Sustainable Fashion in New Era: Exploring Consumer Resilience and Goals in the Post-Pandemic

Abstract

This study examines the underlying mechanisms that lead to sustainable fashion consumption in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era. Particularly, this study explores the complex relations between resilient coping mechanisms, consumer life goals, and sustainable fashion consumption, combining Goal Content Theory and the Consumer Sustainability Orientation framework. The findings obtained from partial least squares structural equation modeling analysis using 503 responses confirm that resilient coping positively influenced both intrinsic and extrinsic life goals. While intrinsic goals reinforce all aspects of sustainability orientation (ecological, social, and economic), extrinsic goals show a contrasting effect—positively affecting economic orientation but negatively impacting ecological and social dimensions. Among sustainability orientations, the ecological dimension had a significant positive effect on sustainable fashion consumption behavior. The research also reveals that resilient coping directly improves social and economic dimensions of sustainability orientations, but it does not significantly influence ecological orientation. This study offers insight into differentiated marketing communication strategies for retailers depending on consumers’ goals—intrinsic or extrinsic—and implies the importance of the dynamic impact of each dimension of sustainability orientation on consumers’ sustainable fashion consumption choices.