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Environmentally Friendly Materialism: How It Is Generated and How Luxury Apparel Addresses Environmental Problems

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  • Hiroyasu Furukawa

    (School of Business Administration, Meiji University, 1-1 Kanda-Surugadai, Chiyoda, Tokyo 101-8301, Japan)

  • Kyung-Tae Lee

    (Department of Marketing and International Trade, Faculty of Commerce, Chuo University, Tokyo 192-0393, Japan)

Abstract

The increasing number of consumers possessing a global mindset has led to the emergence of environmentally friendly materialist consumers who find pleasure in owning environmentally friendly brands and products. We examine why and how such consumers emerge by studying consumers of luxury apparel products, which actively promote environmentally conscious values on a global scale. Structural equation modeling and mediation analysis were conducted on consumers in China and Japan—two countries with high consumption of this product category and a contrasting awareness of environmental consciousness. Our findings revealed that the higher the global mindset of consumers, environmentally friendly materialism is enhanced by internal motives in countries with high environmental consciousness and by external motives in countries with low environmental consciousness. Our results have implications for mechanisms on how the conditions for the emergence of environmentally friendly materialism differ from country to country and marketing measures that respond to these differences.

Suggested Citation

  • Hiroyasu Furukawa & Kyung-Tae Lee, 2023. "Environmentally Friendly Materialism: How It Is Generated and How Luxury Apparel Addresses Environmental Problems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-18, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:8:p:6703-:d:1124284
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    1. Christoph Bey & Dirk C. Moosmayer, 2023. "Making a Brand Loved Rather Than Sustainable? Cosmopolitanism and Brand Love as Competing Communication Claims," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-13, July.
    2. Joohye Hwang & Xun Sun & Li Zhao & Song-yi Youn, 2024. "Sustainable Fashion in New Era: Exploring Consumer Resilience and Goals in the Post-Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-18, April.

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