Closing the value-action gap in sustainable fashion with perceived consumer value

: evaluation of UK Gen-Z consumer attitudes, behaviour, and acceptance of clothing recycling

Abstract

The fashion industry is a significant contributor to global resource depletion and waste, driven by a linear fast fashion model characterised by overproduction and overconsumption. Although circular economy policies increasingly promote textile recycling as a solution, consumer participation remains critically low, with less than 1% of discarded clothing recycled into new garments. This reflects a persistent value–action gap, particularly among Gen-Z consumers, who are highly sustainability-aware yet remain key drivers of fast fashion consumption. Existing research has largely relied on static, intention-based models that conceptualise pro-environmental behaviour such as clothing recycling as a single, discrete act, offering limited insight into sustained engagement and post-behavioural evaluations.
This thesis addresses this limitation by developing and empirically validating an integrated behavioural continuance model that differentiates between initial behaviour and continuance. This is done by integrating the constructs from the theory of planned behaviour, the theory of consumption values and personal norms from norm activation model into the expectation confirmation model processes, thus reconceptualising clothing recycling as a dynamic, multi-stage process encompassing initial behaviour, expectation confirmation, satisfaction, and continuance intention. This framework positions post-behavioural evaluation and perceived consumer value as key mechanisms underpinning sustained engagement of Gen-Z clothing recycling.
Situated within the United Kingdom’s circular economy policy context, the study adopts a quantitative research design. Survey data from 403 Gen-Z consumers were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM) to examine: (a) the role of multidimensional perceived value across behavioural phases; (b) the mediating effects of expectation confirmation and satisfaction; (c) the psychological determinants of continuous recycling intentions; and (d) the moderating influence of subjective norms.
The findings support a theoretically informed phase-dependent approach to recycling behaviour. Value based drivers of initial behaviour differed from those of continuous intention. Initial engagement is shaped by utilitarian factors (functional and conditional value), whereas continuance is strongly predicted by satisfaction, driven by both emotional and utilitarian value dimensions. The study further validates the ECM within a circular economy fashion context, demonstrating that expectation confirmation and satisfaction are central mediating mechanisms linking past behaviour to continuous intention. Additionally, subjective norms exhibit a complex and counterproductive moderating effect, challenging their conventional role as a positive behavioural driver.
Overall, this research advances sustainable fashion scholarship by proposing a behavioural continuance conceptual model for clothing recycling that reframes the value–action gap in theory as a behavioural phase gap. Practically, it offers a staged intervention approach for policymakers and practitioners, emphasising the need to trigger initial action, enhance post-behavioural satisfaction, and reinforce norms strategically to support sustained recycling behaviour and advance textile circularity.

Date of Award	Aug 2026
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Brighton
Supervisor	Francisca Farache Aureliano Da Silva (Supervisor) & Gokhan Aydin (Supervisor)