ABSTRACT
India’s demographic dividend in terms of a young population is an economic asset. The youth of the country is contributing to various sectors of the economy, and many industries see the young generation as an open market, especially the fashion industry. However, the fast fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world. This study explores consumer behavior and perceptions regarding fast fashion, focusing on factors such as frequency of shopping, influences on purchasing decisions, and awareness of the environmental impact associated with fast fashion. Data collection was done by carrying out a survey of 139 participants based on a standard questionnaire. The survey targeted a diverse demographic, capturing data on age, gender, and monthly income/pocket money, to understand how these variables affect shopping habits. 45 % of women shopped “every few months”, whereas 55 % men shopped “rarely”. The females (45 %) who earn more (>60,000 INR/month), shop more frequently, as compared to males (30 %). The findings reveal that the frequency of clothing purchases is influenced by a combination of social pressures, personal confidence linked to wearing trendy clothes, and the perceived affordability of fast fashion, with over 81 % attributing feeling confident to dressing well. While fast fashion is popular for its trendy and budget-friendly clothing, the findings reveal a concerning gap between consumers' awareness of its environmental impact and their purchasing decisions, for instance, 66 % respondents found the quality of fast-fashion products subpar to sustainable products, however, only 24 % would be willing to pay a higher price for sustainable products. A lack of awareness, only 24 % males and 12 % females acknowledged being aware of sustainable practices, and higher prices of sustainable brands deter the youth from opting for these products, with over 30 % opting not to pay more for a sustainable brand. While a sizeable percentage, nearly 80 % of respondents, acknowledged the environmental impact of fast fashion, fewer respondents, only 10 %, considered this impact when making purchases, indicating a gap between knowledge and behavior. The study suggests that increased brand transparency and consumer education could foster a shift towards more sustainable fashion choices. Increasing consumer engagement with sustainable fashion, ethical practices in manufacturing processes, and the introduction of initiatives that improve sustainability can go a long way in promoting sustainable consumption and achieving SDG 12.
AUTHOR AFFILIATIONS
1 Department of Botany & Interdisciplinary Centre for Environment and Development, Hansraj College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India
2 Hansraj College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India
CITATION
Koul M, Tiwari A, Khanna K, Bisht RR and Garg S (2025) Impact of Fast Fashion Trends and Knowledge of Environmental Impact on Consumer Behaviour: Promoting Process Safety and Responsible Consumption (SDG 12). Environmental Science Archives 4(2): 521-530.
REFERENCES
Agreement P (2015) Paris agreement. Paris United Nations.
Banos-González I, Esteve-Guirao P, Ruiz-Navarro A, et al. (2024) Exploratory study on the competencies in sustainability of secondary school students facing conflicts associated with ‘fast fashion’. Education Sciences 14(7): 694.
Bennetta K and Oeppen Hill J (2022) Educating for change?: An investigation into consumers’ perception of sustainability and the educational drivers needed to support sustainable consumption. International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education 15(3): 418-429.
Bhardwaj V and Fairhurst A (2010) Fast fashion: response to changes in the fashion industry. The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research 20(1): 165-173.
Butturi MA, Neri A, Mercalli F, et al. (2025) Sustainability-oriented innovation in the textile manufacturing industry: Pre-consumer waste recovery and circular patterns. Environments 12(3): 82.
Castro-López A, Iglesias V and Puente J (2021) Slow fashion trends: Are consumers willing to change their shopping behavior to become more sustainable? Sustainability 13(24): 13858.
de Koning J, Lavanga M and Spekkink W (2024) Exploring the clothing overconsumption of young adults: An experimental study with communication interventions. Journal of Cleaner Production 467: 142970.
Garg S, Kumar P, Singh S, et al. (2020) Prosopis juliflora peroxidases for phenol remediation from industrial wastewater — An innovative practice for environmental sustainability. Environmental Technology & Innovation 19: 100865.
Jang J, Ko E, Chun E, et al. (2012) A study of a social content model for sustainable development in the fast fashion industry. Journal of Global Fashion Marketing 3(2): 61-70.
