Ethical Fashion Consumption Scale

What it measures

Measures consumer attitudes and intentions toward ethical fashion consumption — including concern for environmental impact of fashion production, concern for labour conditions and social justice in fashion supply chains, and willingness to pay a premium for ethically produced clothing. Increasingly relevant given growing attention to fast fashion's social and environmental costs.

Response format

Likert (1–5, strongly disagree to strongly agree)

Scale items

• I try to buy clothing from companies that treat workers fairly.
• I consider the environmental impact of clothing before I buy it.
• I prefer fashion brands that use sustainable materials.
• I try to avoid buying clothes made in sweatshops.
• I am willing to pay more for ethically produced fashion.
• I consider the labour practices of clothing brands before purchasing.
• I seek out fashion brands with transparent and ethical supply chains.
• I try to buy fewer, better-quality clothing items rather than fast fashion.

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Three subscale scores. Score = mean per dimension. The attitude-behaviour gap is particularly pronounced in ethical fashion — consumers express ethical concern but purchasing is driven by price and style. Ethical fashion purchase intentions are stronger when brand sustainability is highly visible and quality is maintained.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Joergens, C. (2006). Ethical fashion: Myth or future trend? Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 5(4), 360–371.

Keywords