the field of GM and the impact on European female millennials purchase behavior related to the fashion industry could be elucidated with our study. Particularly, sustainability in fashion is an upcoming topic nowadays due to developing governmental requirements and movements most notably online. These draw attention to the grievances in this industry (Fashion Revolution Foundation, n.d.; The Business of Fashion, 2021). The nature of GM including not only the green products but holistic green processes was identified as a possible and already applied strategy to show which action is taken so far and should be connected to the particular industry. Thus, it is crucial to research several perceptions of this strategy to establish a conceptual framework regarding GM and its impact on the fashion industry. Firstly, providing a new framework displaying the impact of GM should serve as a basis for further research to develop GM strategies to be more credible. Secondly, our investigation provides valuable impetus to follow by small- and medium enterprises in the fashion industry to become more sustainable, as well as for consumers to shift towards sustainable consumption especially by purchasing fashion.

1.4 Perspective

Our study includes female millennial customers from Europe who consume fashion. The aim is to provide greater insight into the consumer’s views, understandings, and opinions of GM, specifically in the sustainable fashion industry. We want to identify to which extent GM actions influence the purchase behavior of our target group. To represent GM, examples of the company nu-in were chosen in our study since they, from our point of view, provide appropriate and adequate GM content. Nu-in is a sustainable fashion start-up providing their products for affordable prices. Nevertheless, other examples will occur in the method to establish a comparison and to provide a diversified big picture. However, our final findings should be displayed overall on the fashion industry using GM.

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1.5 Delimitations

This study is limited to research on female millennials as they are perceived to be the main fashion consumers (David, 2020). Further, the study is limited to countries in Europe as this lies in the possibility of the researchers. The researchers tried to motivate people from as many countries as they know, nevertheless not all European countries could have been covered. Especially informants from the northern countries and the east of Europe are missing. In turn, this could lead to a different result than having them included. Further, the focus was laid on examples of one sustainable brand, namely nu-in and comparable partly sustainable brands, namely Monki and Na-Kd. Shortly, the choice fell especially on these companies, as on the one hand nu-in is perceived by the researchers to offer proper GM and sufficient information, on the other hand, Monki and Na-Kd were chosen as they provide similar content and fashion pieces not being advertised green. However, these fast fashion companies stepped forward by integrating sustainable lines in their assortments. Further requirements are displayed in the study. Nevertheless, not all brands in the market are included.

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2. Frame of Reference

This section presents the frame of references for this thesis. It includes existing research within the field of GM, sustainability marketing, fast fashion, sustainable fashion, millennials as consumers, consumer behavior in the fashion industry, and a new theoretical framework to understand the background of our study.

2.1 Green Marketing

2.1.1 Green Marketing and its Communication Tools

GM can be described as the intention of a company to design and advertise the product or service which promotes and supports environmental protection and security (Cherian & Jacob, 2012). Marketing products that are environmentally-friendly and safe are described by the American Marketing Association (AMA) as GM (Kanonuhwa & Chimucheka, 2014). AMA held the first workshop in 1975 regarding ecological marketing and this was the reason the first book on GM was published (Kanonuhwa & Chimucheka, 2014).

When it comes to businesses, it is a firm's exercise to show the information of the green product in their packaging to make it trustworthy for the buyer (Fraj & Martinez, 2006). In general, people who show that they are environmentally-friendly are called green consumers (Fuentes, 2014; Shabani et al., 2013).

GM can be facilitated as an activity that generates exchanges to satisfy human needs so that the satisfaction of these needs occurs with minimal harmful impact on the environment (Polonsky, 2011).

Consumers must acknowledge the role in caring about the environment, as well as agree on the fact that GM is very advantageous. Therefore, it should be integrated and unified in every company´s strategic marketing plan (McDaniel & Rylander, 1993).

GM is a developing trend especially concering the fashion industry which is the second most polluting industry in the world (Henninger & Singh, 2017).

When it comes to GM in the fashion industry it can be said that tools for especially this sector have to be presented. One possible and effective tool to promote sustainable apparel products as well as increase the engagement of consumers toward green fashion brands is social media (Papadas et al., 2017). Online advertising helps companies to promote their products in an eco-friendly way.

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Although, it must be said that oftentimes companies promote their brand in a wrong way, stating that they are “green”, however that is not always the truth. This is called greenwashing. Many firms promote their products as being green to draw attention to their company and especially their growing environmentally-friendly segment (Nancy, 2010). Increasingly more firms participate in greenwashing which deceives consumers about their environmental achievement or advantages of the product (Delmas & Burbano, 2011). Companies oftentimes use statements that sound environmentally-friendly, but truly are false or only vague (Nancy, 2010). Conclusively, it can be said greenwashing happens when firms show a false image to their consumers by claiming to be environmentally friendly and selling those products or services, however, this only is a false or vague statement (Nancy, 2010). This can lead to unfortunate consequences on consumers in buying “green products” (Delmas & Burbano, 2011).

