The Norwegian textile and apparel industry : the emergence of a new ethics law

Abstract

To this date, the majority of textile and apparel companies worldwide have strict secrecy around their suppliers and production facilities, and consumers have few rights in terms of access to and knowledge of how goods are produced. As a response, “Framtiden i Våre Hender” initiated a petition for an ethics law in 2015, which are now up for debate within the Norwegian Government. The goal of this law is to give consumers and organisations the right to request information regarding the working conditions under which goods are manufactured. The purpose of this thesis was to further explore the proposed Norwegian ethics law, and its effect on consumer behaviour. As trust is an important element in influencing consumer behaviour, we investigated whether trust have an effect on consumers’ behavioural intentions. In addition, involvement with social consumption was investigated as a source strengthening this relationship. The industry tested in this thesis is the textile and apparel industry, social consumption encompasses consumers’ interests in ethical purchasing and corporate social responsibility, the behavioural intentions are defined in terms of a) seeking for additional information and b) avoiding repurchasing, and trust is measured by two dimensions; benevolence and credibility. Through a within-subjects design, this thesis identified that consumers were more willing to seek additional information, with the availability of an ethics law, when the firm was perceived as less benevolent and credible. However, we revealed that less trust in the benevolence- and credibility of the firm had a low explanation rate towards consumers’ willingness to avoid repurchasing from the brand. Hence, we recommend marketing managers to increase transparency and factory list disclosure, which will help in building and maintaining their relationship with the consumers, in addition to reinforce its reputation as a trustworthy party.