Sustainable Clothing Consumption in Uncertain Times: Measuring the Effectiveness of an Extended Theory of Planned Behavior Model during COVID-19 and Post-COVID-19

The research explores the application and temporal validity of an extended theory of planned behavior model during and after COVID-19 and investigates demographic disparities of consumer behavior evolution concerning sustainable clothing consumption after the COVID-19 pandemic. Although Theory of Planned Behavior is a well-known behavioral theoretical framework, there are few studies investigating its measurement invariance over time, especially comparing its variance across two important moments in the economic evolution, like COVID-19 and post-COVID-19. This study extends the literature on sustainable clothing consumption by addressing the gap and examining COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 shifts in trends and differences across the two groups, particularly within the under-studied Romanian context. Our study used an online questionnaire distributed during and after the COVID-19 pandemic to collect data from 2,331 Romanian consumers. Data analysis was performed to identify differences between the two distinct groups. First, we tested the effectiveness of the model and the reliability of the predictors, followed by the measurement of invariance for the model. Then, we investigated structural path differences among the two groups, and we concluded with non-parametric tests for examining differences among the temporal dimension and main predictors. Our findings contribute to the existing literature on sustainable clothing consumption by exploring the main drivers and underscoring the applicability of the theory of planned behavior to understand changes in consumer behavior during and after a health crisis such as COVID-19 in Romania by pointing out structural path differences for our research framework. Moreover, we shed light on the impact of temporal factor on sustainable attitudes and purchase intention toward sustainable clothing during COVID-19 and post-COVID-19.