There are numerous benefits for companies to use and show that they are “green”. GM is an excellent way to promote the business. Customers want to feel good after purchasing a product or service and adding the information of being green on the product can increase brand loyalty (Petan, 2020b). Furthermore, it helps companies to stand out and increase their competitive advantage. Also, it is good for recruitment purposes as more future employees want to work for a company that is environmentally aware (Petan, 2020b).

Several GM communication tools will be enlightened in the following to increase the consciousness of green products more easily (Delafrooz et al., 2014). Those tools will influence and lead customers to purchase environmentally-friendly products. The first tool is called “eco-labelling” which is used by firms to advertise the identification of green products (Delafrooz et al., 2014). It is a method of environmental performance certification and labelling (Sammer & Wüstenhagen, 2006). They are used as information of goods packaging and are usually small pieces of paper. Those labels include a range of different information, some are simple and some provide a lot of facts (Delafrooz et al., 2014). The eco-labelling is oftentimes attached to clothes and called hangtags. “Eco-brand” is an additional tool that is a name, image or design of products that are secure for the environment (Delafrooz et al., 2014). Also, it helps consumers to differentiate those products from products that are harmful to the environment. The third tool which is going to be elucidated is “environmental advertisement”. As worries of consumers regarding the environment increased, environmental advertising was perfect to influence consumers in their purchase behavior (Delafrooz et al., 2014). Moreover, there are several ways how to promote green products and thus will be

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justified in the following. The last tool is called “Green-packaging” which are packaging designs that have a low environmental impact. This is achieved by limiting the packaging waste and maximizing sustainable materials (Owens, 2019).

GM deals with everything related to nature, which is the environment and animals (Belz & Peattie, 2012). Also, GM is a broad concept, as it stimulates the behavior and attitudes of consumers regarding the environment (Krishna Reddy & Reddy, 2017).

2.1.2 Green Marketing Mix

Over the last fifty years, green products appeared but only a few years ago they became omnipresent (Ottman, 2011). Firstly, green marketers advertise their products in a better way stating the benefits consumers would get such as health or better taste (Ottman, 2011). Green products are products to reduce its environmental crashes during its life cycle and also when it is not of use anymore (Das, 2019). Promoting these green products have turned out to be less complicated via the 4P´s of GM and understanding consumers´ will to pay greater for those green products (Ottman et al., 2006).

Figure 1:

The 4P´s of Green Marketing

As visible in Figure 1 the first P is the green product which is about the design, technology, usefulness, and value but also the quality, packaging, and price (Vaibhav et al., 2015). The second P is the green price which refers to how much a customer is willing to pay for the green product. Thirdly, the green place is meant to sell the green product in a respectively way such as e.g., online. The fourth P is green promotion which has to be done to influence customers to purchase and in general to show the customers where the products have been produced that they know the products are really “green” (Vaibhav et al., 2015).

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Those 4P´s and the factor pro-environmental behavior of the MAO-model are connected with the purchase intention. It is designated that there is a considerable relationship between environmental knowledge, attitudes, environmental issues and social effect and green purchase intention (Chen, 2013).

Furthermore, there is a “Waste Hierarchy” which is a guide to generate a sustainable life (Conserve Energy Future, n.d.). There are many actions that have to be done to decrease the quantity of waste and it consists of three R´s – Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle (Evans, 2019).

As shown in Figure 2, the first R is reduce. It means using fewer resources and purchasing products with less waste in terms of products with less packaging or in general less waste (Evans, 2019). The second R is reuse which means to consider if certain products have life left (Evans, 2019). Examples may be old shirts that can be used as pyjamas, cars can be resold, phones can be donated and so on (Evans, 2019). The last and third R is recycle which implies processing plastic, glass, paper, electronics and more into new products (Evans, 2019).

As clarified above, GM has provocations such as greenwashing, however, GM must gratify two goals, developing environmental quality to their products as well as satisfy the expectations of their customers (Choudhary & Gokarn, 2013).

Moreover, GM appears to relate to visual communication of green products. Communication is used in the field of marketing to promote products and services. Communication and green content is constantly presented on social media channels to contribute to the trend to form consumers attitudes into greater environmentally conscious behaviors (Pop et al., 2020). Consumers interact with images every day, not only on social media on the phone, but also on

Figure 2:

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the TV, product packages and many more. Further, signs and slogans are used as a part of a company’s communication to get closer to the consumers and be engaging with them (Carroll, 2009). Brands should select their marketing messages which refer to the environmental aspect very cautiously and have a socially responsible corporate appearance which will be of precious strategic advantage (Hae-Ryong et al., 2010). Corporate social responsibility (CSR) signifies social and environmental management matters (Ivan, 2008). Oftentimes there are too tough messages about the environment communicated (Kronrod et al., 2012). Furthermore, campaigns about the environment often tend to reach consumers who are not that concerned about those matters. That is why Kronrod et al. (2012) propose to promote a broader public to have a longer effect on that campaign.

Concerning the fashion industry, those apparel products are often advertised in nature. Furthermore, companies work with celebrities to give their customers a certain message (Carroll, 2009). Brands could use celebrities who stand for the environment and advocate it to make them look like an environmental-friendly company (Carroll, 2009).

