A typology of Polish consumers and their behaviours in the market for sustainable textiles and clothing

Abstract

The paper discusses Polish consumers’ behaviours in the market for sustainable textiles and clothing. The analysis presented in this article was undertaken because of: 1. the scarcity of studies on socially responsible consumption in so-called new consumer countries characterized by slowly developing ethical consumer movement; 2. few studies analysing consumer behaviour compared with the volume of literature exploring sustainable development and corporate social responsibility of textile and cloth- ing manufacturers. The typology of Polish consumers presented in this article was developed based on consumers’ buying habits and general apparel selection criteria, and also on ecological and social criteria that other typologies and clothing market segmentations omit. The six types of consumers that emerged from the analysis were described with respect to their specific attitudes to sustainable textiles and clothing. In analysing the consumers’ behaviours, the following aspects were addressed: communication between customers and producers, product differentiation and actual purchases made by consumers.