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ASSESSING SUSTAINABLE FAST FASHION AWARENESS
AMONG INDIAN CONSUMERS
Harpreet Singh
Bachelor’s Thesis
Summer 2025
Degree Program in International Business
Oulu University of Applied Sciences
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ABSTRACT
Oulu University of Applied Sciences
Degree Program in International Business
Author(s): Harpreet Singh
Title of thesis: Assessing sustainable fast fashion awareness among Indian
consumers
Thesis supervisor(s): Yanhong Xi
Term and year of completion: Summer 2025
Pages: 65 + 9 Appendices
The fast fashion industry in India, valued at over $125 billion in 2023, is projected
to double by 2030, yet sustainable apparel constitutes less than 5% of sales
despite 68% of urban consumers expressing environmental concern. This thesis
investigates the awareness and understanding of sustainable fast fashion among
Indian consumers, exploring the gap between their environmental values and
purchasing behavior. A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining a
quantitative survey of 101 consumers with qualitative semi-structured interviews
of three participants from diverse demographics. Secondary data from industry
reports and academic literature provided contextual insights. Results revealed
high awareness of environmental and social issues, such as chemical use in
dyeing (83.8%) and child labor (62.4%), but limited familiarity with terms like
"greenwashing" and "circular economy." High prices and limited availability were
identified as primary barriers to adopting sustainable fashion, with only 11.1% of
respondents consistently prioritizing sustainability in purchases. Social media
and brand advertisements were the most influential information sources,
surpassing traditional media and NGO campaigns. The findings highlight a
significant attitude-behavior gap, driven by economic constraints and skepticism
toward sustainability claims, exacerbated by inadequate national textile metrics.
Recommendations include policy interventions to enhance certification
transparency, subsidies for sustainable production, and culturally resonant
marketing to align sustainable fashion with India’s textile heritage. This study
contributes to understanding how to foster sustainable practices in India’s fashion
industry by addressing practical and systemic barriers.
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CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................ 1
CONTENTS ........................................................................................................... 3
1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 4
2 LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................. 7
2.1 Understanding Fast Fashion and the Need for Sustainability ............. 7
2.2 Consumer Awareness and Perceptions ............................................... 7
2.3 Drivers of Consumer Engagement with Sustainable Fashion ............. 8
2.4 Greenwashing: Undermining Trust in Sustainable Marketing ........... 10
2.5 Challenges and opportunities ............................................................. 10
2.6 The Imperative for Change: Social and Environmental Impacts of
Fast Fashion ....................................................................................... 12
2.7 Textile Waste Management and the Circular Economy .................... 14
2.8 Initiatives and Solutions Fostering Sustainable Fashion in India ...... 14
2.9 Persistent Attitude-Behavior Gap ....................................................... 16
2.10 Need for Deeper Knowledge and Communication ............................ 17
3 METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................... 23
3.1 Research design ................................................................................. 23
3.2 Data Collection .................................................................................... 23
3.3 Secondary data collection .................................................................. 26
4 RESULTS AND ANALYSIS ......................................................................... 30
4.1 Quantitative survey results ................................................................. 30
4.2 Qualitative analysis ............................................................................. 43
4.3 Secondary data analysis..................................................................... 42
5 DISCUSSIONS ............................................................................................. 48
5.1 Addressing the Research Problem..................................................... 48
5.2 Answers to the Research Questions .................................................. 50
5.3 Limitations and Future Research ....................................................... 54
5.4 Directions for Future Research .......................................................... 56
5.5 Recommendation ................................................................................ 57
6 REFERENCES ............................................................................................. 61
7 APPENDICES ............................................................................................... 66
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1 INTRODUCTION
The fast fashion industry throughout the globe is being held to greater degrees of
accountability for its environmental impact, with the industry taking approximately
10% of total global carbon emissions, which is higher than international aviation
and shipping combined (United Nations Environment Programme, 2018). In 2023
India enters the global stage as the sixth-largest fashion market valued at over
$125 billion and expected to double by 2030 (Krishna T, 2025) shaped by global
players such as Zara or H&M but mostly by local multi-brands like Reliance
Trends (1,800+ stores), Aditya Birla Fashion (Pantaloons, Van Heusen), or
Arvind Fashions(Indranil Saha, 2025)
This paradigm is bolstered by demographic dynamism: 54% of India's 1.4 billion
people are under 25 years of age (UNFPA, 2023) leading to a compound annual
increase of 12% in spending on apparel in the middle-class (Statista, 2025). Yet
there are deep tensions: 68% of urban Indians indicate they are environmentally
concerned (YouGov, 2023) while sustainable apparel represents less than 5% of
the sales leaving a significant gap between values and behavior. National cultural
principles of resourcefulness, long use of clothing, and Gandhian principles of
plain living collide with quickly adopted western-style disposable fashion. This
duality is one that distinguishes aspirational consumption versus an embedded
heritage of sustainability represents a behavioral paradox that is critically absent
in the literature in the Indian context.
According to Sian Summerton programme lead Global Expert Missions the
fashion industry mostly operates on a linear production model that is
economically based on extracting natural resources, producing cheap clothes,
and disposing of clothes after a brief period of use. This production model is
known as fast fashion and there is growing concern about its people and
environmental impact. Also, It is estimated that the global apparel industry is
responsible for 4% of total carbon emissions and by 2030 the fashion industry
will emit 2.1 billion tonnes CO2e. The emissions need to be 1.1 billion tonnes
CO2e or less to be on track to meet the 1.5ºC target. And this is partly due to
most clothes being produced in China, India, and Bangladesh, which are all coal-
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based energy economies, the most polluting fossil fuel. Therefore, in context to
India it's very necessary to become sustainable in fast fashion. (Siân Summerton,
2021)
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Problem statement
While there is a growing global dialogue about environmental sustainability and
ethical consumption, there is little understanding of the awareness of sustainable
fast fashion among Indian consumers. This aims to explore and understand the
current levels of awareness and understanding of sustainable fast fashion and
the information sources conducting that awareness and understanding by
consumers in India.
The primary research question is:
To what extent are consumers in India aware of and understand the concept of
sustainable fast fashion?
Explanation: Understanding consumer awareness and comprehension of
sustainable fast fashion in India is essential for informing strategies that promote
environmentally and socially responsible practices within the Indian fashion
industry.
Research aim
The key focus of this thesis is to explore the level of awareness and
understanding of sustainable fast fashion held by consumers in India. This key
aim will be achieved through three additional objectives:
• To assess to what extent Indian consumers are aware of the
environmental and social impacts of the fast fashion industry.
• To investigate the level of awareness of sustainable alternatives in
the fashion industry among Indian consumers.
• To explore what sources of information, inform and shape Indian
consumers' understanding of sustainable fashion.
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2 LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter reviews different literature to understand what previous researchers
have done in this area, what we can learn from their work, and use that knowledge
to build a solid foundation that will guide this research.
2.1 Understanding Fast Fashion and the Need for Sustainability
Fast fashion is a business model that allows clothing companies to mass produce
low-cost trendy clothing and bring it to market quickly. This industry relies on a
fast production and distribution process which allows companies to quickly
respond to changing fashions and consumer demand. The fast fashion model is
based on the concept of disposable fashion where manufacturers encourage
consumers to frequently buy new clothing and throw away their old clothing. This
model regularly generates large quantities of clothing worn less than 10 times
before being disposed of along with rising trends of unethical labor practices,
exploitation of workers, and environmental destruction. (Govindani and
Brahmam, 2023)
2.2 Consumer Awareness and Perceptions
As consumers, people are quite distant from production and do not comprehend
how garments come into existence. The work and processes are largely alien to
the consumer as the process begins with research and development, product
development, production of raw material, conversion to fabric, treatment of fabric,
production of thread, buttons, zippers, pattern making, cutting, stitching, finishing,
packaging, selection by a buyer, shipping and arriving in a shop, merchandising
and retailing and sales people. Although from the consumers perspective, it may
appear that the process ends when the garment is in their closet, it extends to
their use and care and eventually disposal of the garment. In relation to the need
and sustainability equation the sustainability issues concerning fashion becomes
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less about technical aspects, like making sure to buy organic cotton and from a
factory that complies with good practices, but more about how much do
consumers actually need, and how do they engage with the things that they buy
(Kate Fletcher, 2018). Consumers' perceived value and willingness to pay
influence green purchase intention and purchasing behavior, which was also
established in previous research studies in a few Asian countries including India
that consumers' attitudes had a significant effect on determining whether they
would pay a premium for sustainable textiles and were influenced by the eco-
labels or social labels recognized.(Gyan Prakash and Pramod Pathak, 2016).
Purchase intention was influenced significantly by price, attitudes, social norms,
environmental concerns, and environmental knowledge. Consumers perceived
behaviour was not typically an accurate estimate for predictive purchase
behaviour, while social norm and environmental knowledge influenced the
purchase of eco-friendly clothing strongly. (R Tryphena and I Arul Aram, 2023)
2.3 Drivers of Consumer Engagement with Sustainable Fashion
Consumer interest and engagement with sustainable fashion in India is being
driven by several factors, indicative of a change in values and increased avenues
for information.
2.3.1 Environmental and Ethical Consciousness
The extent of understanding green products benefit could influence a consumer's
purchasing behavior. Kassarjian’s research reveals that the amount of value a
consumer perceives in a product goes up as environmental issues are recognized
more broadly.(W. THOMAS ANDERSON and WILLIAM H. CUNNINGHA, 1972)
A "green product" is made of natural components, recyclable materials, and
permitted chemicals and most importantly it can be recycled or reused and does
not release pollutants as it is not overpackaged. Therefore, when negative
problems arose with products containing hazardous substances, so in action
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companies began making environmentally friendly or "green" products. (Harold
H. Kassarjian, 1971) In addition, for making green products companies also
began developing green product policies to influence buying behaviors. When
consumers select a green product, their main concern is price, so it is must to
understand that Increased pricing of green products stopped consumption. All
products offered should be sustainable at an ecological level and without
compromising quality or price. (W. THOMAS ANDERSON and WILLIAM H.
CUNNINGHA, 1972).