2.1.3 Sustainability Marketing

Sustainability can be explained in terms of avoiding the reduction of natural resources in order to maintain ecological balance, meet the needs of the present and not adapting the needs of future generations (Grant, 2020). There are three important pillars known for sustainability – economic, environmental, and social (Grant, 2020). Economic sustainability signifies a system of production that gratifies present consumption stages without co-operating upcoming needs (Khan, 1995). On the other hand, environmental sustainability means taking care of the natural resources and protecting the environment for the future (Muthu, 2017b). Social sustainability denotes providing justice to all people in the world such as health, political factors and education, everybody is involved to make the world a better place (Muthu, 2017b).

One of the biggest issues a company in the fashion industry sees is sustainability, however, they want to include it in their marketing strategies (Kong et al., 2016). Firms have to make decisions in terms of the three pillars explained above such as e.g., when it comes to their packaging and how to send out their products in a sustainable way (Grant, 2020).

Regarding the social pillar, labour right issues or clothes that end in landfills are often associated with the clothing industry (Henninger et al., 2017). However, lately, many things transformed in the fashion industry. Increasingly more fashion brands promote sustainable

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initiatives and newer brands e.g., start-ups incorporate sustainability from the core of their brand (Henninger et al., 2017).

Sustainable marketing is therefore the promotion of environmentally and socially compatible products, practices, and brand values (Story, 2019). CSR includes sustainability but incorporates the bigger relationship between the customers and brands (Ivan, 2008). It is valuable for firms to present their responsibility towards environmental problems when they can influence potential consumers to do the same (Fraj & Martinez, 2006). Especially, regarding the fashion brands, they oftentimes know that their consumers or in general their community can take social responsibilities and social action (Mishra et al., 2012). Therefore, it can be said that firms who take social responsibility are seen as more positive from their consumers. Sustainability is the act of combining economic, environmental, and social facts to make the production of apparel friendly for the economic, environment, as well as the employees and customers (Belz & Peattie, 2012).

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2.2 Fashion Industry

2.2.1 Fast Fashion

Fast Fashion is a perpetual term in the fashion industry and also dominates this branch. The concept in literature is mostly demonstrated as a strategy that builds up competitiveness and evokes an enormous change in the consumer’s purchase behavior (Barnes & Lea-Greenwood, 2006; Byun & Sternquist, 2008). The concept of fast fashion is important to understand to retrace the potential purchase behavior of millennials with respect to sustainable clothing that is high-priced.

According to Moore & Fernie (2004), fast fashion describes the process of multiple fashion companies to keep up commercially with the most recent fashion trends (Moore & Fernie, 2004). Even though they highlight the fact that reacting to the changing trends and buying patterns of consumers is essential for the vendors to remain in the market (Moore & Fernie, 2004), the definition is not completely elaborated as it fails to accentuate a distinct factor of fast fashion, namely the shrunk renewal cycle.

Conversely, Guercini (2001) invents the term ‘Quick Fashion Formula‘, which outlines “a product/service characterised mainly by its potential to supply retailers with a range renewal service that is produced at short time gaps“ (Guercini, 2001, p. 69). Besides, quick fashion is explained as minimizing the cycle of devising the pieces and the moment of consumption. Thus, the finding of competitive advantage is supported (Guercini, 2001). Notwithstanding the definition lacks emphasizing that fast fashion retailers aim at dropping the most recent trends.

Furthermore, literature offers statements that elucidate components such as low price respectively affordability and an extensive selection of pieces as being crucial components for fast fashion retailers (Brannon, 2005; Buzzo & Abreu, 2019; Dutta, 2002).

In the final analysis, fast fashion as a strategy is conversed and expounded as a marketing approach by Byun and Sternquist (2008). This approach encounters the most recent fashion trends in terms of intermittently renewing products within a shrunk cycle and shifting the inventory rapidly (Byun & Sternquist, 2008). In particular, providing the most recent fashion trends continuously and in a short period is related to a limited stock of the assortment. This means fast-fashion retailers are predestined to purposely undersupply products in a short period. Thus, a short renewal cycle, as well as a limited inventory, can be characterized as the two most essential identifiers of the fast fashion concept (Byun & Sternquist, 2008; Dutta,

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2002; Moore & Fernie, 2004). The authors want to extend this definition by highlighting the importance of the usage of real-time data to identify the desires of the consumers instead of the forecasting process (Hayes & Jones, 2006). Additionally, celebrities reinforce the purpose of providing the desired fashion piece or assortment (The Economist, 2005). By defining this term, the intention of millennials to buy fast fashion rather than high-priced sustainable fashion gets clear.

Life Time Cycle of Fashion Pieces

When considering the aforementioned short renewal cycle, literature proposes different time spans in which the most successful fast fashion retailers, namely Zara, H&M and Mango among others, are coming up with new styles (Barnes & Lea-Greenwood, 2006; Hayes & Jones, 2006; Sull & Turconi, 2008). This time span is also known as lead-time (Christopher, 1992). It is assigned to a few brands in Table 1 as an example (Hayes & Jones, 2006; Larenaudie, 2004).

