Influence of consumers' trust and knowledge in eco-labels on price premium of eco-labeled clothing in Thailand

A typical clothing production is known to have various negative sustainability impacts. Along with the UN sustainable development goals in responsible consumption and production, consumption of more sustainable clothing has to be promoted. Seemingly, more consumers are interesting in purchasing sustainable clothing products. However, lack of reliable information, regarding environmental performance of products tend to be one of the main barriers in purchasing sustainable clothing products. The use of third-party certified eco-labels has been implied to one of effective solutions to this hindrance.Eco-labels have been broadly used and suggested to positively impact consumption of sustainable products, in various countries. Nevertheless, few research works have been found to be in the context of sustainable clothing in Thailand. Besides, third-party certified eco-labels are not widely used in Thailand, especially in the clothing industry. This has been suggested to be due to lack of consumers’ willingness to pay more for eco-labeled products, along with high cost in applying for the labels. Many research studies have implied that two of the main factors affecting consumers’ preference in the increased price of eco-labeled products the include trust and knowledge in the eco-labels. Nonetheless, no research has been found to clarify these influences in the context of eco-labeled clothing in Thailand.In order to elucidate the consumers’ perception on the price premium of eco-labeled clothing, concerning their trust and knowledge in eco-labels, quantitative research has been conducted by a survey on consumers living in Thailand. A set of collected data from 386 people living in Thailand with the age between 18-60 years old has been analysed. The results have indicated that, for both third-party certified and self-declared eco-labeled clothing in Thailand, 72.5% and 59.1% of the consumers, respectively, are willing to pay higher price than that of the conventional clothing. Among the consumers who are willing pay higher price for eco-labeled clothing, most of them are willing to pay up to 20% higher price for the clothing with eco-labels attached. Besides, consumers are willing to pay higher price for clothing with a third-party certified eco-label attached, as compared to that with a self-delcared eco-labels attached. Also, the study confirms the potential of third-party certification in enhancing consumers’ trust in eco-labels, along with the price premium of the labeled clothing. Moreover, consumers’ trust in eco-labels, despite the types of labels, has been found to positively impact the price premium of clothing with eco-labels attached. On the other hand, impact of consumers’ knowledge in eco-labels on the price premium of eco-labeled clothing is not significant.