This study elucidates the affective, cognitive, and value-based mechanisms underlying sustainable fashion content marketing. It proposes an integrated Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) and Uses & Gratifications (U&G) framework to investigate how informative, entertainment, and emotional content values drive purchase intention through perceived value and brand preference.
A quantitative survey was conducted with 745 consumers in China who actively engage with sustainable fashion content. Data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and bootstrapping procedures.
The results reveal a dual-pathway persuasion mechanism. Surprisingly, informative value strongly drives perceived value but fails to directly influence brand preference. Conversely, entertainment and emotional values directly enhance both constructs. Confirming a cognition-to-affect hierarchy, perceived value acts as a critical bridge, translating content stimuli into rational utility, which then reinforces emotional brand preference and ultimate purchase intention.
Marketers must abandon “information-first” strategies. Success requires embedding factual sustainability information within entertaining and emotionally resonant narratives. By highlighting personal utility and reducing decision-making friction, brands can position sustainable fashion as a smart purchase decision rather than a sacrificial moral obligation.
Aesthetically engaging and relatable digital narratives can actively dismantle the visual stereotypes and greenwashing skepticism surrounding eco-fashion. This approach transforms sustainable consumption from a niche duty into an aspirational digital lifestyle, cultivating a supportive online subculture that aids in bridging the attitude-behavior gap.
This study challenges the traditional information-deficit model by demonstrating that, in value-driven consumption, rational value assessment must precede emotional brand attachment.
