June 18, 2021: Recognized at the annual conference of the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, Hae Jin Gam, associate professor, fashion design, received the 2020 Best Paper in Apparel, Textiles and Merchandising Award for her article titled “The Effects of Health Consciousness on the Purchase Intention of Environmentally Sustainable Textile Furnishing Products.” Published in the September 2020 issue of the Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, the article was a collaboration with Ui-Jeen Yu, professor of fashion design and merchandising, Illinois State University, Normal, Ill., and Somang Yang, graduate student, Auburn University, Auburn, Ala.

The article investigated “what influences consumers’ purchase intentions toward environmentally sustainable textile furnishing products.”

Contrary to the prevalent view of purchasing environmentally friendly products as socially responsible behavior, Gam said this study employed health consciousness to understand consumers’ purchase intentions toward environmentally sustainable textile furnishing products. We found that consumers’ health consciousness was an important antecedent of influencing the purchase intention toward environmentally sustainable textile furnishing products, she said.

Article Abstract: The environmental and health issues in using textile furnishing products have grown, but previous studies have not investigated health-related antecedents that influence consumers’ purchase intentions of environmentally sustainable textile furnishing products, ESTFP. This study examined the antecedent role of health consciousness influencing consumers’ attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and purchase intention regarding ESTFP. Analysis of data from an Internet-based survey of 302 U.S. shoppers indicated that consumers with a higher level of health consciousness were likely to have more favorable attitudes, stronger subjective norms, greater perceived behavioral control, and consequently stronger purchase intentions toward ESTFP. The results support the effect of consumers’ health consciousness on ESTFP and extend the application of the theory of planned behavior to the purchase of textile furnishing products.

At the annual conference, Gam also was one of the panelists for the conference session, “Research Integrity and Ethical Practices to Shape a Healthy Research Environment.” The content of the panel presentation is scheduled to be published in the September 2021 issue of FCSRJ.

To read the award-winning article, log in to the UNT Library.