Table 1:

Lead-Times of Fast Fashion Brands

Mainly the consumers demand the latest fashion contributes to this development (Bhardwaj & Fairhurst, 2010). This concept contrasts with the previously introduced pillar reduce of the 3 R’s, which implicates to reduce consumption and use fewer resources (Evans, 2019).

Consequently, these processes are deemed harmful to the environment. While producing clothes for the mass markets, textile companies outsourced enormous parts of their supply chain to developing respectively lower-labour-cost countries (Bick et al., 2018; Niinimäki et al., 2020). Health issues of manufacturing workers are a consequence (Bick et al., 2018). All in all, fast fashion emphasizes fashion as disposable (Birtwistle & Moore, 2007).

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15 2.2.2 “Partly” Sustainable Fashion

However, to counteract these issues and to follow the call for sustainability in general, the fashion industry forces itself to adopt the demand for sustainable products by implementing sustainability partly in their assortment (Lee et al., 2011; McNeill & Moore, 2015).

While the young fast fashion brand Monki lately introduced a new fashion line called ‘Monki Cares. A more sustainable choice‘, they state on their website: “One of our main goals with Monki Cares is to move to sustainably sourced materials in our collection. By reaching our goal for sustainably sourced cotton, we take one small but important step towards a kinder future for all“ (Monki, 2021). Also, H&M is well-known for integrating sustainability in their production processes. According to own data, H&M strives for “being Fair & Equal“ and becoming “Circular & Climate Positive“ (H&M Group, n.d.). H&M holds the Conscious-Collection as well as the possibility to recycle clothes that are not worn anymore. Besides, brands such as NA-KD published a sustainable collection called, ‘Reborn‘ and Zara offers the line ‘Join Life‘ (NA-KD, n.d.; Zara, n.d.).

Nevertheless, this adaptation highlights the conflict between a green alternative and still following the rapid and low-cost production (McNeill & Moore, 2015). The suitability of fashion products being sustainable while also representing newness is questioned but in the eyes of the scholars still possible (McNeill & Moore, 2015; Saricam & Okur, 2018; Virijevic-Jovanovic & Doljanica, 2019). Nevertheless, this issue is closely related to the previously mentioned problem of Greenwashing in chapter 2.1.1 where companies advertise green products but do not produce them environmentally friendly. Referring to the ‘Fashion Paradox‘, invented by Black et al. (2009), fast fashion still has a significant economic value because a radical growth in the production and consumption of textiles is to be noted (Bick et al., 2018; Black et al., 2009; Niinimäki et al., 2020). The global clothing industry makes up 2% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (Shirvanimoghaddam et al., 2020).

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16 2.2.3 Sustainable Fashion

To eliminate the paradox of fast fashion and sustainability, the term sustainable fashion gains increasing significance as consumers shift their behaviors towards being more environmentally aware (Kong et al., 2016).

According to literature, sustainable fashion is perceived as comparatively new. Therefore, a common definition has not been developed so far (Henninger & Singh, 2017; Lundblad & Davies, 2016).

Firstly, used in 1972 by the United Nations, sustainable fashion was defined as the matter of fact that textiles are created for longer lifetime uses. Therefore, the production is essentially ethical by considering components that are protecting the environment and employees. Hence, fair trade standards, as well as recycled materials, are part of the rethinking of fashion (Saricam & Okur, 2018). This definition firstly holds many important components of sustainable fashion. Nevertheless, the definition is too broad, and the understanding of sustainable fashion has changed since the 1970s.

Scholars mostly refer to Joergens‘ (2006) implementations of the term introducing two further meanings. ‘Ethical fashion‘ equated with attributes referring to fairtrade or green fashion (Joergens, 2006). ‘Fashion with conscience‘ means the procurement of fair and environmentally-friendly garments related to ensuring respectable working conditions. Consequently, this leads to a “sustainable business model in the clothes‘ country of origin“ (Joergens, 2006, p. 361). Besides, organic and biodegradable substances are deployed to minimize the environmental impact as these are judged to be the most harmful step in producing clothes (Allwood et al., 2008; Cervellon & Wernerfelt, 2012).

Additionally, terms named and demarked in Table 2 are highlighted by scholars (Henninger & Singh, 2017; Niinimäki, 2010; Saricam & Okur, 2018). Furthermore, these terms are regularly compiled using the term ‘sustainable fashion‘ (Saricam & Okur, 2018). As a foundation, ‘organic fabrics‘ respectively ‘green fabrics‘ should be explained as they are underlying the following executions. Organic fabrics source from natural fibres, namely organic cotton, bamboo, or hemp. These textures are not treated with insecticides, consequently, do not jeopardize the environment by processing chemicals for example.

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Table 2:

Different Definitions of Sustainable Fashion

According to Table 2, there is no concrete yet sufficient explanation for sustainable fashion and should thus be holistically generated.

