The Influence of Social Media Information Sharing on Green Fashion Purchase Intention in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The trend of "Going Green" in fashion has gained considerable popularity, with consumer interest in environmentally friendly and sustainably sourced fashion being significantly influenced by social media content. This paper aims to explore the impact of social media information sharing on green purchasing intentions, focusing on the psychological factors influencing consumer behavior. The study is based on Ajzen’s (1991) Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), which posits that behavioral intention is influenced by attitudes (personal feelings towards a behavior), subjective norms (perceptions of others' opinions), and perceived behavioral control (one's ability to perform the behavior). The research examines the relationship between social media information and these three TPB factors, and their mediating role in green purchasing intentions. A survey-based approach was employed, utilizing online questionnaires distributed via a convenience sampling method to a tech-savvy and fashion-conscious demographic aged 20 to 39 in the Western Province of Sri Lanka. Of the 300 responses collected, data were analyzed using correlation and regression techniques with SPSS 26 software. The findings underscore the significant role of social media information sharing in shaping consumers' attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control, all of which act as antecedents to green fashion purchasing intentions. However, the study reveals that the impact of social media information sharing on green purchasing intentions in the Sri Lankan fashion industry is positive but weak. This suggests that the industry should enhance its use of social media to more effectively influence psychological factors, such as attitudes towards green products, to better promote green fashion.