A circular economy paradigm has recently emerged to combat environmental pollution and climate change around the world. In the fashion industry, circular fashion has been spotlighted as an environmentally friendly approach to fashion products. The purpose of this study was to investigate consumers’ value and risk perceptions, product attitudes, and behavior intentions toward circular fashion consumption. Specifically, this study focuses on three types of circular fashion products from textile waste: reused clothing, upcycled clothing, and recycled clothing. The moderating role of individualism was also explored. Survey data from 850 consumers in their 20s and 30s in Korea were collected to test our hypotheses. The results showed the influence of emotional value was the greatest, while economic risk and performance risk did not affect product attitudes. A moderating effect of individualism was found in the paths between perception dimension and product attitudes and between product attitudes and behavior intention. These findings can help retailers and marketers create more tailored retailing and promotional strategies.

As the rapid economic growth and over-consumption within the largest population worldwide has resulted in harmful environment deterioration, a shift to more sustainable consumption behaviors is required in China. Although public interests in sustainability have increased and consumers’ attitudes are positive, their behavioral intentions are not consistent with attitudes. This study aims to uncover psychological drivers and barriers (consumption values, social norms, and attitudes to sustainable apparel products) of Chinese consumers’ behavioral intentions toward sustainable apparel products (SAP) by exploring the attitude–behavioral intention gap. Online survey data were used to examine the moderating impacts of consumption values and social norms on relationship between Chinese consumers’ attitudes and behavioral intentions toward SAP. Results from moderating regression analysis suggest that (1) Chinese consumers’ SAP attitudes had a strong positive effect on the purchase intention toward SAP, (2) aesthetic values positively moderated the relationship between the SAP attitude and purchase intention, whereas conspicuous values negatively moderated the relationship, and (3) utility values and social norms did not show any significant moderating influences on the relationship between the SAP attitude and purchase intention. Our study validates the attitude–behavior gap model in sustainable consumer behavior and discusses how the current findings can assist researchers and practitioners in the Clothing and Textiles field alike to fine-tune sustainable programs and marketing strategies in China.

This study explored the conceptual constructs of consumer benefits and perceived risks of online fashion rental services (Online FRS) and their impacts on usage intention towards Online FRS. The mediating roles of perceived risks and service trust were examined in this research. A survey was performed on female shoppers between the ages of 20–30 residing in a metropolitan area. Results of this research were as follows: (1) The results analyzing the sub-dimension of benefits (Reasonable cost, Wearing at right time, place and occasion (TPO), Space Saving, Entertaining, Product Variety, Style Conformity) and perceived risks (Financial, Performance, Social) clearly presented factorial structures. (2) Reasonable cost, Style Conformity, and Product Variety showed significantly positive influences on usage intentions towards online fashion rental services; in addition, Financial, Performance, and Social risks of rental services had a negative effect on usage intentions. (3) Service trust and consumer perceptions of Financial and Performance risks had important mediating roles in the relationship between consumer benefits and usage intentions towards Online FRS. This study highlighted that consumer benefits, perceived risks, and service trust should be registered among consumers to boost usage intentions towards Online FRS.

This study examines determinants of the consumption behavior of upcycled fashion products in China. Theoretical and empirical evidence from the upcycled fashion consumption and related literature are used to develop a model to explain consumers’ buying intention toward upcycled fashion products. Environmental consciousness, consumer knowledge of upcycled fashion fabrics, and perceived risks of upcycled fashion products are proposed as key factors (i.e., motivators and barriers) of behavioral intention toward the purchase upcycled fashion products. Hypothesized antecedents of buying intentions toward upcycled fashion are included in the theoretical model, which was tested using structural equation modeling analysis on data from a sample of 397 consumers in China. Environmental consciousness encompassed two factors and was therefore divided into environmental concerns and importance of environmentally conscious behavior. Perceived risks at the time of purchasing upcycled fashion products showed three factors: social, financial, and performance risk perceptions. After examining the impact of environmental consciousness and perceived risks on purchase intention toward upcycled fashion products, this study found that both factors had statistically significant effects on purchase intention. In addition, the study revealed that knowledge of upcycled fashion materials was mediated in the relationship to explain the impacts of Chinese consumers’ perceived importance of conscious behavior and perceived risks of upcycled fashion products on their intention to purchase upcycled fashion products. In other words, to increase the purchase intention toward upcycled fashion products, it is necessary to raise Chinese consumers’ environmental knowledge of upcycled fashion materials, while improving the importance of conscious behaviors and reducing the perceived risk. The implications of the findings for public policy and as guidelines for future research are outlined and discussed.

Crystal violet (CV) is an organic chloride salt and a triphenylmethane dye commonly used in the textile processing industry, also being used as a disinfectant and a biomedical stain. Although CV is widely used, it is carcinogenic to humans and is retained by industrial-produced effluent for an extended period. The different types of metal oxide (MO_x) have impressive photocatalytic properties, allowing them to be utilized for pollutant degradation. The role of the photocatalyst is to facilitate oxidation and reduction processes by trapping light energy. In this study, we investigated different types of metal oxides, such as titanium dioxide (TiO₂), zinc oxide (ZnO), zirconium dioxide (ZrO₂), iron (III) oxide (Fe₂O₃), copper (II) oxide (CuO), copper (I) oxide (Cu₂O), and niobium pentoxide (Nb₂O₅) for the CV decomposition reaction at ambient conditions. For characterization, BET and Raman spectroscopy were applied, providing findings showing that the surface area of the anatase TiO₂ and ZnO were 5 m²/g and 12.1 m²/g, respectively. The activity tests over TiO₂ and ZnO catalysts revealed that up to ~98% of the dye could be decomposed under UV irradiation in <2 h. The decomposition of CV is directly influenced by various factors, such as the types of MO_x, the band gap–water splitting relationship, and the recombination rate of electron holes.