Sustainable fashion can be defined as an underlying concept that requires the manufacturing of clothes that have a longer lifetime, thus a relieved life cycle. Sustainable fashion is predestined to be made of renewable, recyclable or recycled materials. The latter refers to turning old substances into new. This goes back to a concept called ‘Circular

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Fashion‘ (Cervellon & Carey, 2011; Lundblad & Davies, 2016; Virijevic-Jovanovic & Doljanica, 2019). Sustainable fashion is produced out of natural or organic fibres and fabrics to exert the least necessary harm on the environment. Besides, working with organic substances enables a first step towards guaranteeing a conscientious workplace. Sustainable fashion not only means being sustainable in terms of the fabrics and the environment but also providing a safe work environment, fair conditions and a responsible manufacturing process in terms of avoiding any type of exploitation on workers. Focus can be increasingly laid on producing locally (Fletcher, 2012; Joergens, 2006; Niinimäki, 2010; Shen et al., 2012). Nevertheless, sustainable fashion should still satisfy customers and their desires as well as serve lifestyle needs.

It gets clear, that sustainable fashion highlights the reuse and recycle derived from the 3 R’s and includes them in the concept.

Additionally, the concept of secondhand fashion offers another option of effective predictability of resources as this is what the clothing industry needs to fight against. According to Gopalakrishnan & Matthews (2018), secondhand fashion can be described as collaborative consumption and presents a sustainable business approach (Gopalakrishnan & Matthews, 2018).

Despite all, sustainable fashion is still perceived as being unfashionable and too expensive. A potential reason for this negative connotation may be the exigency of Eco-Design (Niinimäki, 2009). According to Niinimäki (2009), sustainable products can only be derived from a proper design process. ‘Eco-Efficiency’ and ‘Eco-Sufficiency’ can be identified as methods towards realizing sustainability, see Table 3 (Niinimäki, 2009).

Table 3:

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To keep up with environmental issues, it is significant to not only consider requirements of style and fashion but mostly thinking about the production process regarding the required textile substances, and in the end, the disposal of the product (Niinimäki, 2009). Thus, this can lead to pieces or colors perceived as not as fashionable (Farag, 2016; Kong et al., 2016).

Conversely to the unfashionable aspect, renowned events have taken part concerning sustainable fashion, as shown in Figure 3 (Davies & Streit, 2013; Lundblad & Davies, 2016).

Figure 3:

Timeline of Events Considering Sustainable Fashion

To add, the brand About You took action and brought a fashion movement into life. The motto was ‘Re-Think, Re-Wear, Re-Style’. About You also addresses the topic by calling for a restart in the fashion industry (About You, 2021) which can be a result of consumer behavior particularly perceived as the main driver to force textile producers to offer green products (Rahman et al., 2017).

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To conclude, Figure 4 highlights, that both, fashion companies as well as consumers, are involved in the process of shifting towards environmentally-friendly textile consumption.

Figure 4:

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2.3 Consumer Behavior in the Fashion Industry

2.3.1 Influence on the Purchase Behavior in the Fashion Industry

Concerning consumer behavior in context with fashion consumption, sustainability predominantly can evoke the shift and influence in consumer’s standpoints and subsequently their purchase decisions (Ciasullo et al., 2017).

According to McNeill & Moore (2015) consumers of fashion can be clustered into three classes, namely ‘self-consumer’, ‘social-consumer’ and ‘sacrifice consumer’ (McNeill & Moore, 2015). Although there is a gradually growing consumer cluster related to behaving green, the sustainable clothing sector still has to deal with underdevelopment (Henninger & Singh, 2017; Lipson, 2008).

In general, sustainable fashion is said to be more expensive, providing fewer assortment alternatives, also the style and functional aspects cannot keep up with the common fashion products. Additionally, appropriate information is missing (Kong et al., 2016).

Therefore, several scholars have concentrated on the emerge of the gap between the consumers shift towards consuming environmentally-friendly products and the behaviors elucidated (Kronrod et al., 2012; Vermeir & Verbeke, 2006; Young et al., 2009). Besides, this gap can also be explained as the ‘4/40 Gap‘ which means while 40% of consumers state to be willing to behave environmentally-friendly, actually, merely 4% do so (Makower, 2017).

Knowledge

Méndez-Picazo et al. (2012) highlight the fact that the amalgamation of economic and environmental desires is driven by sustainability. Thus, being aware of the fact that sustainability is perceived as positive is an important reassurance for the adoption in general (Ciasullo et al., 2017; Méndez-Picazo et al., 2012). Extensively engaged environmentally-friendly consumers are more aware of the aftereffect of pro-environmental behavior (Ohtomo & Hirose, 2007).

However, Diamantopoulos et al. (2003) state that knowledge about ethical issues evokes green consciousness. By further education, environmental involvement will increase (Diamantopoulos et al., 2003; Kim & Damhorst, 1998). This is also supported by the MAO-model which sees knowledge as an influential factor in executing pro-environmentally purchase behavior (Ölander & Thøgersen, 1995).

