How Brands Communicate Sustainability to Consumers: A Comparison Between Luxury and Fast Fashion Brands

Kendall Ludwig; Huantian Cao

doi:10.55845/jos-2026-22128

Authors

Kendall Ludwig Department of Fashion & Apparel Studies, University of Delaware https://orcid.org/0009-0004-9701-2709
Huantian Cao Department of Fashion & Apparel Studies, University of Delaware https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1754-2821

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55845/jos-2026-22128

Keywords:

Brand Communication, Fast Fashion, Luxury, Sustainability, Voyant

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the ways in which luxury and fast fashion brands were communicating sustainability to consumers via their e-commerce websites. Ten luxury and seven fast fashion brands were included in the research and Voyant Tools was utilized in the text analysis. There existed no significant differences in the length and readability of sustainability pages between the luxury and fast fashion brands. All fast fashion brands and 70% of luxury brands have sustainability pages accessible in one click from the homepage. Recommendations for brands included making text easy to read, using easily identifiable names for sustainability pages, locating the pages at the bottom of the homepage, and loading the page in one click. The similarities and differences in using sustainability terminology between luxury and fast fashion brands were identified and recommendations were made. This study was helpful for brands in preparation for sustainability legislation that requires consumer involvement.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Albella, E., Balchandani, A., Cornbleet, N., & Lee, L. (2022, June 28). In search of fashion’s sustainability seekers. McKinsey & Company. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/in-search-of-fashions-sustainability-seekers

Aleem, A., Correia Loureiro, S. M., & Ricardo, G. B. (2024). Luxury fashion consumption: A review, synthesis and research agenda. Spanish Journal of Marketing - ESIC, 28(2), 144-164. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/SJME-06-2021-0105

An, H., & Park, M. (2020). Approaching fashion design trend applications using text mining and semantic network analysis. Fashion and Textiles, 7(1), 1–15. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40691-020-00221-w

Boardman, R., & Chrimes, C. (2023). E-commerce is king: creating effective fashion retail website designs. In Pioneering new perspectives in the fashion industry: disruption, diversity and sustainable innovation, E. L. Ritch, C. Canning, J. McColl (Eds.), pp. 245-254, Emerald Publishing Limited. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80382-345-420231020

Brydges, T., Henningerd, C. E., & Hanlon, M. (2022). Selling sustainability: investigating how Swedish fashion brands communicate sustainability to consumers. Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy, 18(1), 357-370. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15487733.2022.2068225

Cheah, I., Shimul, A. S., & Teah, M. (2023). Sustainability claim, environmental misconduct and perceived hypocrisy in luxury branding. Spanish Journal of Marketing - ESIC, 27(3), 306-323. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/SJME-02-2022-0012

Coleman-Liau Index Readability Calculator. Readabilit. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.readabilit.com/readability/coleman-liau-index

Dach, L., & Allmendinger, K. (2014). Sustainability in corporate communications and its influence on consumer awareness and perceptions: a study of H&M and Primark. Procedia, Social and Behavioral Sciences, 130, 409–418. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.04.048

Di Leo, A., Sfodera, F., Cucari, N., Mattia, G., & Dezi, L. (2023). Sustainability reporting practices: an explorative analysis of luxury fashion brands. Management Decision, 61(5), 1274–1297. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-02-2022-0142

Djogo, N., & Morrison, M. (2020). Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M): Should fast fashion slow down? The Eugene D. Fanning Center for Business Communication, Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781529780475

Euromonitor. (2022, 16 May). Voice of the consumer: Lifestyles survey 2022. Retrieved from https://www.portal.euromonitor.com/Analysis/Tab

European Parliament. (2024, March 21). The impact of textile production and waste on the

environment (infographics). Retrieved from

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/topics/en/article/20201208STO93327/the-impact-of-texti

le-production-and-waste-on-the-environment-infographics

Evans, S., & Peirson-Smith, A. (2018). The sustainability word challenge: Exploring consumer interpretations of frequently used words to promote sustainable fashion brand behaviors and imagery. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 22(2), 252–269. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JFMM-10-2017-0103

Fisher, G., Bull, K., Downing, P., Taylor, I., Junaid, F., & Russel, S. (2026). Extended producer responsibility fees on clothing – would consumers notice? Cleaner and Responsible Consumption, 22, 100446. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clrc.2026.100446

Franco, J.C., Hussain, D., & McColl, R. (2020). Luxury fashion and sustainability: Looking good together. The Journal of Business Strategy, 41(4), 55-61. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JBS-05-2019-0089

Hetenyi, G., Lengyel, A., & Szilasi, M. (2019). Quantitative analysis of qualitative data: Using voyant tools to investigate the sales-marketing interface. Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management, 12(3), 393–404. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3926/jiem.2929

International Labour Organization. (2023, April). The Rana Plaza disaster ten years on: What has changed? Retrieved from https://webapps.ilo.org/infostories/en-GB/Stories/Country-Focus/rana-plaza#bangladeshi-garment-sector

Jiyeon, G. (2021). A study on the content analysis capabilities of voyant tools-targeting the letters of the southern presbyterian missionary W. Junkin. Humanities, 123, 107-136. Retrieved from https://kiss.kstudy.com/Detail/Ar?key=3924934

Jung, S., & Ha-Brookshire, J. (2017). Perfect or imperfect duties? Developing a moral responsibility framework for corporate sustainability from the consumer perspective. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 24(4), 326–340. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1414

Kunz, J., May, S., & Schmidt, H. J. (2020). Sustainable luxury: Current status and perspectives for future research. Business Research, 13, 541-601. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40685-020-00111-3