2.3.2 Influence of Media, Influencers, and Brand Transparency
As consumers are becoming increasingly aware that deforestation, water
scarcity, loss of biodiversity, air pollution, and other forms of environmental
pollution and depletion of natural resources they are considering other factors
into their purchase choices when the possibility exists, such as eco-labeling, ways
to recycle the product's packaging, and organic compositions. Therefore,
consumers are pushing society to a more sustainable form of consumption where
it aligns with the environment. (Neringa Vilkaite-Vaitone, 2024)
In recent years, influencer marketing has increased substantially, and influencers
are increasingly being used to motivate sustainable consumption. By harnessing
their ability to communicate via many channels: events, mass media, and social
networks. The prevalence of the internet, mobile devices, and modern
technologies has solidified social networks namely: Facebook, Instagram,
Twitter, LinkedIn and TikTok as a common lifestyle among a significant portion of
society and a keyway for influencers to communicate. (Neringa Vilkaite-Vaitone,
2024)
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2.4 Greenwashing: Undermining Trust in Sustainable Marketing
According to (Matthew Berlind and Cheryl Nakata, 2005) the implementation of
pro-environmental and pro-social behavior contributes to the strength of
customer loyalty to the brand and increases sales, as these customer attitudes
indicate that organizations are giving back to society in some way. However,
some organizations only care to attract consumers and take market advantage
of green marketing through claims that appear pro-environmental but use
ambiguous, questionable, and sometimes false terms. (Dr. Srikanta k. Panigrahi,
2024)
The fast fashion sector has been a leading party to this act. They have masked
climate as a form of marketing but have not sought out the fundamental shift away
from their business model.(Dr. Srikanta k. Panigrahi, 2024; Sustainability
directory, 2025) The add-on sustainability action plan cannot and will not address
the underlying problems of textile waste and climate action, while their business
model is not to take on this exploitative and unsustainable supply chain. Major
fashion brands document their business responsibility to handle or treat this
textile waste. Instead, they are presenting the sustainability criteria by not
acknowledging or allowing such waste to exist by presenting greenwashing to
justify the induced disillusionment of mindless consumption, while making
themselves feel good. (Dr. Srikanta k. Panigrahi, 2024)
2.5 Challenges and opportunities
Alana M. James, Sophie Mather and Kelly J. Sheridan (2023) consider fashion
industry has deep and complex challenges in embedding sustainability. A major
challenge will be a lack of consistent definitions, parameters and regulations
about words such as "sustainability," "ethical," and "responsible," resulting in
confusion, inconsistent applications and a potential for greenwashing. In addition,
engagement has been entirely voluntary and fragmented with companies taking
selective isolated initiatives rather than implementing a full change of an
extremely complex global supply chain that will continue to be reliant on fossil
fuels and rapidly overproduce and deliver. The result of these changes is uneven
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progress addressing sustainability and sustainability on a scale. The fashion
industry then has a fundamental problem trying to balance a commitment to the
capitalist model of profitability and it costs and convenience to undertake truly
responsible action at the company level often resorting to tokenism. Consumer
confusion is prevalent for example, not being able to identify truly sustainable
brands sometimes equating higher cost to net greater responsibility. Also
challenging is the dominant linear production model that offers a model for
overconsumption and disposal which appears to contradict the principles of
sustainability, especially for low-priced retailers. The COVID-19 pandemic laid
bare the fragility and inequity in global supply chains exemplified by employer
behavior towards cancelled orders leaving workers unpaid, surplus stock and
other vulnerabilities. In the end, the greatest challenge to a more resilient and
truly sustainable fashion future is not voluntary disjointed efforts but coordinated
systemic action across the full value chain aligned with clear standards and
innovation developed from necessity (Alana M. James, Sophie Mather and Kelly
J. Sheridan, 2023)
Price is often cited as an obstacle to adopting sustainable fashion because
sustainable clothing is more expensive than the average clothing due to the
enhanced production standards and the incorporated eco-friendly materials
which means that it is less accessible to the average consumer. Also, in some
cases sustainable fashion brands are not as easily visible and accessible as fast-
fashion brands contributing to lower adoption as well. In addition to price and
accessibility, factors such as style and quality can all play a role in consumer
decisions. However, a small group of consumers will always seek sustainable
options due to their concern for the environment and ethically sourced products,
and support for fair-trade.(Tolamise Olasehinde, 2024)
While India may now be at a point of evolving into a sustainable fashion future it
will be dependent on an entrepreneurial leap of faith to reinvent possible
materials, business models, and consumer engagement. Therefore,
entrepreneurs have endless opportunities with India's rich biodiversity to create
materials from banana fibers, milk proteins (casein), and recycled PET bottles
and turning them from agrarian waste and plastic waste into sustainable fabrics.
New innovations in manufacturing such as solar production units and waterless
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dyeing technology paired with green shipping materials can further reduce a
company's carbon footprint while simultaneously reimagining the fast-fashion
model of doing business. (Santosh, 2023)
2.6 The Imperative for Change: Social and Environmental Impacts of Fast
Fashion
The fast fashion trend has boomed, often at great cost, creating severe
environmental and social impacts around the world, with serious consequences
for India.
2.6.1 Environmental impact
As noted by Chandana S (2025), India has one of the largest textile industries in
the world with an 11% share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It is third in total
waste produced with 7,800 kilotons of textile waste every year. The fast-rising
demand in the textile industry always creates supply issues which later create
overproduction which further produces waste and refers to extremely harmful and
dangerous emissions of textile waste. During 2025 Bharat Tex meeting, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi expressed concerns that the waste from fast fashion
industry could lead to 148 million Tonnes of waste by 2030. Fast fashion waste
takes hundreds of years to decompose in landfills, and it cannot be reused or
upcycled. It adds more of a threat is that chemicals seep into the soil and affect
groundwater, and it also increases global warming through the exposure into the
atmosphere by generating methane. Many cities are fighting against textile waste
in India like Bengaluru is an example of redistribution and symptom of the excess
of over consuming textile waste, where piles and needled garments waste
continues to dump landfills. Noyyal River, which is a life sustaining river and
source of drinkable water, is now undrinkable due to textile waste. Furthermore,
the Bandi River in Rajasthan has faced a similar challenge as Noyyal River and
is reactive to the chemical discharges from the textile industry. (Chandana S,
2025)
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2.6.2 Social Costs: Labor Exploitation and Ethical Concerns
Who makes all of these clothes? One of the most labor-intensive industries, Fast
fashion relies on millions of garment workers mostly women and children around
the world and because each item of clothing must be handmade along a long
supply chain. As another way to improve profit is why fast fashion has become
increasingly reliant on low-wage labour in low-to-middle income countries (LMIC),
like Bangladesh, India, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines this practice is called
Offshoring. ((Jaclyn McCosker, 2023).
The textile industry in India is important to the economy is ranked as one of the
largest in the world but also embodies huge environmental and social issues.
From water pollution to exploitative labour, the challenges of sustainable fashion
in India are numerous and need immediate action. The textile industry in India
exploits workers through wages that are far below living wage, working hours that
can be excessive, and dangerous working conditions, both physically and
socially. According to a report from the India Committee of the Netherlands, there
are 10-12 million children employed in India, and many of these children are
involved in the textile industry. (Santosh, 2023)
Labor Issue
Description
Labor Wages
Earnings below the living wages
contributing to poverty.
Long Working Hours
Extended shifts, sometimes up to 16
hours a day and 7 days a week.
Unsafe Conditions
Potential risks of accidents, exposure
to toxic chemicals, and lack of safety
regulations.
Child Labor
Exploitation of children due to low
skill requirements and the desire for
cheap labor.
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Gender based harassment
Women often subjected to verbal,
physical, and sexual abuse in the
workplace.
Violation of rights
Suppression of workers' rights
including the right to fair treatment,
safe working conditions, and
adequate compensation.
Table 1: Summary of Labor Issues in the Indian Fast Fashion Industry (Santosh,
2023)
2.7 Textile Waste Management and the Circular Economy
The circular economy has been conceived to lengthen the lifetime of materials as
well as to increase recycling and recovery opportunities and ultimately should
provide more incentive to collect products and recover them within the same
product chain utilizing and monetizing the material service per resource and
minimizing negative environmental effects and resource use. The 5R approach
(reduce, refuse, reuse, recycle and recover) to waste management has
developed globally as one of the foundational principles of the circular economy
for a sustainable society. As well, most textile facilities are implementing recycling
as one of the options for responsibly managing the textile waste produced and
waste management recycling is generally limited by mechanical structure of
materials and there is particularly void of knowledge and requires more research
to transform into clean and sustainable technologies.(Saloua Biyada and Jaunius
Urbonavicius, 2025)
2.8 Initiatives and Solutions Fostering Sustainable Fashion in India
An ecosystem of initiatives and solutions are emerging in India led by various
stakeholders who are committed to realizing sustainable fashion practices.
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2.8.1 Government Policies and Regulatory Frameworks
Indian legislation regarding sustainability is classified into environmental and
commercial components. For instance, there are Section 6 and Section 25 of the
Environment Protection Act (1986) regarding effluent discharge in the textile
industry and standards for water, air, and soil quality. And Section 21 of the Air
Prevention and Control of Pollution Act (1981) states that all industrial plants
require prior consent from the pollution boards. The Consumer Protection Act
(2019) states that false environmental claims known as greenwashing can incur
a prison sentence and a fine. Also, the Consumer Protection Act (2019) governs
product labeling and has liability provisions that facilitate truthful advertising.
These changes culminate in a significant rise in greenwashing actions tied to
incoming eco-friendly consumer goods. Often brands incorrectly inform
customers about their commitments surrounding the environment. The
Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) and the Central Consumer
Protection Authority (CCPA) aim to assure advertisements to not act unethically.
A consumer cannot be misled by an expectation of deception through allusions
claimed by advertisers about green products according to the Consumer
Protection Act. For example, such labels as BIS certification, and ISO (Global
Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), Sustainable Apparel Coalition’s Higg Index,
Made in India Handloom Brand, Indian Standard for Organic Textiles (ISOT), Silk
Mark, Better Cotton Initiative (GOS)). These certifications help to promote
transparency and accountability within the textile supply chain and facilitate
environmentally friendly products. Increasing consumer awareness about these
labels is important to encourage the uptake of eco-friendly behavior more broadly.
