From Fast to Slow: Can influencers make us shop more sustainably? : A quantitative study investigating the impact of influencers and their communities on fashion purchase intent and circular behavior

Sammanfattning: Research questions:  How do social media influencers affect fashion purchase intent? How is slow fashion behavior affected by social media influencers?                                 Purpose:                  The purpose of this paper is to investigate the possible effects that social media influencers have on slow fashion behavior, in addition to explore the effects of social media influencers on fashion purchase intent. Method:                   This research was conducted through a quantitative study and the data was collected using an online survey. The survey was constructed and distributed in collaboration with a research group at Mälardalen University.  Conclusion:             This study confirms that influencers have the possibility to influence consumers’ behavior and provides initial insight into how their communities can affect consumers. The study concludes that influencers can persuade consumers to purchase fashion products online. However, there is ambiguity into how much influencers affect consumers. The study showed that the relationship between influencers and their communities is not clear, and especially how the two concepts interact in the way they influence consumers to behave more sustainably. Despite the complex relationship, both have the capability to positively and negatively affect consumers’ slow fashion behavior. While consumers may not employ all behaviors favorable in the slow fashion movement, any positive behavior will make a difference.