This study quantitatively investigates Chinese consumers’ preferences and willingness-to-pay (willingness to pay (WTP)) for various sustainability attributes of fashion products. It identifies distinct consumer segments based on their preference heterogeneity and explores the underlying demographic and psychographic drivers, thereby providing insights for marketing strategies and policy-making.
This study uses discrete choice experiment (DCE), which includes six attributes of a sustainable T-shirt, namely: Price, Material, Production Method, Brand, Certification, and Social Responsibility. Data were collected from 968 sustainability-engaged urban consumers across five major Chinese cities. We employed random parameters logit and latent class models to estimate average preferences, WTP and segment-specific preference structures.
The results reveal that Social Responsibility is the strongest factor of WTP, followed by Brand, Certification, and Material. The Production Method exerted the weakest influence on consumer choice. Five distinct consumer segments were identified: price-sensitive (30.3%), brand-oriented (25.6%), rational pragmatic (20.1%), material-focused (16.7%), and socially responsible-driven (7.2%). Segment membership is effectively predicted by demographic and psychographic variables, including environmental awareness, monthly consumption expenditure, and educational attainment.
This study is among the first to apply a DCE methodology to quantify consumer trade-offs across multi-attribute combinations within China's evolving sustainable fashion market. By uncovering five preference-based consumer segments, the analysis moves beyond the reductive “green versus non-green” dichotomy. The findings offer theoretical implications by extending discussions on moral utility, trust signals and the complexity of consumer heterogeneity. Practically, it provides actionable guidance for policymakers and fashion brands to develop targeted strategies in the sustainability market.