(Sanya Kishwar and Saksham Agrawal, 2025)
2.8.2 Innovation in technology
The future of fast fashion is increasingly reliant on technology, particularly artificial
intelligence (AI) and 3D printing. AI can help brands better understand consumer
behavior and predict trends with incredible accuracy, which reduces the chances
of overproducing products and resulting waste. AI can help make the design
process more efficient, allowing brands to analyze which styles are trending in
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real time so they can produce collections that are aligned with consumers'
preferences. Also, 3D printing has the potential to change the way fashion
operates by allowing for on-demand customized garments to be produced. This
helps reduce material waste and can greatly decrease the amount of time it takes
to produce garments while still maintaining the quickness that fast fashion
incorporates to maximize profit. ((Heuritech, 2025)
2.8.3 Role of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Collaborative
Efforts
Fashion brands and designers are taking steps toward redefining impact in the
social and environmental aspects of their businesses, and they are not doing it
alone and therefore they collaborate with NGOs and consulting firms who are
specialize in specific areas of sustainability and quickly becoming valued
resources for brands. These partnerships have allowed brands to access more
resources to improve their sustainability practices while establishing goodwill to
help build trust with consumers. And therefore, the increased number of
diversified NGOs in the fashion space provides a strong accountability check that
companies are making to measure their progress toward sustainability. For
example Eco-Age a brand consultancy agency is an example of one starting point
for companies to create or review their business and communications plan also
Eco-Age works with many NGOs, organizations, and charities to help their clients
including brands such as Chopard, and Stella McCartney helps to develop the
structure and guidance to meet sustainability goals.(Michelle Doyle, 2021)
2.9 Persistent Attitude-Behavior Gap
Although Indian millennials understand sustainability and support eco-friendly
alternatives but there always remains a significant attitude-behavior gap. Many
of them still continue to patronize fast fashion brands such as H&M, Zara, Forever
21, and Shein because even though they understand that the fast fashion
business-model threatens the sustainability of our environment it has been
difficult to compromise their standards to be eco-friendly while taking into
consideration several factors including price sensitivity, the influence of being
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trendy and the limited options of relatively affordable and even "sustainable"
clothing.(Nilanjana Bairagi and Joanna Francis, 2020)
2.10 Need for Deeper Knowledge and Communication
According to(Sustainability directory, 2025), consumers have options for more
sustainable fashion options, even if they don't quite understand what sustainable
fashion is yet. While there are many ways individuals can consider their own
sustainable options in retail, some concrete ways we can eliminate waste as
consumers is to support brands that demonstrate they use environmental
materials, such as recycled fibers from plastic bottles or textile waste which help
reduce the use of virgin resources. Additionally, look for brands using
biomaterials, which are alternatives to traditional textiles that have a lower
environmental impact. The blog also points out the importance of waste Sos and
the promotes waste reduction and managements practices. consider the brands
that promote garment durability, repairs and reuse, and clothing recycling
solutions to minimize waste. Consumers can promote sustainability by using
certifications and standards. Certification labels help simplify the complex
information around sustainability so shoppers can easily recognize brands'
adoption of environmental and ethical norms. Sustainable communication
provides consumers with the information they need to make informed decisions,
raising the environmental consideration of choices implied in a brand's materials,
production, and post-use clothing management plans.
2.11 Secondary data analysis
2.11.1 Fiber2Fashion: "Steps Towards Sustainability in Fashion in 2024"
(2024)
(Scarlett Buckley, 2024)
Thematic Analysis: Identifying themes that frequently appear across the
sources (e.g. circularity, traceability, policy leverage, material innovation,
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consumer pressure, climate action, biodiversity). Grouping the "steps" referenced
in the title into a limited number of logical, cohesive categories.
Trend Analysis: Summarizing the overall insights to publicize the predominant,
most salient, and emerging sustainability actions, priorities, and challenges that
were specifically pointed out for 2024 across the industry.
Comparative Analysis: Examining how various brands, regions, or sectors in
the fashion industry are addressing, committing, and progressing on
sustainability.
Critical Analysis: Evaluating the impact, viability, and limitations of the
sustainability steps discussed. Identifying gaps and "greenwashing" concerns.
Contextualization: Positioning trends for 2024 in the larger arc of fashion
sustainability efforts and the ever-changing global context (e.g. climate urgency,
regulatory change, and economic pressures).
Quantitative Synthesis: Presenting relevant data (e.g. % of brands using
preferred materials, establishment of resale market, emissions targets) taken
from secondary sources to substantiate the qualitative points made. This will be
the selection of relevant stats and not complex calculations.
Qualitative Synthesis: Making generalizations and predictions based on the
variety of qualitative information reviewed and the expert opinions analyzed.
2.11.2 Consumer perception of sustainable clothing among urban Indians
In a study published by ResearchGate, (Tryphena Rajaratnam and Arul Aram,
2023) illuminate a fundamental paradox in India’s transition to sustainable
fashion: while 68% of urban consumers are concerned about the environment
and 41% prefer ethically produced apparel, sustainable clothing was consistently
purchased by only 12% of those surveyed. The disparity comes from the inability
to verify claims of sustainability or because clothing was expensive. Sixty-three
percent of buyers that were hesitant cited inability to verify the brand's
sustainability as the problem, which is directly linked to the absence of textile
metrics in national databases. While the FDES requires tracking of impacts to
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human settlements and to water. Decisions that impact sustainability metrics
related to microplastics per garment or pollutant runoff attributable to region-
specific dyeing units have not been collected. Thus, ENVIS is unable to provide
standardized data and this situation undermines the verification of corporate eco-
labels. The report's "awareness-action gap" is not just a behavioral concept it is
an institutional one resulting directly from MoEF's statistical systems.
The study confirms price sensitivity (57%) and skepticism in green claims (49%)
as significant barriers to purchase and accentuates the need for Natural
Resource Accounting (NRA) to consider the reality we are facing. Sustainability
premiums (20-40% more than fast fashion) ignore environmental externalities,
such as water pollution and soil degradation that NRA would quantify based on
alternative methodologies such as avoidable cost and lost opportunities.
The consumers’ ask for transparency, as ranked as the #1 priority by 71% of
respondents, stress the CSO's unmet request for the "regular collection of
environmental indicators" found through the CSO's (Centre for Sustainable
Organizations) sustainability report mandate only 55% of urban Indians use
government sources for sustainability information compared to 55% via social
media, Exhibit J. Trust in the government is hampered significantly by MoEF's
release times for data: 3-5 years.
2.11.3 Survey data to evaluate consumer behaviour and consumption
pattern of sustainable apparel: A study on consumer awareness level
(Manish Mishra et al., 2023) of 1,000 urban Indians illustrates a fundamental
policy gap. While 89% of respondents accepted that an apparel item has a
negative environmental impact, only 23% purchased sustainable alternatives
because of, primarily, distrust (71%), and lack of budget (68%). These types of
behaviors expose the weaknesses in India's environmental statistics system. In
the FDES framework, there are no textile indicators, especially for dye
wastewater transparency, or evidence of microplastic pollution. Without these
indicators, the ENVIS or the CPCB is unable to independently validate the eco-
claims of apparel brands. This structural lack of transparency around apparel
fuels customer skepticism, where 82% require government-certification labels
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and the MoEF cannot give customers that assurance without expanding the
FDES to account for distinct timelines for the sector.
At the same time, the generational difference in the targeted study's adoption is
also being ignored by policy makers as it continues to lack adequate coordination
of state level statistics. The state environment statistics cells are not functional
enough to connect any datasets to the localized metropolitan youth participation
with production locations where Tirupur is contaminated groundwater 348mg/L
TDS versus 500mg/L for safe. However, the 58% openness to UPI discounts
again indicates lost financial instances, a solution made deliberate by the Natural
Resource Accounting (NRA) model somehow excluding brand related apparel
impacts. For example, while the Goa/Yamuna pilots are including agricultural
degradation which has engaged valued and complied with agriculture, they are
ignoring the costs of the textile life cycle to decide on evidence-based subsidies
towards price impact in consumption.
2.11.4 Times of India. (2023). The sustainable fashion market in India: An
overview.
(Senthil Sankar, 2023) The analysis followed a systematic approach of
synthesizing and interpreting the secondary data collected to produce a cohesive
picture of the sustainable fashion market in India. This included pinpointing and
summarizing recurring themes broadly speaking, market growth, consumer
preferences towards sustainability, and circular business models, by finding
consistent themes across very different sources such as market research and
trade articles. The author considered market conditions and compared estimates
of market size, growth and segment performance from a range of research firms,
with a view to creating a summary, while also implicitly contrasting the Indian
market's stage of development with global sustainability developments. The
analysis also reflects the fundamental challenges and shortcomings identified,
including reuse and recycling infrastructure, continuing issues of greenwashing,
and difficulties in implementing policy, as noted in the secondary literature. A
primary consideration was to undertake qualitative content analysis, to evaluate
common narratives and perspectives of stakeholders (brands; consumers; and
policymakers) from articles and reports. Throughout, the author ideally
21
considered the quality and date of the sources, prioritizing trusted data from
market research company, government agencies and credible news outlets to
equally represent and evidence the current situation, prospects and challenges
of the market.
2.11.5 Fibriluxe. (2025). Sustainability gains momentum in Indian fashion
industry in 2025.
The (FIbriluxe, 2025) article "Sustainability Gaining Momentum in the Indian
Fashion Industry by 2025" required us to analyze the existing data from
secondary sources by combining and interpreting it with a view to identifying
overarching trends and establishing a narrative of momentum. The main
approaches to analysis were:
Trend Identification & Synthesis: Identifying consistent themes from the
different sources to demonstrate commonalities, context, patterns, such as
government-led momentum, corporate investments, or projected market growth.
Thematic Structuring: Organizing synthesized into the main or core themes to
show there is some broader, multifaceted momentum taking place.
Qualitative Interpretation: Analyzing the language used, tone, commitment,
intent and level of strategic focus in policy documents, corporate reports and
press releases to understand motivations and depth of efforts executed toward
sustainability.
Comparative Analysis: Evaluating actions and investments of the leading
brands and comparing with governmental policy and data to prove there was
momentum across the industry not just isolated efforts.
Market Data Interpretation: Understanding the numbers as context for the
momentum both as evidence of mega-market shift, and consumer adoption.