Conversely, knowledge about environmental issues having an impact on a favorable eco-friendly buying behavior is seen as conflicting (Laroche et al., 2001). In this context, Lee

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(2011) in her study identified that being educated regarding environmental issues and the tendency to spend more on environmentally-friendly clothing is not related in any way (Lee, 2011).

This unsustainable consumption despite sound knowledge and education about sustainability can be demonstrated by considering a gradually growing misperception about ethical promises. To exemplify, too much information provided about environmental problems might cause mistrust in companies’ claims, namely the assumption of greenwashing (De Pelsmacker et al., 2005; Lee, 2011).

These executions make clear, that the knowledge about sustainability among fashion consumer is far diversified and not appropriately allocated.

Social Influence

The literature proposes another factor influencing the purchase process of sustainable fashion products, namely influence of the social environment (Ajzen, 1991; Cialdini & Goldstein, 2004; Ciasullo et al., 2017; Salazar et al., 2013).

Social influence can be termed as a “significant influence exercised by consumers’ expectations about sustainability“ (Ciasullo et al., 2017, p. 9). Thus, social influence in this study was characterized as having the strongest influence on buying behaviors (Ciasullo et al., 2017). Maloney et al. (2014) found similar results in their study (Maloney et al., 2014). In the final analysis, this means that maintaining a relationship with others does have a significant impact on sustainable consumption.

Price

Regarding the price, which consumers are agreeable to pay for sustainable or environmentally-friendly products, scholars’ opinions are divided. Chekima et al. (2016) published that a top rate charge for sustainable products has no moderating effect, denying its function as one of the most important boundaries for consuming sustainable products (Chekima et al., 2016). Further, a study conducted in 2009 identified customers of the brand Patagonia to pay higher prices for sustainably made apparels (Casadesus‐Masanell et al., 2009). Correspondingly, Hustvedt and Bernard (2008) published findings that organic socks could be charged a price of $1.68 (Hustvedt & Bernard, 2008). While Suchard & Polonsky (1991) identified an increased price of 15-20% for sustainable products as being adequate (Suchard & Polonski, 1991), similarly, Miller (1992) disclosed, that an increase of 10% in the

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price for green products would not affect the purchase willingness (Miller, 1992). Whereas a price increase of 25-30% was established to be inadmissible (Chan & Wong, 2012).

On contrary, it is stated that high product prices and related consumer economic considerations are often seen as the main obstacles to purchasing environmentally-friendly clothing (Eifler, 2014; Goworek et al., 2012). Studies are also identifying a non-acceptance attitude towards increasing prices for green products (Neff, 2012; Saphores et al., 2007). Regarding this evaluation, it should not be neglected that especially the aforementioned studies elucidating that a higher price is not acceptable, partially are not dealing with sustainable fashion.

Finally, most of the studies disclosed a non-preference of paying higher prices for green fashion products (Chan & Wong, 2012). Nevertheless, Jacobs et al. conducted their study in 2018 and found out, that neither price nor fashion consciousness are influential factors when it comes to purchasing sustainable fashion (Jacobs et al., 2018).

Also, price respectively financial resources are vital regarding the pillar opportunity in the MAO-model.

2.3.2 Pro-Environmental Behavior

Purchase behavior according to the MAO-Model

With regards to investigating the sustainable purchase behavior, the MAO-model introduced by Ölander & Thøgersen (1995) is noteworthy since it provides a conceptualization of pro-environmental behavior (Ölander & Thøgersen, 1995). It consists of three fundamental components: motivation (M), ability (A) and, opportunity (O) (Hughes, 2007). However, their model does not look at the impact of GM. Although the scholars explain behavioral patterns in the context of the environment, they do not particularly concentrate on the sustainable fashion industry. Having said this, studies have taken up the issue that purchasing textiles cannot be easily compared to the consumption of other green products (Domina & Koch, 1998). To explain, making a non-sustainable decision regarding fashion pieces does not affect a consumer’s health or welfare (Joergens, 2006) and is thus not considered as harmful. Thus, our study further researches this. These findings put focus on the importance of the identified research gap and the consideration of GM on the purchase behavior.

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Studies show that consumers looking for brands that are good for the environment (Naderi & Van Steenburg, 2018) are Millennials, also called the generation Y (Gen Y). They were born between 1981 and 1996 and are currently between 25 and 40 years old (Dimock, 2019a). However, other studies contradict this statement and think that Gen Y only has the attitude of being green but do not behave that way (Naderi & Van Steenburg, 2018).

As this is the generation which is grown up with technology it makes them quick learners when it comes to adopting new things through the internet (Johnson, 2020).

Millennials usually look things up online. This as well applies to their purchase behavior in the fashion industry. Also, not knowing it, they prefer buying online which makes them in some way already green consumers (Johnson, 2020). Moreover, they want their purchase to make them feel good and place value on experiences (Woo, 2018).