Jones V and Podpadec T (2023) Young people, climate change and fast fashion futures. Environmental Education Research 29(11): 1692-1708.
Karaoglu EO, Candan C, Guven B, et al. (2019) Fast-Fashion: Fast enough to satisfy adolescent girls’ expectations from their clothing. Business Models and ICT Technologies for the Fashion Supply Chain. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-98038-6_6. 67-77.
Khan O, Varaksina N and Hinterhuber A (2024) The influence of cultural differences on consumers’ willingness to pay more for sustainable fashion. Journal of Cleaner Production 442: 141024.
Lang C, Armstrong CM and Brannon LA (2013) Drivers of clothing disposal in the US: An exploration of the role of personal attributes and behaviours in frequent disposal. International Journal of Consumer Studies 37(6): 706-714.
Le MTH (2023) Extending the theory of reasoned action to understand fast fashion by younger consumers. International Journal of Electronic Customer Relationship Management 14(1): 20-41.
National Sample Survey Organisation N (2006) Level and Pattern of Consumer Expenditure, 2004-05 508(61/1.0/1) December 2006 New Delhi Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India.
Mishra V, Sharma U, Rawat D, et al. (2020) Fast-changing life-styles and ecotoxicity of hair dyes drive the emergence of hidden toxicants threatening environmental sustainability in Asia. Environmental Research 184: 109253.
Olivar Aponte N, Hernández Gómez J, Torres Argüelles V, et al. (2024) Fast fashion consumption and its environmental impact: a literature review. Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy 20(1): 2381871.
Papasolomou I, Melanthiou Y and Tsamouridis A (2023) The fast fashion vs environment debate: Consumers’ level of awareness, feelings, and behaviour towards sustainability within the fast-fashion sector. Journal of Marketing Communications 29(2): 191-209.
Pires PB, Morais C, Delgado CJ, et al. (2024) Sustainable fashion: Conceptualization, purchase determinants, and willingness to pay more. Administrative Sciences 14(7): 143.
Raju L and Kumar DV (2025) Biological sludge from textile dyeing effluent treatment plant–Characterization, combustion simulation and its impact on air pollution. Results in Engineering 25: 103850.
Riiho A and Kokko S (2024) Critical pedagogy approach in developing an online course on sustainable fashion to support consumer choices. International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education. DOI: 10.1080/17543266.2024.2435432. 1-12.
Sarkar A (2022) Minimalonomics: A novel economic model to address environmental sustainability and earth's carrying capacity. Journal of Cleaner Production 371: 133663.
Schewitz A (2023) From fast to slow fashion: Raising students’ interest in sustainable fashion through education to foster sustainable behaviour.
Senayah WK and Tei-Narh N (2025) Green buying behavior of students: Implications for SDG 12. Sustainable Practices in the Fashion and Retail Industry. IGI Global Scientific Publishing, pp.275-294.
Suprapto W, Indriyani R and Santoso M (2022) Shopping orientation, status consumption and impulse buying of generation X and Y in purchasing fast fashion products. Jurnal Manajemen Pemasaran 15(2): 110-118.
Teerakapibal S and Schlegelmilch BB (2025) Mind the gap: identifying the chasm between environmental awareness, attitudes and action in fast fashion consumption. International Marketing Review 42(1): 103-127.
Vázquez-Atochero A and Romero-Sanz A (2025) Philosophy of clothing. Fashion as a social vector: Unraveling the influence of digital times. Women's Studies International Forum 109: 103063.
Xiao Y, Liu M and Wu B (2023) The effect of social appearance anxiety on the online impulse purchases of fashionable outfits among female college students during pandemic periods: the mediating role of self-control and the moderating role of subjective socioeconomic status. Psychology research and behavior management. DOI: 10.2147/PRBM.S392414. 303-318.
Zhang B, Zhang Y and Zhou P (2021) Consumer attitude towards sustainability of fast fashion products in the UK. Sustainability 13(4): 1646.
License: Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third-party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. Visit for more details http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.