Triangulation: Cross-based findings with different source types (government
policy + brand investment + market data) to confirm our momentum analysis and
findings and strengthen validity/robustness.
22
2.11.6 LHSS Collective - Promoting sustainability in Indian textile industry:
A legal perspective.
(NEELIMA GUPTA, 2023)
Thematic Analysis: Extracted data from literature and case studies was organized
into key themes (e.g. environmental, social, sustainable practices, consumer
awareness and policy) which provided a means of organizing concepts around
India-specific issues, such as water scarcity, micro-plastics and vulnerable
informal labour.
Critical Review: The critical review of each theme included social, environmental,
economic, and cultural factors. For example, labour conditions were assessed
against ratings of ethical labour. Sustainable practices (examples include organic
fibers and circular models) were discussed to understand practicality and
implications.
Synthesis and framework development: In understanding the relationships
between themes a conceptual framework was produced for how fast fashion,
sustainability and India-specific factors impact one another (examples include
resource constraints and heritage). This emphasized systemic challenges (e.g.,
where there are policy gaps) and opportunities (e.g., consumer-driven demand
for ethical fashion).
Case Study illustration: Real-life examples (for example, brands that undertake
eco-manufacturing or fair trade) were integrated to illustrate practical examples
of theoretical insights to reinforce trends (e.g., increasing consumer
consciousness).
Centrality of Limitations: In considering analysis limitations, I explicitly stated
limitations (e.g., reliance on published sources, and that grassroots innovations
may have been excluded) to ensure conclusions remained within contexts.
23
3 METHODOLOGY
The chapter describes the research design and methods that were used to
investigate sustainable fast fashion awareness within Indian consumers. It
describes how the data was collected, including primary data collection methods
of quantitative survey and qualitative semi-structured interviews (focused
groups), and secondary data collected from other reliable sources.
3.1 Research design
This study takes a mixed-methods approach to research design that combines
both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. By employing mixed methods in
this study, a broader and comprehensive understanding of the complex
phenomenon of sustainable fashion awareness in India can be established.
Using a quantitative survey provides a general understanding of consumer
awareness, attitudes and behaviors to purchase sustainable products over a
larger sample whereas the qualitative semi-structured in-depth interviews
examines motivations and perspectives of consumer's decisions with meaningful
finesses. The secondary data provided an extremely contextual and foundational
understanding of the current situation.
3.2 Data Collection
Data for this research was collected from both primary as well as secondary
sources.
3.2.1 Primary data collection
Primary data was gathered in two different forms: a quantitative survey and
qualitative semi-structured interviews.
24
3.2.2 Quantitative survey
The survey sought to assess the levels of knowledge, perceptions and
purchasing behavior related to sustainable fashion among a wide sample of
Indian consumers. It wanted to find important trends, preferences and barriers
from the standpoint of statistics. Similar studies have used surveys to evaluate
consumer awareness, consumer attitudes, and purchasing behavior related to
environmentally sustainable fashion.
Over 101 Indian consumers took part in this survey totally and the participants
were selected to reach a diverse sample of the Indian consumer who having
diverse perspectives on fashion consumption and sustainability. For data
collection, a structured questionnaire was developed which includes
questionaries related to demographics information, general awareness and
perception regarding sustainable fashion, factors influencing purchasing
decisions, engagement with sustainable practices and influence of social media.
This technique enables to collect data from many respondents in an efficient
manner.
3.2.3 Qualitative semi structured interviews
The semi-structured interviews were used in focus groups which helped me
explore the complexities of consumer awareness, motivations, and barriers that
could not be captured through the quantitative survey. This facilitated rich
discussions and explored deeper reasoning behind observed behavior.
Participants were selected based on their differing levels of fashion engagement
and debt to the principle of sustainability, and/or to represent different
demographic categories, such as Gen Z and Millennials, because they are the
arbiter of fashion. These interviews were semi structured using open-ended
questions which provided a certain level of flexibility for the research to see
emerging themes and follow up on interesting conversational points raised by the
participants. Questions include topics related to Individual meanings and
definitions of sustainable fashion their experiences with sustainable and fast
fashion goods how they perceived aspects of sustainable fashion that provide
25
benefits or challenges and following up with questions which includes influence
of culture, personal experiences, media on their decision-making and their
perspective on greenwashing and brand transparency.
The focused group interviews took place in a neutral location which was online
with video conferencing via WhatsApp video call for around 10-12 min long.
Noted, with permission of the participants each of the discussions were recorded
for transcription and analysis later.
3.2.4 Secondary data collection
Secondary data was used very widely to give a full background context on
primary findings recognize existing trends and corroborate overall analysis on
understanding sustainable fast fashion awareness in India. This meant
understanding the global context and India's part in the textile industry and
existing consumer insight for instance.
3.2.5 Data analysis
The information gathered from the quantitative survey, qualitative semi-structured
interview, and secondary sources will be thoroughly undertaken by analyzing the
data to inform the research objectives. Quantitative data collected through the
survey will be analyzed using the statistical software Webropol, which facilitates
the design and distribution of survey questions and provides automated tools for
data analysis. The qualitative data gathered through semi-structured interviews
will undergo thematic analysis. Thematic analysis provides a procedure to
identify, analyze, and report patterns within the data, giving a rich and detailed
account of the qualitative insights.
Secondary data will be synthesized through a thorough and critical literature
review. Also, secondary data will provide the wider global and Indian context for
sustainable fashion covering aspects such as market trends, environmental
consequences, and policy contexts. Furthermore, information from industry
reports and government reports will shape the discussion on implications and
recommendations for brands, policymakers, and educators.
26
3.2.6 Ethical Considerations
During the research process, ethical protocols were established and followed.
Informed consent from all participants was obtained prior to data collection to
ensure participants understood the purposed of the study; they were informed of
their right to withdraw from the study, and the means by which data was collected,
stored, and reported. Anonymity and confidentiality of responses was preserved,
especially with the survey data, and any direct quote from the interviews was
anonymized to protect the identity of the participant.
3.3 Secondary data collection
3.3.1 Fiber2Fashion: "Steps Towards Sustainability in Fashion in 2024"
(2024)
In "Steps Towards Sustainability in Fashion in 2024" on Fibre2Fashion, the
author compiled secondary data from various pre-existing publicly available
sources rather than conducting new primary research. This included gathering
and reviewing existing industry reports e.g., McKinsey, BCG, Textile Exchange,
Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Corporate sustainability disclosures of leading
fashion brands and retailers and recent articles from trade publications e.g.,
Vogue Business, Business of Fashion, academic literature, publications and
campaigns from NGOs. Government announcements for new regulations,
consumer trend market research, and possibly opinions or interviews from
experts. The focus of their data collection included existing trends, commitments,
innovations and challenges that were most obviously indicated for 2024 in the
sustainability in fashion landscape. (Scarlett Buckley, 2024)
3.3.2 Consumer perception of sustainable clothing among urban Indians.
(Tryphena Rajaratnam and Arul Aram, 2023)
Main Method: A cross-sectional survey utilizing a purposive sampling approach.
27
Participants: Registered Nurses (RNs) recruited through professional nursing
organizations, social media platforms, and the clinical settings.
Instrument: The new Genomic Nursing Concept Inventory (GNCI) questionnaire
to measure genomic knowledge and misconceptions as well as demographic
questions.
Process: The online survey was delivered electronically via links in emails and
posts. Participation was voluntary and implied a consent to participate by
completing the survey.
3.3.3 Survey data to evaluate consumer behaviour and consumption
pattern of sustainable apparel: A study on consumer awareness level
This study used a quantitative method to capture data on consumer behavior and
sustainable apparel consumption patterns using survey questionnaires. The data
was in the form of survey questionnaires that had 28 measurement items for the
seven latent constructs we were looking into. The measurement items were
adopted from past literature and to develop the survey, we implemented a search
strategy developed for Scopus and WOS, with the search term of "Sustainable
apparel". (Manish Mishra et al., 2023)
To collect information on consumer behaviour and consumption patterns of
sustainable apparel, the researchers identified 10 colleges and universities in 5
cities in Uttar Pradesh. The researchers made a list of potential participants
(students, teachers, and professors), and then the researchers used the random
sampling approach to select from the potential participants to help the
researchers address and represent the population of interest. After the
participants were identified, the researchers sent survey questionnaires for the
participants to complete. The Table 2 purposive sampling and random selection
criteria helped in decreasing possible sources of bias in sampling by using
purposive sampling with the selection of potential participants with certain criteria,
and random selection of individuals to be selected.(Manish Mishra et al., 2023)
28
3.3.4 Times of India. (2023). The sustainable fashion market in India: An
overview.
The article "The Sustainable Fashion Market in India: An Overview" relies
exclusively on secondary data collection. Author’s sourced and synthesized
existing information that was already publicly available rather than conducting
their own primary research including survey and interview data. Likely sources
include industry reports from market research firms for example, McKinsey,
Statista, IMARC publications from industry associations such as CMAI or CII
government reports and statistics e.g. Ministry of Textiles, IBEF coverage from
business and financial news outlets including TOI itself, Economic Times,
Business of Fashion company websites and sustainability reports, academic
research recommendations if applicable, and reports from NGOs/sustainability
initiatives in fashion. The author found relevant facts, statistics, trends, and insight
from numerous pre-existing sources to construct an overview of the
market.(Senthil Sankar, 2023)
3.3.5 Fibriluxe. (2025). Sustainability gains momentum in Indian fashion
industry in 2025.
Based upon an article by Fibriluxe, on sustainability momentum in India's fashion
sector (2025), the data collection approach involved secondary research mostly.
The information was obtained via existing industry by surveys, government
publications, corporate sustainability reports, press releases, and official public
announcements for major brands like Reliance Industries, Aditya Birla Fashion
and Retail, Fabindia as well as news articles tracking brands' actions and market
developments. The analysis did not indicate it in so many words but presumably
would have drawn insight from expert commentary and perhaps limited expert
consultation. There was no evidence of any substantial original primary data
collection.(FIbriluxe, 2025)
29
3.3.6 LHSS Collective - Promoting sustainability in Indian textile industry:
A legal perspective.
