International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and

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Understanding the purchasing behaviour of

second-hand fashion shoppers in a non-profit
thrift store context

Min Jeong Seo & Minjeong Kim

To cite this article: Min Jeong Seo & Minjeong Kim (2019) Understanding the
purchasing behaviour of second-hand fashion shoppers in a non-profit thrift store context,
International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education, 12:3, 301-312, DOI:
10.1080/17543266.2019.1611945

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/17543266.2019.1611945

Published online: 10 May 2019.

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FASHION DESIGN, TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION
2019, VOL. 12, NO. 3, 301–312
https://doi.org/10.1080/17543266.2019.1611945

Understanding the purchasing behaviour of second-hand fashion shoppers in a

non-profit thrift store context
a b
Min Jeong Seo and Minjeong Kim
a
Department of Fashion Design, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, South Korea; bSchool of Art, Architecture, and Design, Indiana University,
Bloomington, IN, USA

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

This study examines beliefs shaping second-hand shoppers’ attitude and factors driving their Received 28 March 2018
intention to purchase second-hand fashion items. The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) guided Accepted 22 April 2019
the conceptual development of the study. Data were collected via a self-administered online
KEYWORDS
survey. The influences of consumer beliefs (i.e. environment, frugality, and non-profit thrift store) Second-hand shopping; non-
on attitude toward second-hand fashion were empirically tested. The relationships among profit thrift store; consumer
attitude, subjective norms (SN), perceived behavioural control (PBC), and purchase intention for beliefs; theory of planned
second-hand fashion at non-profit thrift stores were also examined. The results indicated that behaviour (TPB)
consumers’ environmental beliefs and beliefs regarding non-profit thrift stores influenced
positive attitude, which had the most significant influence on purchase intention. In addition,
this study revealed that SN did have an indirect effect on purchase intention through impacting
attitudes. The findings from this study make both theoretical and practical contributions.

1. Introduction
Second-hand shopping is gaining popularity globally. In
the U.S., approximately 1 out of every 5 shoppers regu-
larly visits thrift stores (Tully, 2012). Low-income people
and college students having a relatively small budget are
more likely to shop at thrift stores selling gently used
products at lower prices (Cascade Alliance, 2017; Tuttle,
2012). Additionally, people who care about sustainability
are more likely to shop at thrift stores than people who
are indifferent regarding sustainability (Yan, Bae, &
Xu, 2015). One of the leading non-profit thrift stores,
Goodwill, is operating more than 3,300 stores in the
U.S. (Goodwill, n.d.a) and has expanded globally into
13 countries including South Korea, Venezuela, the Phi-
lippines, and Taiwan (Goodwill, n.d.b). In addition to
Goodwill’s global expansion, an increasing number of
non-profit organisations are opening thrift stores to gen-
erate funds to fulfil their social missions, and this creates
the more competitive business environment (Liu, Eng, &
Sekhon, 2014; Mitchell, Montgomery, & Rauch, 2009).
Thrift stores differ from traditional retail stores not
only in their operation management strategies but also
in their retailing strategies interfacing customers (Chat-
toe, 2000; Darley & Lim, 1999; Guiot & Roux, 2010;
Montgomery & Mitchell, 2014). For example, the quan-
tities and assortments of products sold at thrift stores are
unpredictable and extremely limited because product
supplies are based on donations. Broken product assort-
ments, the large variability of product assortment and
varying quality of products sold at thrift stores pose
unique challenges of sustaining the retail business.
There are two types of thrift stores; non-profit thrift
stores (e.g. Salvation Army and Goodwill) and for-
profit (e.g. Unique Thrift Store and Savers) thrift stores.
These different types of thrift stores pursue ultimately
different business goals. For-profit thrift stores work to
maximise profits for their shareholders, whereas non-
profit thrift stores generates revenues to carry out their
humanitarian missions such as helping people, animals,
society, and environment (Aaker, Vohs, & Mogilner,
2010; Chattoe, 2000; Iacovetti, 2010; Liu & Ko, 2014;
Strähle & Klatt, 2017).
From a consumer perspective, consumers have differ-
ent perceptions regarding non-profit vs. for-profit organ-
isations. For example, consumers perceive non-profit
firms to be warmer, but less competent than for-profit
firms (Aaker et al., 2010). Consumers generally show
more positive attitude toward non-profit firms than
for-profit firms (Dickinson & Alison, 2007). Nonetheless
when it comes to actual purchases, consumers show
greater preference for for-profit firms than non-profit
firms because they perceive for-profit firms to have
higher quality products than non-profit firms (Aaker
et al., 2010). Considering such differences in business

