Study: 34% of Singaporeans would rather purchase sustainably made fashion items

Conversations regarding sustainably made fashion have been on the rise and 34% of Singaporeans are more likely to buy a fashion item with a label that says its sustainably made. More specifically, 26% say the label more likely affects their purchase decision while 8% said it is much more likely to do so.

Interestingly, these green labels have the largest impact on millennials of which 37% say that they are more likely to make the final purchase when an item has a label claiming it is sustainably made. Coming in close are the Gen Zs with 36% who feel this way.

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On the other hand, older consumers, such as the Gen Xs and Baby Boomers, were less moved by sustainability labels with 32% and 29% of them saying it made them more likely to buy a fashion item respectively.

These were the results of a YouGov survey that also revealed that price was the top consideration when buying fashion items with 86% of respondents saying so. Other important factors included design/style/fit at 80% and quality and durability at 64%.

Interestingly, brand name considerations were only mentioned by roughly 14% across the different generations.

Is buying sustainably sustainable?

Among consumers for whom environmental sustainability is not among their top three considerations, 87% say financial pressures brought about by a challenging economic climate has led them to prioritise price over sustainability.

Furthermore, 80% of consumers pointed out difficulties in identifying whether fashion items are sustainably made. Another 69% of respondents highlighted that they struggle with being able to verify or be convinced of sustainability claims.

Strikingly, 57% of Singapore consumers think that fashion brands are not transparent enough in sharing information about how sustainable or ethical their products and operations are.

It will also be increasingly difficult for brands to win back their consumers when they find out they have been misled with 67% of consumers saying they would either purchase fewer items or stop patronising the brand altogether, highlighting the importance of transparency.

In fact, only 25% think fashion brands have been sufficiently forthcoming about the sustainability or ethics of their business, while an even lower 18% are unsure about these practices.

Consumers are also skeptical about major fashion brands and greenwashing claims with 57% believing deceptive or misleading claims about environmental sustainability are made at least some of the time while 17% think this happens regularly.

Conversely, 19% of consumers think that greenwashing rarely happens at all and 24% are unsure about how frequently this happens.

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