In accordance with the methodology discussed in the article data collection is
exclusively secondary and qualitative it depends solely on pre-existing, published
data collection obtained through a systematic literature review. Researchers
searched library databases for existing data using key search terms to find
published articles, books, reports, and conference papers from the last ten years
that were relevant. Inclusion criteria prioritized credible, academic, peer-reviewed
English published work specifically about India. Some secondary data included
supplementary case studies of operational sustainable projects in fast fashion but
were treated the same as secondary data. No primary data was collected.
Following data collection, all information was thematically categorized i.e.,
environmental effects, working conditions, trends and challenges were critically
discussed and a conceptual framework was developed none of these processes
utilized any statistical tests or quantification. This process implied that study
interpretations were limited to the existing literature.(Sanya Kishwar and
Saksham Agrawal, 2025a)
30
4 RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
4.1 Quantitative survey results
• Of the 101 respondents to the survey, 100 respondents indicated
that they had purchased clothing in the past six months. With a near
100% response rate, this demonstrates that nearly everyone
provides answers as consistent and potential boots-on-the-ground
participant consumers and their views represent a high relevance
and usefulness for sustainable fashions choices. It only reinforces
that almost all participants buy clothes therefore, the sample can be
seen as a mostly representative reference group of active
consumers in the Indian fashion market, generating solid analysis
of preferences towards fashion consumers, their circumstances,
and behaviors toward sustainable options.
Graph 1: Clothing purchased past 6 months
31
• The second question is regarding the age and it shows the majority
age group among the 101 respondents was 26- 35 years of age,
which represented 46.5% of the sample. The next largest group
was 18 - 25 years of age with 27.7%, then 36 - 45 years of age with
20.8%. Only a small segment, (5%) of the respondents were above
45 years of age thereby indicating that older people's perspectives
were somewhat underrepresented among this sample of younger
to middle aged adults.
Graph 2: Age Distribution
32
• The most common purchasing behavior in a sample of 100
respondents was "Every 3-6 months" which was 46%. 26%
reported purchasing clothing once a month, and 11% of
respondents reported purchasing clothing every 2-3 weeks. There
was a small cluster of 16% of respondents who reported rarely
purchasing new clothing, while there was only 1% who reported
purchasing new clothing every week. Overall, this data indicates
most of the respondents exhibited a moderate to infrequent pattern
of clothing purchase behavior.
Graph 3: Purchase Frequency
33
• "Local market/Unbrand" was the most chosen response option
among the 101 respondents, at 46.5%, along with international fast
fashion brands like Zara/H&M/Uniqlo at 43.6%, and online retailers
like Myntra/Nykaa Fashion at 41.6%. Reliance Trends/Max had
37.6%, and "Others had the least number at 25.7%. While Indian
sustainable brands were the least shopped, at 13.9%, it may show
that when given the option to choose, respondents preferred the
more convenient, and often less expensive and more established,
brand categories to committed sustainable options.
Graph 4: Preferred Brand
34
• Of the 100 respondents surveyed, quality ranked first as the
preeminent reason for brand choice with a response of 68%. Price
was also a reason for a significant number of respondents with the
choice of price coming in at 59%. Convenience was the influencer
for 44% of brand choice, while trendy design had a primary
influence for 38% of the respondents. Brand equity was considered
an important reason for 29% of the respondents. Importantly,
sustainability claims had a primary reason for only 24% of the
respondents. While sustainability might be a consideration, it is
almost as dominant as a reason for making their brand choice as
either quality or price.
Graph 5: Brand Selection Drivers
35
• Of the 101 responses, "Sustainable Fashion" and "Organic Cotton"
had the highest averages with standard deviation scores of 3.7 and
3.6 respectively, with median scores of 4, showing these terms to
be commonly understood. "Fast Fashion" also had a relatively
higher average familiarity of 3.4 and median of 4. The lowest
average familiarity scores of 2.7 (median 3) and 3.2 (median 3) also
show respondents were less familiar with "Greenwashing" and
"Circular Economy" respectively.
Graph 6: Term Familiarity
• Awareness was most prevalent for "Chemical use in dyeing," where
83.8% of respondents reported awareness, followed by "Textile
waste in landfills" with 73.7%. "Water Pollution" and "Carbon
Emissions" were reported by 64.6% and 60.6% respectively for
respondents who indicated awareness. "Microplastic Pollution" was
slightly lower at 56.6%, and only 6.1% of respondents were
unaware of any of the above environmental impacts. There appears
to be a high level of awareness about different environmental
impacts of the fashion sector within the sample.
36
Graph 7: Environmental Concerns
• Of the 101 respondents to this question, "Child labour" was the
social issue of most concern for the largest percentage (62.4% of
respondents), closely followed by "Low wages for workers"
(58.4%), and "Unsafe working environments" (55.4%). "Gender
discriminations" was the concern of 30.7% of respondents. The
option "None of the above" was chosen by 14.9% of the
participants. These findings indicate significant awareness and
concern for issues pertaining to child labour, wages and safety in
fashion production.
37
Graph 8: Social Concerns
• Out of all of the respondents, "Fair Trade" designation had the most
recognizers, with 38.6% of individuals recognizing it. "GOTS
(Global Organic Textile Standard)", was recognized by 24.8% of
respondents, and "BCI (Better Cotton Initiative)" was recognized by
19.8%. A significant portion of respondents either selected "None"
(23.8%) or "I don't know what this means" (28.7%), this strongly
indicates that there is not much widespread familiarity with these
particular sustainable fashion certifications among a significant part
of the populace.
Graph 9: Certification Recognition
38
• The affirmation "Sustainable fashion is too expensive for me" had
the highest average agreement score of 3.4, with a median of 3.0,
indicating a common belief that price is a barrier. "I feel guilty about
buying fast fashion" and "I look for sustainable options when I shop"
both had an average score of 3.0 and a median of 3.0, suggesting
that respondents felt neutral to slight agreement on these points of
view. "I trust brands' claims of being 'eco-friendly'" had an average
of 3.1 and a median of 3.0, suggesting moderate trust and also
possible lacks trust. The lowest average agreement was for "I would
be willing to pay 20% more for sustainable clothing" at 2.8 and a
median of 3.0, indicating a hesitation to pay any one specific price
on sustainable clothing, or any price premium at all. Overall, the
responses suggest that while some respondents may have some
guilt regarding purchasing fast fashion, and a desire to look for
sustainable alternatives, the price barrier remains high, and trust in
eco-claims remains moderate.
Graph 10: Sustainability Attitude
• Of 99 respondents, the modal response was "Sometimes," with
42.4% of respondents noting that they prioritized sustainability at
that rate. "Often" was chosen by 19.2% of respondents, while
"Never" was chosen by 15.2% of respondents.
39
Graph 11: Sustainable Prioritization
"Rarely" was chosen by 12.1% of respondents, while only 11.1% of
respondents indicated that they "Always" prioritized sustainability when
purchasing clothes. This indicates that while a relatively large percentage
of consumers are thinking about sustainability, fewer are thinking about it
consistently.
• The maximum barrier that consumers identified was "High Prices,"
which had an average score of 3.6 (median = 4.0), indicating that it
was scoring medium to strong in terms of a decision-making barrier.
Limited availability also scored similarly high (average = 3.5
(median = 4.0) in terms of barrier to purchase. Lack of style options
also scored high, with an average score of 3.3 (median = 3.0), and
don't trust claims at an average of 3.2 (median = 3.0). The minimum
barrier identified was "Not sure what is sustainable, averaged 2.9
(median = 3.0). It is obvious that high prices and limited availability
are the primary barriers for consumers looking to purchase
sustainable fashion.
40
Graph 12: Barriers to Adaption
• Of the 99 respondents, "Lower Prices" was, by far, cited as the most
common motivator with 56.6%. Next, "Better availability in stores"
was also a strong motivator at 53.5%, followed closely by "Proof of
ethical practices (i.e., certifications)" at 49.5%. "Trendier designs"
would motivate 37.4% of respondents, "Awareness campaigns"
would inspire 27.3%, and "Influencer recommendations" were, by
far, the least cited motive at 12.1%. Overall, these findings suggest
that price and accessible stock are critical motivators toward
increased acceptance of sustainable fashion in addition to
legitimate examples of ethical practices.
41
Graph 13: Adoption Motivators
• Wherever "social media" was considered an influential source for
awareness, "brand ads" influenced awareness at an average rate
of 3.3 and a median rate of 3.0. Where "news articles" and "fashion
influencers" were also around areas, they scored 3.1 (average) and
3.0 (median) and 3.0 (average) and 3.0 (median) respectively.
Graph 14: Awareness influencers
42
Where the lowest average influence, but not the lowest median influence
score came from NGO campaigns at 2.8 (average) and 3.0 (median).
Altogether: social media and brand direct marketing are now stronger
awareness influencers than traditional news or NGOs.
• The majority of the 100 respondents were men, accounting for 70%
of the total, while women made up 30%. This suggests that the
survey's sample is predominantly male.
Graph 15: Gender Demographic
• The largest income bracket represented in this sample of 100
respondents was "Above 100000 INR" which represents 30% of
respondents. The bracket "25000-50000 INR" represented 23%,
while both "50001-75000 INR" and "75001-100000 INR"
represented 16% each. The "Under 2500 INR" category
represented 15% of respondents. This suggests differing income
levels among the respondents. However, we should note the higher
portion at the top end of the income brackets.
43
Graph 16: Income Demographics
• Out of 100 respondents, over half (59%) reported the highest level
of education to be a Postgraduate. With undergraduates accounting
for 32% of respondents, and with "School only" accounting for a
small four percent, there were a further five percent of reported
education levels remaining in an unlabelled category.
Graph 17: Education level Demographics
4.2 Qualitative analysis
This analysis reviewed interviews with three Indian consumers: A journalist
(Respondent A, Tier 1 Delhi), A Student (Respondent B, Tier 2 Dehradun), and
44
HR professional (Respondent C, Tier 1 Delhi) indicating a tension between
sustainability ideals and purchasing behaviour. There were five related themes
that resulted indicating barriers and push factors alongside technology for eco-
fashion adoption
4.2.1 Defining Sustainability: Environmental and Social dimension
All of the respondents conceptualized sustainable fashion through two lenses
environmental stewardship for organic materials, waste management and social
responsibility for supporting artisans, equitable labor. Essentially, Respondent A
spoke to "eco-friendly clothing supporting artisans", and Respondent C stated
"ethical production which includes fair treatment, less water, no harmful dyes." In
contrast, Respondent B's definition focused more on habits of action e.g.,
"reusing or repairing." While recognizing this holistic view of sustainable fashion
the environment outweighed the social aspect in their daily choices with social
values not making it to the decision-table during purchases.
