The Impact Of Social Networking Site Engagement On Consumers Knowledge Of Textile And Apparel Environmental Sustainability

The Textile and Apparel (TA) industry has become increasingly criticized for its massive environmental pollution through unsustainable production and distribution. In addition, key stakeholders are equally recognizing the need for cleaning up the industry. However, TA manufacturers, brands, and retailers need to be more aware of the necessity of sustainable production and distribution. At the same time, TA consumers need to be more aware of the necessity of sustainable consumption, care, and disposal of clothing. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether social networking sites (SNS) have any potential to increase consumer awareness of TA-related environmental sustainability issues. The specific research objectives were to investigate 1) whether engagement with TA-related environmental information in a SNS platform (i.e., Facebook) enhanced participants' knowledge of TA environmental sustainability issues; 2) which format of TA-related environmental information sharing stimulated a higher level of SNS engagement and greater knowledge change; and 3) which content of TA-related environmental information sharing stimulated a higher level of SNS engagement and greater knowledge change. One group pretest-posttest experimental design was used, and mixed method approach was employed. Participants responded to a study-specific textile and apparel environmental sustainability knowledge (TAESK) scale before and after a Facebook experiment. The experiment included engaging with TA environmental information for a two-week period in a Facebook page. The researcher was the creator and administrator of the page. Quantitative data analysis included descriptive statistics, the Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks test, and multiple regression analysis. Qualitative analysis included conventional content analysis techniques. Findings from Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks test indicated that the experiment increased participants' knowledge of TA environmental sustainability significantly (Z= -5.274, p