Millennials are named to be the most influential consumer group worldwide (Subha, 2019). For this generation, the names of the brands are less significant instead the philosophies and occurrence are of high importance. One of the main aspects is transparency, millennials want to know if brands obtain resources in a good way and if they are environmentally sustainable (Subha, 2019). Generation Y also wants clothes that are long-lasting and have a purpose. Moreover, they are even willing to pay more when getting high quality in return and knowing that they support a sustainable fashion company (Subha, 2019).

Millennials are the ones expressing themselves through the internet, this means that brands know that fashion is no longer about the material objects but experience (Taylor, 2019). They want to express themselves through fashion and that is why they buy clothes from brands that support the environment (Taylor, 2019).

2.4 Proposed Framework

In the following, a tentative framework illustrated in Figure 5 should be provided, attributable to the impact of GM on the final purchase behavior of European female millennials retrieved from the frame of reference, as highlighted previously. We researched that several drivers precede the buying behavior. For a matter of structure, we clustered them into different categories. As our study aims at identifying especially the impact of GM, this, combined with its tools, is set on top of the framework to characterize the influence. We retrieved from literature, that GM may influence the drivers and those in the following influence the purchasing behavior. While we consider discrete elements of the MAO-model in our data

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collection and analysis, these were categorized separately under Motivation-Ability-Opportunity. This framework should provide the first understanding of the impact of GM that leads to the final purchase behavior in the fashion industry. Our following method should enable us to improve and adapt this proposed framework in chapter 5.

Figure 5:

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3. Methodology

This chapter includes the choice of research philosophy, research approach, as well as research design. Furthermore, the process of data collection and analysing the empirical findings is outlined. This section ends with the ethical considerations and trustworthiness.

3.1 Research Philosophy

Selecting a method for our study was inspired by our interest in GM linked with fashion. After collecting secondary data and coming up with our research questions, a strategy needs to be unconditional. Developing knowledge regarding the impact of GM on European female millennials purchase behavior in the fashion industry, it was essential to consider an open approach (Saunders, 2016). Therefore, the philosophical approach should be clarified. Research philosophy supports the researcher while collecting data (Dudovskiy, 2021a). Besides, it is described, in which way knowledge is processed (Saunders, 2016).

With the research philosophy, we wanted to express our beliefs and assumptions about "truth, reality and knowledge" (Gemma, 2018, p. 14). The school of thought in this context reflects two opposed perspectives: positivist and interpretivist paradigm (Dudovskiy, 2021a; Leitch et al., 2010; Nunan et al., 2020; Proctor, 2003; Saunders, 2016).

The underlying research philosophy for our study was chosen to be interpretivism. The interpretivist paradigm can generally be defined as evaluating people’s views and understandings (Gemma, 2018). As we intended to retrieve insights to discover the impact of GM and pursue to connect this marketing tool with millennials purchase behavior in the fashion industry, this philosophy was considered suitable. Overall, the interpretivist paradigm is formed on the judgement of positivism (Leitch et al., 2010). While the positivism paradigm is loaded with assuming every human holds the same reality and objectivity (Dudovskiy, 2021a; Gemma, 2018), interpretivism holds the ontological assumptions – the way, the reality is summarized – as existing in multiple manners since individual perceptions and experiences combined to be socially erected meanings, are considered to be the main part of the interpretivist perspective (Bryman, 2016; Saunders, 2016). Thus, the reality in the interpretivist concept was perceived as relativism (Gemma, 2018; Nunan et al., 2020). This enhanced our data collection method to be focus groups as it enabled us to gain individual understandings but also rely on the social group.

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To collect, how we see the truth in our research, we referred to epistemology (Saunders, 2016). Herewith we wanted to express, how from our viewpoint, the knowledge of humans can be highlighted. We represented the subjectivism in this study to make sure that we believed that people hold different and diversified perceptions of what can be reality. Viewed critically, this can also lead to diversified results. Also, feelings and experiences contribute to everyone’s individual reality (Gemma, 2018). This especially contributed to our choice of using focus groups as we could distinguish different meanings and feelings and experience can be freely expressed. Particularly, the interpretivist emphasizes a reality that is constructed by participants and needs to be interpreted (Malhotra et al., 2012). It aims to trace certain samples' behavior. Aspects such as “empathy, shared experience and culture“ (Hammersley, 2013, p. 26) or language and consciousness (Dudovskiy, 2021a) are crucial to be considered in our data collection. While the interpretivist paradigm holds these views, they can be displayed to the fact of a chosen qualitative study combined with different cultures in our focus groups. In turn, this could also lead to culturally diversified views and thus provide a scattering in our findings. The aforementioned also elucidates the main diversification between the interpretivist and positivist paradigm. While positivism mostly aims at explaining phenomena and giving strong predictions in including a large and illustrative sample concerning laws, the interpretivist paradigm addresses the understanding and interpretation of a unique sample regarding the studied characteristics. In this context, we provided a unique sample of 31 informants from countries in Europe, and thus not an extraordinary big group of informants. The interpretivist paradigm also focuses on an interactive and participative connection between the researcher and the informants, while positivism emphasizes the bias-free collection of data (Dudovskiy, 2021a; Nunan et al., 2020). Referring back to the chosen method of focus groups, interaction and participation of informants and interviewer was ensured. Bias-free should not be neglected in terms of viewing the interpretivist perspective critically. Due to the subjective nature of the philosophy, bias can occur (Dudovskiy, 2021a; Nunan et al., 2020) as well as a generalization of data must be excluded. This is because several personal standpoints and values of the informants influence the data. Although the reliability and representativeness of the findings are limited, a high level of validity can be determined as informants are likely to give authentic answers (Dudovskiy, 2021a).