4.2.2 The Price Barrier: Overriding Intentions
Repeatedly, respondents demonstrated that price sensitivity dominated
sustainability intentions. Respondent A reported that for the Diwali season, they
bought a ₹500 polyester kurta rather than a three thousand five-hundred-rupee
handloom kurta "it was all I could afford." Respondent C described a similar
scenario. Respondent C constantly had to make tradeoffs in clothes purchases
for weddings, generally deciding on fast fashion due to the significant (30-40%)
price differential. Respondent B summed up this tension, explaining that eco-
options "feel like the second choice right now," unless they had identical prices.
Respondents indicated price thresholds were important when making responsible
eco-purchases. Respondents B and C indicated they could pay at least a 10%
price premium for an eco-friendly option, while 30% or more would discourage
eco-purchasing. Also, consumers placed a lot of emphasis on what they needed
immediately (e.g., gifts or for events)—price eclipsed eco-alternatives.
45
4.2.3 Trust Deficits and Greenwashing Skepticism
There was considerable variability in participants' trust, and confidence in brands'
sustainability claims. Specifically, participants B and C cited examples of their
own experiences with greenwashing: Participant B mentioned a t-shirt that was
labeled "eco" but had only 10% recycled content, and Participant C stated a brand
claimed "100% organic" with no substantiation. Both B and C felt third-party
certifications (GOTS, Fair Trade) and full supply-chain transparency were non-
negotiable, which was a reconciliation before they would trust a brand. In
contrast, Participant A had reportedly never been misled and relied on "brand
reputation and where it's made". Thus, it is possible that Tier 1 consumers (i.e.,
those most exposed to brands, including their fine print) may be more forgiving in
the short-term, while Tier 2 respondents want proof before putting their faith in a
brand.
4.2.4 Culture Heritage and Social Norms
India's legacy of textiles (khadi, handloom) was a significant influence on
perceptions. Were it properly acknowledged, Respondent A related (with pride)
to "India's textile revolution"; and Respondent C noted that "heritage makes
sustainability seem nearer". However, expectations of social norms regarding
occasion wear resulted in tensions when navigating sizing, material, and quality
concerns. Everybody agreed that reused outfits were okay if "well made"
(Respondent C) or "nice" (Respondent A), but "looking new" remained important
for celebrations. Respondent B appreciated that social media aims to drive this
desire (albeit norms are gradually relaxing). Further, influencers had varying
impacts on each respondent-some were impressed, like Respondent A who
bought a suit endorsed by Salman Khan; while Respondent B either ignored or
put no weight on their ethics.
4.2.5 Routes to Adoption: Style, Proof, and Systems Change
Three universal drivers for recurrent sustainable purchases emerged
46
• Style parity: Respondents expected designs that were as stylish
as fast fashion (Respondent A: "good looking"; Respondent C:
"suitable for urban lifestyles").
• Accessible value: price (Respondent B), durability, and
responsibility in the form of rebates for returning product
(Respondent C).
• Verifiable proof: certifications and disclosure in sourcing
(Respondents B, C). On the issue of change agents, opinions
differed. Respondent A saw responsibility as solely resting with
brands; Respondents B and C argued for collaboration where
brands provided affordable options, NGOs raised awareness, and
governments offered incentives for sustainable practice.
4.2.6 Strategic Considerations
Brands must solve the price–style–trust trifecta by introducing affordable
occasion wear (₹500- 1,500), certifying everything (GOTS/Fair Trade), and
working with influencer celebrities to promote khadi as "modern heritage".
Policymakers need to subsidies artisan cooperatives to help mitigate the cost
differentials, and for NGOs, there is potential to improve certification literacy on
social media. Most importantly, sustainability in khadi needs a reframing as
aspirational, using cultural pride and walking the talk on values and style. As
Respondent C said, "Don't just talk sustainability, make it stylish and affordable,
and ensure transparency."
4.2.7 Final Thoughts
Consumers in India have an overwhelming principled interest in sustainable
fashion, but there are practical barriers preventing play: expensive pricing,
unsubstantiated claims, and a lack of style. The challenge is getting to a point
where sustainable fashion becomes a choice that embodies cultural values;
something that consumers cannot resist. Brands that deliver heritage-inspired
patterns and colors at fast-fashion prices - with legitimate proof of their choices -
can create a bridge between consumer values and behaviour. The end goal is to
47
have ethical fashion be a celebration of India's identity and creativity not a
compromise.
48
5 DISCUSSIONS
The discussion section interprets the findings of this thesis in relation to
sustainable fashion as a whole, directly addressing the study problem and more
specific research questions, reflecting on limitations of the study, and providing
practical suggestions for stakeholders. It combines the various insights gained
from the quantitative survey, qualitative interviews, and secondary data analysis
to inform the informed understanding of fast fashion sustainability awareness by
Indian consumers.
5.1 Addressing the Research Problem
The main research issue identified was the low level of understanding of
sustainable fast fashion awareness of Indian consumers, despite an increase in
the global conversation around ethical consumption and environmental
sustainability. This study is intended to explore and understand the current
awareness and understanding levels as well as information sources that shape
these perceptions.
5.1.1 The Awareness-Action Gap in Indian Fast Fashion
The problem statement identifies a critical gap in the literature related to
awareness of sustainable fast fashion among Indian consumers. This gap is
especially significant considering India's place among the largest markets for
fashion in the world as the sixth largest fashion market worth over $125 billion
and estimated to double to over $250 billion by 2030. While the opening context
outlines an apparent and profound "behavioral paradox" in this rapidly growing
market, 68% of urban Indians profess to be environmentally concerned, and less
than 5% of total sales are for sustainable apparel. This indicates a broad gap
between professed values and behavior and signifies a critical gap in the
literature especially related to an Indian context. The tension of this paradox
appears to stem from national cultural principles of resourcefulness and long-
term use of clothing, which emphasized durability and ethical manufacturing and
49
quickly adopted Western-style disposability. This suggests that the underlying
issue at play is more than a lack of information but rather entwined cultural values,
socioeconomic realities and overconsumption. Therefore, understanding
consumer awareness in India requires recognizing this deeply embedded duality.
5.1.2 Bridging Knowledge Gaps through Mixed-Methods Research
This study used a mixed-methods research design, including quantitative
(survey, scale-based responses) and qualitative (semi-structured interviews)
methodologies, plus an extensive data analysis of secondary research.
Quantitatively surveying 101 Indian consumers gave us a broad understanding
of overall consumer awareness, attitudes, and purchasing behaviors, which helps
to observe broader trends and statistical preferences at a larger level. On the
other hand, the qualitative component particularly the semi-structured interviews
with three Indian participants (a journalist from Tier 1 Delhi, a student from Tier 2
Dehradun, and an HR professional from Tier 1 Delhi), provided richer discussions
and insight. We discussed the deeper meanings of consumer decisions, the
individual's meanings of sustainable fashion, their consumer experience with
sustainable and fast fashion goods, and the influence of culture, personal
experiences and media on their decision-making. This mixed-methods approach
is particularly useful in assessing the behavioral paradox that we have noted in
the problem statement. The quantitative data tells us about the size of the gulf
between awareness and action, and the qualitative data tells us about the
underlying causes of the gap. The triangulation of data sources increases the
credibility of the findings and helps build a stronger, more complete picture of
consumer behavior.
5.1.3 Integration of Primary and Secondary Data for Holistic
Understanding
Secondary data provided vital foundational and contextual understanding for the
primary findings helped to contextualize trends already in existence and
confirmed the conclusions drawn regarding awareness of sustainable fast fashion
in India. Contextualized information included India's value and position in the
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global textile economy, existing consumer understandings, and policy contexts.
The secondary sources were formal and informal in nature and included diverse
sources of information these included industry reports from prominent firms such
as McKinsey, BCG, and Textile Exchange, corporate sustainability disclosures of
leading fashion brands and retailers, recent articles from trade publications,
academic publications, and publications and campaigns from non-governmental
organizations (NGOs). For additional context, government announcements of
new regulations and market research on consumer trends were also included in
this comprehensive background. By synthesizing diverse secondary data
contexts, the analysis supplies a critical macro-based context to the micro
consumer perceptions identified in the primary research. Overall systematic
issues can be indicated such as consumers' inability to verify claims with data,
the absence of the exact metrics regarding textiles in national databases by
government and the lagging sharing of data by government. These macro-level
institutional challenges offer an immediate explanation of why consumer attitudes
exhibit trust deficits such that larger systemic challenges matter in how individual
purchasing decisions are informed.
5.2 Answers to the Research Questions
This section directly addresses the primary research question and its three
objectives by synthesizing the findings from the quantitative survey, qualitative
interviews, and secondary data.
5.2.1 Level of Awareness and Understanding of Sustainable Fast Fashion
The study aimed to understand the overall level of awareness and understanding
of sustainable fast fashion among Indian consumers.
Familiarity with Key Terms
The quantitative survey captured a range of familiarity with a variety of
sustainable fashion terminology. "Sustainable Fashion" and "Organic Cotton"
resulted in the highest mean familiarity. Overall, while consumers can recognize
basic sustainable terminology, and have captured a wide range of knowledge,
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their lack of familiarity with terms like "Greenwashing" and "Circular Economy"
suggest that their knowledge is shallow. This knowledge gap leaves consumers
vulnerable to unethical marketing tactics and limits their capacity to fully
understand the systemic solutions needed for sustainability.
Consumer Attitudes Towards Sustainability
The survey examined consumer perception of sustainability and showed that the
cost of sustainable clothing is perceived as a serious barrier. The response,
"sustainable fashion is too expensive for me," received the highest average
agreement score. Respondents also indicated that they would not be willing if
asked to pay more for sustainable clothing. The statement "I would be willing to
pay 20% more for sustainable clothing," had the lowest average agreement of
indicating respondents were hesitant to even indicate support for any specific
price premium. The high levels of agreement on price as a barrier, and low
willingness to accept any premium suggest that most Indian consumers do not
perceive enough value in sustainable fashion to justify paying a higher price. This
raises an important economic barrier that cannot be solved simply by awareness.
