Environmental knowledge level and consumer behavior regarding green fashion: a moderated mediation model

Purpose Based on the knowledge-attitude-behavior model, this study is aimed at investigating the influential mechanism underlying the purchase of green clothing by dividing this clothing category into green home-in wear and home-out wear within the context of green consumption. The mediating effects of perceived greenwashing (PG), perceived value (PV) and expected moral benefit (EMB) and the moderating effect of green clothing type (GCT) were examined. Design/methodology/approach The data for this study were collected from 366 valid samples through a between-subject design survey administered in China. Moderation analysis and mediation analysis using SPSS/PROCESS macro were applied to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings The results indicate that consumers' level of environmental knowledge (EKL) not only has a direct effect on purchase intention (PI) but also has an indirect effect through perceived value and expected moral benefit. However, perceived greenwashing did not play a mediating role in this relationship. Originality/value The study's findings show a moderating effect of green clothing type (green home-in wear vs green home-out wear). That is, compared to green home-out wear, the relationship between expected moral benefit and perceived greenwashing for green home-in wear had a weaker negative effect on purchase intentions.