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3.2 Research Approach

When designing our research, it was crucial to determine the way we wanted to generate and present our final findings (Reichertz, 2013). As research approaches, two ways of reasoning can be distinguished: deductive or inductive reasoning. This thesis deals with focussing on inductive reasoning to determine the impact of GM on European female millennial’s purchase behavior in the fashion industry.

Consequently, known assertions retrieved from the collected data should be used to create hypothetical conclusions (Kennedy, 2018; Sauce & Matzel, 2017). Herewith we aimed at establishing an inductive generalization since we assumed that our sample is nearly analogue with the population. In our case the generalization is non-statistical as it is derived from a concrete study (Dowden, 2021).

Induction “involves the search for patterns from observation and the development of explanations” (Bernard, 2011, p. 7). Generally, this approach is about observations and empirical evidence in the first place. Subsequently, these observations are followed by the analysis, presenting the findings and in conclusion by creating a new theory or model (Ghauri et al., 2020; Kennedy, 2018). Due to our intention to create a conceptual framework based on our findings of the study, the inductive approach underpinned our research. To achieve creative research, implied by inductive reasoning, it was decisive for us to collect data in terms of exploring a circumstance and highlighting patterns (Bernard, 2011; Dudovskiy, 2021b). However, this illustrated that a deductive approach is not fitting in our case as findings are established based on a law or logic (Kennedy, 2018) and thus are not seen as what we call creative research. Still, by using inductive reasoning, findings can be traced back to present facts as in theories of literature and improve those (Ghauri et al., 2020). Nevertheless, it should be stressed, that theories can still contribute to the researcher's process of establishing research questions (Dudovskiy, 2021b). To link with that, according to Chalmers (2013), the case of 'pure' induction rarely occurs since data can never be free of theoretical influence (Chalmers, 2013). As the researcher always belongs to a socio-cultural context, the process of data collection is always seen as being ‘theory-laden’. Thus, observations are necessarily undertaken by an erstwhile knowledge of a special circumstance (Alvesson & Kärreman, 2011). Needless to say, our literature research contributed to our erstwhile knowledge and will affect our data collection process. Induction from this point of view can be seen as difficult and complex, as it is always influenced.

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Therefore, earlier expounded theory can freely set up or guide investigations, but instead of focusing on testing the theory, it is better to focus on finding the true reality under intentional circumstances (Carson et al., 2001). Hence, to overcome this shortcoming implemented by underpinning inductive reasoning, deductive elements are included during the data collection process. We enriched the data collection by incorporating some elements of the theoretical MAO-model from chapter 2.3.2 to get guided in our research by using them as an „analytical tool or lense“ (Kennedy, 2018, p. 50), as we know from literature research that certain factors influence pro-environmental behavior. Nevertheless, they do not represent what is tested in our research.

3.3 Research Purpose and Design

Both, the inductive research approach, as well as the interpretivist paradigm, entailed us to adopt an exploratory research design. This is, as previously executed because we aimed to identify different views in the study. Further, behavioral patterns and their unfolding linked with various situations should be highlighted (Hammersley, 2013).

With exploratory research limited knowledge regarding a topic should be extended. Whereas confirmatory research contradictory addresses testing assumptions, exploratory research deals with identifying ideas that can be tested subsequently (Babin & Zikmund, 2016). Malhotra et al. (2012) state: “The primary objective of exploratory research is to provide insights into and an understanding of marketing phenomena” (Malhotra et al., 2012, p. 86). Hence, exploratory research can be defined by various characteristics that should be executed in our study in the following. Concerning the nature of our method, the data collection process was flexible and likely to be unstructured (Ghauri et al., 2020). This can be reinforced by our open-ended questionnaire guideline. Instead of conducting our research with a big sample, a small sample was contributed to the understanding of different perspectives. This development is also implied by inductive reasoning.

Despite the fact, that exploratory research enables qualitative as well as quantitative data collection (Babin & Zikmund, 2016; Nunan et al., 2020), qualitative data collection predominates this approach so far (Stebbins, 2001). To give an overview, qualitative research predominantly concentrates on collecting individuals’ experiences and realities (Holloway & Wheeler, 2010). This underlying concept is also justified in the interpretivist research philosophy applied in our research. Expressly, referring to the research gap addressed in our thesis, happenings in the marketing field or regarding consumer thoughts were analysed

Green Millennials? : A Qualitative Study on the Impact of Green Marketing on European Female Millennials Purchase Behavior in the Fashion Industry