Sustainable Prioritization in Purchasing Behavior
When asked how often they consider sustainability when purchasing clothing, the
most prevalent answer selected among the 99 respondents was the answer of
"Sometimes." This distribution suggests that while a substantial percentage of
respondents considered sustainability, and sustainability is not behind the
majority of the participants' purchases. The low rate of individuals who
consistently prioritized sustainability, in addition to the general feelings of guilt
and feelings of practically considering their other impacts, provides a clear
example not only that people often ignore their guilt but a clear example of the
attitude-behavior gap. Thus far, sustainability now would appear to be with
qualification for respondents, often subject to price and convenience more than
a formal principle for purchasing.
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5.2.2 Awareness of Environmental and Social Impacts of Fast Fashion
The study assessed the extent to which Indian consumers are aware of the
environmental and social impacts of the fast fashion industry.
Environmental concerns
Consumers in India exhibit excellent awareness of the environmental
consequences of fast fashion. The survey results suggest that "Chemical use in
dyeing" was the top environmental concern with the highest awareness level
among respondents, which indicates general awareness of environmental
impacts by the surveyed group. The degree of awareness of environmental
impacts indicates that consumers largely understand the negative implications of
fast fashion. This puts us in a good position for interventions that can focus on
solutions and enabling sustainable behaviour as opposed to just raising
awareness of the problem.
Social Issues
Individuals also showed considerable concern for the social issues that exist
within the fast fashion system. "Child Labour" was the social issue of greatest
concern for the highest percentage of respondents, which highlighted the serious
concern all respondents had towards these ethical issues. The significant
awareness of social injustices such as child labor and low wages demonstrates
an ethical awareness among Indian consumers. This suggests that incentives
linked to social responsibility and environmental protection might serve as
powerful stimuli for some consumers to engage in sustainable consumption if
action barriers are eliminated altogether or disregarded.
5.2.3 Awareness of Sustainable Alternatives in the Fashion Industry
The research found limited awareness of sustainable fashion certifications
among Indian Consumers. This significant lack of knowledge around specific
certifications creates a significant "verification gap" for consumers. Even if
individuals claim that they want to buy sustainable options, they lack the practical
knowledge to verify claims made by brands, leaving them vulnerable to
53
greenwashing and limiting the growth of actual sustainable options in the
marketplace. Also, the survey clearly showed the main barriers that exist for
Indian consumers who want to adopt sustainable fashion. The highest barrier was
"High Prices", which reiterates that the issue isn't a total lack of understanding
conceptually, but a set of practical barriers to purchasing. The clear significance
of high prices and limited availability suggests that for most Indian consumers
practical barriers prevail over any principled interest in sustainability. This is a
major barrier for the market to penetrate beyond niche segments, which suggests
that for sustainable fashion to grow, the product must compete on both
convenience and cost and not just appeal to ethical consideration. Also, the
survey results around motivators for adoption, did identify what would motivate
Indian consumers most to adopt sustainable fashion. Lower Prices were a far
more common motivator than any other.
5.2.4 Sources of Information Shaping Consumer Understanding
"Social media" and "brand ads" were identified as stronger influencers of
awareness than news or NGOs. On average, the effects of "brand ads" impacted
awareness fairly evenly. The literature highlights the omnipresent pattern of
social networks (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tik Tok, etc.) that
constitute a lifestyle for a significant portion of society, serving as a major form of
communication for influencers seeking to elicit sustainable consumption
motivating behaviour. In their qualitative analysis, the participants exhibited
mixed opinions about the influence of influencers; for example, one participant
spoke about being impressed by the endorsement of a celebrity, while another
participant did not even perceive endorsement by influencers or discounted their
manipulated ethics. In general, the pervasiveness of digital platforms, particularly
social media and direct brand engagement, leads to the presumption that these
platforms are the most reliable information transmitters of sustainable fashion in
54
India. Established in the previous discussion, it is necessary for stakeholders to
focus on digital forms of marketing rather than conventional sources of media in
order to successfully reach the target audience.
NGO campaigns received the lowest average influence score of all the sources
listed. NGOs are useful assets for brands to improve sustainability practices, and
develop accountability within the industry, but the direct effect on consumer
awareness using current NGO campaign methods appears to be negligible. It
seems clear that NGOs will need to adjust the way they communicate using more
influential digital channels and perhaps even pursue direct partnerships with
brands and influencers to extend their ownership of the overall message and
reach the consumer in a new way.
There is a growing engagement and interest from consumers towards purchase
decisions that include eco-labeling and organic compositions, which suggests
that consumers are increasingly considering the need for more sustainable
consumption. However, the issue of 'greenwashing,' where organizations provide
vague, questionable, or false claims to suggest pro-environmental behaviors,
greatly nullifies consumer trust. A qualitative analysis of trust revealed a lot of
variability; some participants insisted, using personal experience of
greenwashing as a benchmark, on trusted third-party certifications (GOTS, Fair
Trade), and wanting full supply-chain transparency as a deal-breaker.
5.3 Limitations and Future Research
The demographic limitations of the sample, which were male, well-educated,
higher income, younger urban adults, indicate that it is not generalizable to the
broader diverse Indian consumer base. This suggests awareness and behaviour
will also be different for other parts of the population, particularly low-income, low-
education, or residents of a different geographical area, so caution is warranted
in relation to "widespread awareness".
The analysis of secondary data indicated a structural problem in the Indian
context: the inability to consistently verify sustainability claims due to a lack of
55
comprehensive textile metrics in the national database. For instance, the
Framework for the Development of Environment Statistics (FDES) does not
contain any specific textile indicator, specifically relating to dye wastewater
transparency or evidence of microplastic pollution. Furthermore, the national
databases we accessed were complicated by the poor timeliness of data release
from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF), which can
take as long as 3-5 years. This structural lack of transparency creates consumer
uncertainty and ultimately perpetuates greenwashing. The qualitative interviews
reinforced this issue, as participants mentioned their relevant personal
experiences of being deceived by greenwashing and explicitly asking for third-
party certification to trust brands. Thus, the lack of national data infrastructure
and the occurrence of greenwashing creates a structural trust deficit that
undermines consumer trust in sustainable claims as well as the ability of
policymakers to act. This is a structural challenge that goes beyond the individual
consumer—they cannot even make real sustainable decisions when they want
to, never mind have a framework for making sustainable textile-based decisions.
The linear way fashion produces does not support sustainability by extracting
natural resources, producing inexpensive clothing, and throwing away garments
after limited use and altogether better illustrates the unsustainability of 'cheap'
garments, particularly in lower price retailing. Further, most engagement with
sustainability has been voluntary and piecemeal, as they basically deal with parts
of a systemic change, picking and choosing parts of the system and not making
systematic changes throughout their complex global supply chain. In short, these
issues leave uneven progress on addressing sustainability at scale in the fashion
industry. The lack of common definitions, and the segmented and voluntary
fashion system are largely related to consumer confusion and skepticism. If the
actual fashion industry cannot agree on what being sustainable is, it will be almost
impossible for consumers to understand, or trust, sustainable fashion - simply
deepening the perceived hurdles of not knowing what sustainable is and not
trusting sustainable claims.
56
5.4 Directions for Future Research
Future research should work to take the trends and barriers identified in this study
and develop them into concrete and actionable recommendations for business
and policy makers, shifting from descriptive to prescriptive. Research should also
focus on how to develop and test tangible interventions for addressing the
attitudes-behaviour gap, through negotiating the main barriers, especially around
price sensitivity and establishing consumer trust in sustainability claims.
Research also needs to develop a fuller understanding of collaborative networks.
That is, we need to understand whether, and how, partnerships between brands,
NGOs, and governments have worked to improve consumer awareness and
engagement, and whether that has changed consumer behaviors in sustainable
fashion.
It is also important to develop further understanding of how culture influences
consumer engagement with sustainable fashion. For instance, it is important to
look at how to develop culturally relevant approaches to framing sustainability
and consumer engagement. In India, with its rich textile cultures and heritage, the
potential exists for meaningful engagement using approaches that will be
culturally appropriate.
Future studies should seek to examine consumer behavior using the mixed-
methods approach because they provide an in-depth understanding of complex
phenomena. Future researchers should also experiment with other bibliometric
databases such as Science Direct, Web of Science, or Dimensions, as well as
sophisticated bibliometric tools such as CiteSpace, Gephi, or HistCite that have
greater capabilities to visualize and analyze citation networks and co-authorship
collaborations while tracking changes through time, as these bibliometric
methods deepened and improved insights into the ever-evolving research
landscape.
57
5.5 Recommendation
From a detailed analysis of the primary and secondary data, the following
recommendations are proposed for different stakeholders to be able to have
sustainable practices in the Indian fashion industry. Therefore, the
recommendations hope to close the awareness-action gap identified and build a
more sustainable fashion ecosystem.
5.5.1 For Policymakers
The Consumer Protection Act (2019) should be given every chance to tackle false
environmental claims greenwashing, which include prison terms and fines, and
truthful advertising via product labelling and liability options. This is vital because
of massive environmental impacts such as polluting rivers, along with social
issues like child labour and low salaries in the Indian textile industry.
Policymakers should also create national consumer awareness initiatives to
educate consumers on the importance to consumers and the specific meaning of
"sustainable fashion" certification labels, including: Bureau of Indian Standards
(BIS) certification, the ISO (ISO14021), the GOTS label, Sustainable Apparel
Coalition's Higg Index, the Made in India Handloom Brand, the Indian Standard
for Organic Textiles (ISOT), Silk Mark, and Better Cotton Initiative (GOS). This is
vital because there is a massive gap in the certification recognition of consumers.
Policymakers should develop financial incentives such as tax rebates, grants, or
subsidies to businesses developing clean material innovations, sustainable
production technologies (solar units, waterless dye processing), and developing
circular economy models. It is important to provide financial incentives to explore
sustainable options, which can then be incorporated to lower prices for
consumers, thus tackling the key barrier of "High Price". Policymakers should
provide support for the research of cultural influences on consumer behavior and
use mixed-methods approaches to identify practical plans for sustainable
consumer uptake, keeping in mind generational differences, and with better
coordination of state-level statistics to link local-level consumer participation to
production locations.