Lee, H., Ko, E., & Lee, S. (2023). The effect of luxury brands’ sustainable fashion marketing types on authenticity, brand attitude, and purchase intention. Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science, 33(4), 497–512. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/21639159.2023.2248154

Lee, Z., Gordon-Wilson, S., Davies, I., & Pring, C. (2024). Communicating about sustainability in fashion: A construal level theory approach. European Journal of Marketing, 58(1), 313-341. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-09-2021-0701

Li, J., & Leonas, K. K. (2022). Sustainability topic trends in the textile and apparel industry: a text mining-based magazine article analysis. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 26(1), 67–87. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JFMM-07-2020-0139

Li, M., & Zhao, L. (2023). Exploring global fashion sustainability practices through dictionary-based text mining. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 41(3), 175-190. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0887302X21998268

Luo, S., Henninger, C. E., Le Normand, A., & Blazquez, M. (2021). Sustainable what ...? The role of corporate websites in communicating material innovations in the luxury fashion industry. Journal of Design, Business & Society 7(1), 83–103. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1386/dbs_00021_1

Luo, S., Henninger, C. E., Le Normand, A., & Blazquez, M. (2025). Gen Y consumer perceptions of web-based sustainability communications - the case of luxury fashion. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 33(4), 467-483. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0965254X.2022.2160483

Moore, K. (2019, June 5). Report shows customers want responsible fashion, but don’t want to pay for it. What should brands do? Forbes. Retrieved from www.forbes.com/sites/kaleighmoore/2019/06/05/report-shows-customers-want-responsible-fashion-but-dont-want-to-pay-for-it/#416a60001782

Morgan, R. M., & Hunt, S. D. (1994). The commitment-trust theory of relationship marketing. Journal of Marketing, 58(3), 20-38. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/002224299405800302

Neha, Joshi, P., & Kumar N. (2024). Sustainable marketing initiatives and consumer perception of fast fashion brands. Textile & Leather Review, 7, 104-124. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31881/TLR.2023.170

O’Keefe, H., Rankin, J., Wallace, S.A., & Beyer, F. (2023). Investigation of text-mining methodologies to aid the construction of search strategies in systematic reviews of diagnostic test accuracy — a case study. Research Synthesis Methods, 14, 79-98. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jrsm.1593

Pencarelli, T., Ali Taha, V., Škerháková, V., Valentiny, T., & Fedorko, R. (2020). Luxury products and sustainability issues from the perspective of young Italian consumers. Sustainability, 12, 245. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su12010245

Pretner, G., Darnall, N., Testa, F., & Iraldo, F. (2021). Are consumers willing to pay for circular products? The role of recycled and second-hand attributes, messaging, and third-party certification. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 175, 105888. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105888

Quiles‐Soler, C., Martínez‐Sala, A.M., & Monserrat‐Gauchi, J. (2023). Fashion industry's environmental policy: Social media and corporate website as vehicles for communicating corporate social responsibility. Corporate Social - Responsibility and Environmental Management, 30(1), 180-191. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.2347

Quinn, M. (2024, October 2). What’s next now that California’s EPR for textiles law has passed. Waste Dive. Retrieved from https://www.wastedive.com/news/california-textile-epr-law-fast-fashion-next-steps/728707/

Ramasubramanian, B., Tan, J., Chellappan, V., & Ramakrishna, S. (2023). Recent advances in extended producer responsibility initiatives for plastic waste management in Germany and UK. Materials Circular Economy, 5, 6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42824-023-00076-8

Roberts-Islam, B. (2021, October 18). Organic Water-Saving Claims False, Declares Cotton Myth-Busting Report. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/brookerobertsislam/2021/10/15/organic-water-saving-claims-false-declares-cotton-myth-busting-report/

Sampsel, L. J. (2018). Voyant tools. Music Reference Services Quarterly, 21(3), 153–157. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10588167.2018.1496754

SanMiguel, P., Pérez-Bou, S., Sádaba, T., & Mir-Bernal, P. (2021). How to communicate sustainability: From the corporate web to e-commerce. The case of the fashion industry. Sustainability, 13, 11363. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su132011363

Schumann, F. R. (2022). Using voyant tools for data mining social media comments about a destination: a Guam study. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism, 20(2), 106-118.

Shin, J.-Y., Suk, J., Chung, J.-E., Arai, K., & Arai, K. (2023). Consumer responses to fashion in the metaverse: A text-mining analysis on online news comments. Advances in Information and Communication, 651, 12–24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28076-4_2

Smith, P. (2024, May 22). How important sustainability is to consumers when making purchasing decisions for apparel, fashion, and footwear worldwide in 2022 [Graph]. Statista. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1303946/sustainability-importance-apparel-purchase/

Statista Research Department. (2024a, August 19). Market share of the leading fast fashion companies U.S. 2020-2022 [Graph]. Statista. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/study/165271/fast-fashion-e-commerce/

Statista Research Department. (2024b, March). Luxury fashion brand popularity in the U.S. [Graph]. Statista. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/insights/consumer/brand-profiles/2/15/luxury-fashion/united-states/#contentBox2

Strübel, J., Goswami, S., Kang, J. H., & Leger, R. (2023). Improving society and the planet: Sustainability and fashion post-pandemic. Sustainability, 15, 12846. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su151712846

Sustainable Packaging Coalition. (n.d.). Extended producer responsibility - SPC's guide. Retrieved from https://epr.sustainablepackaging.org/

Voyant Tools. (2023). Voyant Tools Help. Retrieved from https://voyant-tools.org/docs/#!/guide/about

Wei, X., & Jung, S. (2022). Benefit appeals and perceived corporate hypocrisy: Implications for the CSR performance of fast fashion brands. The Journal of Product and Brand Management, 31(2), 206-217. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-04-2020-2850