Traceability to farm and factory, country of manufacturing, and apparel purchase scenario

Abstract

In recent years, traceability and transparency have been emerging issues in the textile and apparel industry. For companies to be transparent, accessibility and information comprehensiveness are important aspects. The ease of accessing comprehensive records about products' history is described as traceability. Implementing traceability empowers firms to reinforce consumers' confidence in the integrity of their products and brand value. In response to the growing ecommerce platform for apparel businesses, and consumers' increasing interest in farm and factory information along with country of manufacturing, this study specifically examines the effect of traceability on consumers' attitudes towards apparel advertising and purchase intentions. The results of 552 responses through a 2x2x2 between-participant experiment design showed that traceability impacted consumers in their apparel purchase scenarios. Female consumers had an increase in their perceived ad credibility, attitude towards web pages and products, and purchase intentions. This study is significant for companies using US cotton and seeking to be more transparent, as might consider including the origin of cotton fibers to increase their sales and to come across as genuine. Findings suggest that including such information might support US cotton farmers and USA manufactured apparel products, as COM as USA increased female consumers' purchase intentions.