58
5.5.2 For Consumers
Consumers need to search for well-made, quality clothing that will last, and
choose quality over fashion. This is consistent with traditional Indian cultural
mores of being resourceful and making our clothes last a long time. When
possible, consumers should take advantage of clothing swaps, donating or selling
clothes that are barely used, and renting clothes, which can all help with
extending the life of clothing and will greatly reduce the amount of textile waste
entering local and global landfills and waterways - and help promote the idea of
a circular economy. Consumers should look for labels and descriptions that
include recycled content, such as recycled polyester made from PET bottles,
recycled polyester made from textile waste, or biomaterials when they shop.
Consumers are encouraged to learn about reputable sustainable fashion
certification and eco-labels, such as GOTS, Fair Trade, BCI, BIS Certification,
ISO, Made in India Handloom Brand, Indian Standard for Organic Textiles (ISOT),
and Silk Mark.
Consumers are advised to shift from low immediate price to a longer time horizon
for value added in clothing with sustainable practices, including durability, ethical
production, and the benefits of sustainability. Buying one sustainable piece is
better than buying five cheap fast fashion pieces. Fewer quality sustainable
pieces rather than more cheap fashion pieces is consistent with the practice of
conscious consumption and will allow consumers to reduce the overall volume of
consumption.
Consumers can leverage their purchasing power and social engagement to
support sustainable fashion by sharing their knowledge and sustainable choices
with family and friends. Although social media may encourage consumers to
desire new looks, the social norms are relaxing around equation reused outfits,
making a socially positive influence possible. Reaching out to brands via social
media to request they be more transparent about their garment supply chain and
ethical practices, along with supporting awareness campaigns of NGOs and other
organizations engaged in sustainable fashion, all contribute to the industries and
our activity behavior.
59
5.5.3 For Future Research
Future research should include turning the patterns and barriers that were
revealed into tangible, tangible solutions for the business and policy world which
would necessitate not only descriptive work, but also some prescriptive. This
study has diagnosed the issue, and the barriers underlying it, and it now needs
the practical, the "how-to" for addressing the awareness-action gap while
addressing strategies and real-world interventions. Future research should
continue to look at the about how brands, NGOs and government work in
collaborative networks intentionally to create changes in consumer awareness
and behaviour. Future research must develop a better understanding of the
cultural contexts of which are involved for consumers in relation to scouting
fashion in India.
Future Most research should continue to apply mixed-method methods, as they
continue to give more complete insight into consumer behaviour since each
provides rich and robust understanding of complex phenomena. They should also
consider different bibliometric databases such as Science Direct, Web of
Science, or Dimensions, and advanced bibliometric tools like CiteSpace, Gephi,
or HistCite. The latter also provides pros in the form of visualization for citation
networks, co-authorship networks, and changes over time, will narrow and
broaden the insight and meaning of an evolving research landscape.
5.5.4 Conclusion
This thesis was to investigate Indian consumers' cognizance and comprehension
of sustainable fast fashion. The study was intended to contribute to the
understanding of how best to facilitate sustainable practices in the Indian fashion
industry.
The study identifies an "attitude-behaviour gap" amongst Indian consumers. The
actual survey reveals a high level of cognizance of the environmental and social
issues surrounding fast fashion don't translate into sustainable dispositions or
behaviors. The barriers to engaging in sustainable fashion practices are seen as
relatively high pricing and limited availability. Indian consumers commonly
60
respond to sustainable fashion with "Sustainable fashion is too expensive for me"
and are generally unlikely to pay even a minor premium for sustainable clothing.
There is also a low level of trust in sustainable clothing, given an inbuilt skepticism
toward brands' eco-claims and a lack of any depth of common knowledge about
sustainable certifications.
Digital sources, social media, and direct brand advertising are the most powerful
sources shaping consumer awareness. They're also now the most powerful
sources to engage consumers with, just as powerful or more powerful than NGO
campaigns or local news media. India's rich textile history, including traditions
such as khadi and handloom, provide a culturally relevant narrative to promote
sustainable fashion. Sustainable fashion can be presented as cultural stories
framed as aspirational vessels of national identity, not as frugal choices. The
chasm between fast fashion desires and sustainable fashion offers a rich
substrate for insurgent practices for Indian designers and consumers alike.
Indians are principled supporters of sustainable fashion, non-participation is
constrained because they perceive higher prices, claims to unproven sustainable
practices, and a lesser fit to replace short-lived fashion as barriers. The primary
challenge is transforming sustainable fashion from a niche, compromised option
for active supporters into a desirable, value-centric option based on their societal
and cultural values. Brands able to deliver heritage-inspired patterns and colors
at reasonable prices, while using legitimate and auditable proof of their
sustainable choices, could help bridge the gap between consumer values and
consumer behaviour. The hope that this will generate an ecosystem whereby
ethical fashion will be recognized as a part of Indias identity and creativity rather
than just an ethical challenge and burden. Movement in this space requires
rigorous collective action across businesses, policymakers and consumers, as
well as continued research and flexibility, to meet evolving consumer needs and
expectations.
61
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7 APPENDICES
Survey Questions
1. Have you purchased clothing in the past 6 months
Yes
NO
2.What is your age group
18-25
26-35
36-45
above 45
3.How often do you buy new clothes?
Every week
Every 2-3 weeks
Monthly
Every 3-6 months
Rarely
4.Which brands do you shop from most often?(more than one)
Zara/ H&M / Uniqlo
Myntra / Nykaa Fashion Reliance trends / Max
Indian sustainable brands (e.g., Doodlage, Upasana, No Nasties)
Local market/ Unbrand
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Others
5.What is the primary reason for choosing this brand?(More than one)
Price
Trendy Design
Brand Reputation
Sustainability claims
Convenience
Quality
6.Rate your familiarity with this terms: (1=Never heard, 5+ very familiar)
Fast Fashion
Sustainable Fashion
Greenwashing
Circular Economy
Organic Cotton
7.Which environmental impacts of fashion are you aware of?(more than one)
Water Pollution
Carbon Emissions
Textile waste in landfills
Chemical use in dyeing
Microplastic Pollution
None of the above
8. Which social issues in fashion production concern you? (More than one)
Low wages for workers
Child labor
Unsafe working conditions
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Gender discrimination
None of the above
9. Do you recognize these certifications? (More than one)
GOTS (Global organic textile standard)
Fair trade
BCI (Better Cotton Initiative)
None
I don't know what this mean
10.Attitudes & Behavior Agree or disagree: (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly
Agree)
I feel guilty about buying fast fashion.
I trust brands’ “eco-friendly” claims.
Sustainable fashion is too expensive for me.
I would pay 20% more for sustainable clothing.
I actively seek sustainable options when shopping.
11.In the past year, how often did you prioritize sustainability when buying
clothes?
Always
Often
Sometimes
Rarely
Never
12. What stops you from buying sustainable fashion?
(Rate on scale 1 to 5 on how much it affects you)
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1
2
3
4
5
High Prices
Limited availability
Lack of style options
Don't trust claims
Not sure what is sustainable
13.What would motivate you to buy sustainable fashion? (More than one)
Lower Prices
Better availability in stores
Proof of ethical practices (e.g., certifications)
Trendier designs
Influencer recommendations
Awareness campaigns
14.How much do these sources influence your awareness? (1 = Not at all, 5 = Very
much)
Social media
News articles
Fashion influencers
NGO Campaigns
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Brand advertisements
15. Demogarphics
Male
Female
16.Approximate monthly household income (INR):
Under 25000
25000-50000
50001-75000
75001-100000
Above 100000
17.Education:
School only
Undergraduate
Postgraduate
18.What does “Sustainable Fashion” mean to you?
19.What would make sustainable fashion more appealing to Indian consumers like
you?
20.Have you purchased clothing in the past 6 months?
Yes
No
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21.Rate your familiarity with these terms?
1
2
3
4
5
Fast Fashion
Sustainable Fashion
Greenwashing
Circular Economy
Organic Cotton
Interview Questions
• "What comes to mind when you hear the term "sustainable fashion?"
Ans:
• "Could you give examples of brands/actions you consider sustainable?"
Ans:
• "How important is sustainability when shopping for clothing? Why?"
Ans:
• "In our survey, you mentioned that you occasionally buy from [H&M/Zara]. "Tell
me about your last purchase there."
Ans:
Follow up:
• "What pushed you to buy it?"
Ans:
• "Did sustainability come to mind? What prevented you from choosing
environmentally friendly options?"
Ans:
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• "You identified 'price' as a significant barrier. Could you describe a time when
you chose fast fashion over sustainable alternatives because of the cost?"
Ans:
Follow up:
• "Would a 10% price difference influence your decision? "What about 30%?"
Ans:
• "How do you react when brands call themselves 'eco-friendly' or 'ethical'?"
Follow up:
Ans:
• “Have you ever felt misled by such labels? "Can you describe that
experience?"
Ans:
• "What proof (e.g., certifications, reports) would make you trust a brand?"
Ans:
• "Do influencers talking about sustainability influence your decisions? How?"
Ans:
Follow up:
• "Have you ever bought/unfollowed due to an influencer's stance on ethics?"
Ans:
• 7. "How do your family/friends view sustainable fashion?"
Ans:
Follow up:
• "Would you wear reused wedding/occasional attire? "Why, or why not?"
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Ans:
• "Is 'looking new' important in your social circle?"
Ans:
• "Does India's textile heritage (e.g., khadi, handloom) influence your view of
sustainability?"
Ans:
• "What would make you buy sustainable fashion regularly?"
Ans:
Follow up:
• "Should brands, governments, or non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
lead this change? How?"
Ans:
• "Imagine your ideal sustainable brand—what would it offer?"
Ans:
• "Any advice for brands trying to reach Indians like you?"
Ans:
• "Last details to ensure we include diverse voices:"
• Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 cities(which city you are from)
Ans:
• Occupation: Student, Professional, Homemaker, or Other
Ans:
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• "On a scale of 1-5, how aware are you of fashion's environmental impact?"
Ans:
