Communications on Sustainability in the Apparel Industry: Readability of Information on Sustainability on Apparel Brands’ Web Sites in the United Kingdom

Abstract

As part of addressing sustainability, consumers’ attitudes and behaviors also depend on their understanding of sustainability issues. This is relevant in the apparel sector, including fast fashion, which faces substantial sustainability challenges and serves a broad consumer base. Apparel brands communicate with consumers about sustainability through various means including their web sites. Whether consumers can understand the information provided is key; consequently, an important issue addressed by this study is whether the information provided has an ease of reading corresponding to the mass consumer base. This study assesses the readability of the information provided on sustainability by brands’ web sites for 13 major apparel brands serving the U.K. market. Based on a range of readability tests, the brands’ web sites average readability is significantly harder than typical thresholds considered (p < 0.001). The substantial variation across brands in ease of reading and information provided includes some brands mostly within or close to the readability thresholds. The overall results indicate a significant barrier for consumers to gain information from brands about sustainability, with the variation across brands indicating the feasibility of achieving easier readability. Addressing this barrier to understanding is important and practicable, given the potential role of consumers in moving towards more sustainable apparel.