CONTACT Min Jeong Seo seoomj1@gmail.com Department of Fashion Design, Chonbuk National University, 567, Baekje-daero, Deokjin-gu, Jeonju-si,
Jeollabuk-do, 54896, South Korea
© The Textile Institute and Informa UK Ltd 2019
302 M. J. SEO AND M. KIM
goals and consumer behaviour, the current study focuses
on the context of non-profit thrift stores to study second-
hand shopping. We postulate that consumer decision-
making in the context of non-profit thrift stores may
differ from the context of for-profit thrift stores. Prior
research in this research domain did not make concep-
tual distinctions between for-profit vs. non-profit stores
and often considered both as thrift stores. To address
this gap, the current study focuses on consumer
decision-making in the context of non-profit thrift stores
and considers consumer beliefs about non-profit stores
as one of the beliefs influencing consumer behaviour at
non-profit thrift stores.
This study examines the underlying psychological
paths by which consumer beliefs influence purchase
intentions for second-hand fashion products. Extant
research in the context of thrift stores has primarily
focused on consumers’ recycling and donation behaviour
(Ha-Brookshire & Hodges, 2009; Joung & Park-Poaps,
2013; Mitchell et al., 2009; Park, Cho, Johnson, & Yurch-
isin, 2017), offering insights into the operational aspect
of thrift stores. Prior research on second-hand shopping
developed motivation scales (Guiot & Roux, 2010),
identified the features of second-hand shopper segmen-
ted by shopping behaviour and motivations (Ferraro,
Sands, & Brace-Govan, 2016), compared shopping
motivations between second-hand fashion and vintage
fashion (Cervellon, Carey, & Harms, 2012), and investi-
gated the effects of store image and attitude on the dis-
tance and frequency of second-hand shopping (Darley
& Lim, 1999). Little is yet known about factors influen-
cing consumers’ attitudes toward purchasing second-
hand products and driving purchase intentions in the
context of non-profit thrift stores. To fill the gap in the
literature, this study adopts and extends the theoretical
framework of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB)
(Ajzen, 1991) to explain the underlying psychological
paths by which consumer beliefs influence purchase
intentions for second-hand products. The overall objec-
tives of this study were two-fold: (1) to examine how
consumers’ beliefs shape their attitude toward purchas-
ing at non-profit thrift stores and (2) to examine how
three key antecedents from the TPB – attitude, subjective
norms (SN), and perceived behavioural control (PBC) –
impact consumers’ intentions to purchase at non-profit
thrift stores.
This study focuses on the product category of fashion
items (e.g. clothing, bags, hats, and accessories) based on
two considerations. First, due to the high volatility of
fashion trends (Barnes & Lea-Greenwood, 2006), fashion
items become quickly outdated even when they are in
good physical condition, leading to a high level of
donation of fashion items at thrift stores. In fact, fashion
items account for a large portion of the sales at non-
profit thrift stores and thus represent an important pro-
duct category for non-profit thrift stores. Second, consid-
ering that the consumer purchase-decision-making
process varies across product categories (Beatty &
Smith, 1987; Moon, Chadee, & Tikoo, 2008), focusing
on a single product category is expected to minimise
variability as a result of different product categories.
The findings from this study are expected to make
both theoretical and practical contributions. For theor-
etical contributions, this study will provide empirical evi-
dence for the application of TPB that has been primarily
used to study consumer adoption of technology in the
context of non-profit thrift stores for fashion items. By
applying the TPB, this study will shed new lights into
consumers’ internal processes of choosing to purchase
at non-profit thrift stores for second-hand fashion
items. These findings complement existing literature lar-
gely focusing on consumers’ donation behaviour.
Additionally, with a focus on non-profit thrift stores,
this study will offer new insights into how consumer
beliefs about non-profit stores will influence consumer
decision-making. For practical contribution, the findings
of the study provide non-profit thrift stores with practi-
cal suggestions for the development of effective retailing
strategy to increase sales revenues and ultimately fulfil
their humanitarian missions.
2. Literature review and hypotheses
development
2.1. Second-hand fashion shopper
Although second-hand fashion is sometimes used as a
synonym for vintage fashion, it is conceptually and oper-
ationally different from vintage fashion (Cervellon et al.,
2012; Strähle & Klatt, 2017; Turunen, Leipämaa-Leski-
nen, & Sihvonen, 2018). Second-hand fashion refers to
gently used clothing sold at lower prices, whereas vintage
fashion refers to authentic and rare style with reference
to a specific timeline or fashion trends and is often
scarce. Some vintage fashion items may have been gently
used, but not all vintage fashion items are used (Cervel-
lon et al., 2012; Turunen et al., 2018; Turunen & Leipä-
maa-Leskinen, 2015). The primary motivations for
buying second-hand fashion are about economic and
ecological reasons, whereas the motivation for buying
vintage fashion is about hedonic or recreational reasons
such as nostalgia and fashion involvement (Cervellon
et al., 2012). Second-hand shoppers are highly economi-
cally-oriented bargain hunters. They shop at second-
hand stores for lower prices and better values than
first-hand shops (Strähle & Klatt, 2017; Xu, Chen,
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FASHION DESIGN, TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION
Burman, & Zhao, 2014). A cross-cultural research by Xu
et al. (2014) showed that the US second-hand shoppers
had a higher economic and hedonic values than Chinese
second-hand shoppers. Second-hand shoppers are con-
sidered as consumers who practice more conscious and
sustainable consumptions (Turunen & Leipämaa-Leski-
nen, 2015).
2.2. Theory of planned behaviour (TPB)
Consumer decision-making is a complex process (Ajzen,
1991). The TPB, which has been widely used to under-
stand consumer behaviour, assumes that consumer
behaviour is not a spontaneous action but the result of
planned behaviours (Smith & McSweeney, 2007).
According to the TPB, attitude toward the behaviour,
subjective norms (SN), and perceived behavioural con-
trol (PBC) influence consumers’ behavioural intention.
Both consumers’ behavioural intention and PBC are pre-
dicted to lead to actual behaviour. In the context of
second-hand shopping at non-profit thrift stores, it is
posited that purchase intentions at thrift stores are
influenced by the following three antecedents: (1) atti-
tude towards purchasing at thrift stores, (2) SN, and
(3) PBC (Ajzen, 1991). The TPB further explains that
consumers’ beliefs about behaviours influence their atti-
tudes toward such behaviours (Ajzen, 1991; De Groot &
Steg, 2007; Pagiaslis & Krontalis, 2014).
2.3. Consumers’ beliefs with regard to second-
hand shopping
By applying a belief-based TPB model, this study exam-
ines and determines important consumer beliefs that
shape consumers’ attitude toward purchasing second-
hand fashion at non-profit thrift stores. Prior research
identified two primary drivers for second-hand shop-
pers; environment and economic factors (Cervellon
et al., 2012; Christiansen & Snepenger, 2005; Guiot &
Roux, 2010; Xu et al., 2014). Additionally, given the
difference in consumer behaviour between for-profit vs.
non-profit thrift stores, this study includes consumer
beliefs about non-profit stores as one of beliefs influen-
cing consumer attitude toward purchasing second-
hand fashion at non-profit thrift store. Hedonic and rec-
reational motivations were not included in this study
because these motivations are closely tied to vintage
fashion rather than second-hand fashion in non-profit
thrift stores (Cervellon et al., 2012). Following and
extending the TPB, the current study examines how
the three beliefs (beliefs about environment, frugality,
and non-profit thrift stores) influence consumer attitude
303
toward second-hand fashion and further examines what
influences purchase intentions at non-profit thrift stores.
2.3.1. Beliefs about environment
Environmental beliefs refer to concerns about environ-
mental problems such as pollution, global warming,
and damage from chemicals (Kilbourne & Pickett,
2008). Environmental concerns have been recognised
as motivations not only for recycling and donation of
clothing and textiles, but also for second-hand consump-
tion (Bianchi & Birtwistle, 2010; Guiot & Roux, 2010;
Joung & Park-Poaps, 2013). Because of environmental
concerns, some consumers reuse or resell their used pro-
ducts rather than throw them into landfills. In the con-
text of second-hand shopping, researchers proposed
environment consciousness as a significant predictor to
purchase second-hand fashion (Guiot & Roux, 2010;
Montgomery & Mitchell, 2014). However, empirical
research findings did not support the direct relationship
between environment beliefs and purchase intention (Xu
et al., 2014) or shopping frequency (Yan et al., 2015).
Research findings showed that ecological consciousness
was indirectly related to purchase intention of second-
hand fashion through bargain hunting (Cervellon et al.,
2012) and recommendation through perceived norms
(Lo, Tsarenko, & Tojib, 2019). Based on literature review,
we posit that consumer beliefs about environment are
likely to lead to positive attitude toward buying
second-hand fashion at non-profit thrift stores. Thus,
the following hypothesis is developed.
H1a: Consumer beliefs about the environment positively
influence consumer attitude toward purchasing second-
hand fashion items.
2.3.2. Beliefs about frugality
Frugality, a core value in American life, has not received
much attention in the context of marketing and consu-
mer behaviour research (Evans, 2011; Lastovicka, Betten-
court, Hughner, & Kuntze, 1999). Frugality refers to ‘a
unidimensional consumer lifestyle trait characterised
by the degree to which consumers are both restrained
in acquiring and in resourcefully using economic goods
and services to achieve longer-term goals’ (Lastovicka
et al., 1999, p. 88). Price and value are particularly critical
to frugal consumers. Frugal consumers prefer to buy
second-hand products because doing so enables them
to purchase high-quality products at much lower prices
compared to new products (Cervellon et al., 2012;
Roux & Korchia, 2006). In addition, frugal consumers
are very careful when buying products in order to
avoid waste (Evans, 2011).
304 M. J. SEO AND M. KIM
The recent economic recession had a profound
impact on consumer behaviour in the U.S. (McGregor,
2009). After the recession hit, U.S. consumers became
more intentional in their spending and in prioritising
essential items for purchase. The concept of frugality
was embraced by many consumers, including especially
the younger generations (Hoyer, Maclnnis, & Pieters,
2013; O’Connell, 2015). Furthermore, frugal consumers
are drawn to environmentally sustainable consumption
under conditions of economic scarcity (Evans, 2011).
Thrift stores such as Goodwill and the British Heart
Foundation showed a dramatic increase in sales during
the period of economic recession, whereas the sales of
first-hand retail shops were substantially down (Charity
shops: Thrift is in, 2014). Thus, it is reasonable to postu-
late that frugal consumers have positive attitudes toward
purchasing second-hand fashion given the economic
benefits of second-hand merchandise. The following
hypothesis was thus proposed.
H1b: Consumer beliefs about frugality positively influ-
ence consumer attitude toward purchasing second-
hand fashion items.
2.3.3. Beliefs about non-profit thrift stores
Webb, Green, and Brashear (2000) defined attitudes
toward charitable organisations as ‘global and related
enduring evaluations with regard to the non-profit
organisations that help individuals’ (p. 300). Based on
this definition, the current study operationalises beliefs
about non-profit thrift stores as consumers’ evaluation
of non-profit organisations’ transparency in terms of
whether they faithfully practice their social missions
with profits generated from thrift stores. Researchers
have found that the public image of charity organis-
ations impacts consumers’ donation behaviour (Mitch-
ell et al., 2009; Webb et al., 2000). Donors are likely to
choose a trusted charity organisation that they believe
will use their donations to accomplish the mission of
the charity organisation. In addition, altruistic consu-
mers are more likely to choose non-profit (vs. for-
profit) thrift stores for donating their used products
(Joung & Park-Poaps, 2013; Koch & Domina, 1997).
In the same vein, if consumers have positive beliefs
about non-profit thrift stores, they are likely to have
positive attitudes toward purchasing second-hand
fashion items. Therefore, the following hypothesis was
proposed:
H1c: Consumer beliefs about non-profit thrift stores
positively influence consumer attitude toward purchas-
ing second-hand fashion items.
2.4. Attitude, subjective norms, perceived
behavioural control, and purchase intention
According to the TPB (Ajzen, 1991), consumer behav-
ioural intention is determined by three factors (i.e. atti-
tude, SN, and PBC), and the relative importance of
these factors in predicting consumer behaviour differs
across situations. Based on Ajzen’s definitions, the
three factors impacting behavioural intentions were
operationalised in the context of second-hand fashion
shopping. Attitude toward purchasing second-hand
fashion refers to a consumer’s overall evaluation of
purchasing second-hand fashion items (e.g. clothing,
bags, hats, and accessories) as favourable vs. unfavour-
able. Research has largely supported that attitude has a
critical impact on consumers’ purchase decisions.
Empirical evidence has shown that positive attitudes
toward purchasing products such as organic food
(Arvola et al., 2008), luxury products (Zhang & Kim,
2013), or counterfeit goods (Kim & Karpova, 2010)
were significantly associated with purchase intention.
In contrast, negative attitudes were related to unwill-
ingness to purchase products. For instance, some
people may perceive second-hand clothes that were
previously owned by unknown people to be unsanitary
and inferior in quality. Guiot and Roux (2010) found
that such a negative attitude toward second-hand
clothes was one of the reasons for rejecting second-
hand consumption. Therefore, consumers’ attitudes
toward purchasing second-hand fashion items are pos-
ited to influence their intention to purchase second-
hand fashion.
H2: Consumer attitude toward purchasing second-hand
fashion items positively influences consumer intention
to purchase second-hand fashion items.
SN refers to perceived pressure from reference groups
such as family and friends about behaviour (Ajzen,
1991). Social pressures have an impact on consumer
behaviour, and reference groups influence consumer
decision-making (Childers & Rao, 1992). When making
a decision, consumers consider what their reference
groups would think about them engaging in a behaviour.
For example, consumers showed higher purchasing
intention when their reference groups had positive
opinions about purchasing organic cotton clothing in
the context of sustainable consumption (Han & Chung,
2014; Kang, Liu, & Kim, 2013).
Hansen, Jensen, and Solgaard (2004) noted that SN
plays a more important role in uncertain and unfamiliar
situations than in ordinary situations. For example, inex-
perienced online grocery shoppers are more likely to be
influenced by information from their families or friends
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FASHION DESIGN, TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION
than other sources of information (e.g. company web-
site and customer service representative). Purchasing
second-hand items may also pose a high social risk
due to the nature of used items (e.g. defects, stains,
and outdated) as well as financial risks due to the
minimal customer services (e.g. no return policy) of
thrift stores. Therefore, the opinions of reference
groups about second-hand fashion shopping may
impact consumer intention to purchase second-hand
fashion items. Thus, the following hypothesis was
proposed.
H3: SN positively influences consumer intention to pur-
chase second-hand fashion items.
PBC in this study is operationalised as consumers’
perception of how easy or difficult it is to purchase
second-hand items. The TPB is an extension of the
Theory of Reasoned Action, with the addition of PBC
to better predict consumer behaviour in the context of
self-efficacy. The prediction of a focal behaviour can be
more accurate by adding PBC (Ajzen, 1991). Higher
PBC is associated with a higher likelihood of performing
the given behaviour (Ajzen, 1991; Kidwell & Jewell, 2003;
Shim, Eastlick, Lotz, & Warrington, 2001). Therefore, the
following hypothesis was developed.
H4: PBC positively influences consumer intention to
purchase second-hand fashion items.
Extending the TPB, this study further examines the
influence of SN on consumers’ attitudes toward purchas-
ing second-hand fashion and PBC. The extended model
is expected to make the TPB more relevant to the context
of second-hand fashion shopping at non-profit thrift
stores. Several studies demonstrated that SNs influence
consumers’ attitudes toward certain consumer behaviour
(Han & Chung, 2014; Hansen et al., 2004; Kim & Kar-
pova, 2010). Consumers whose reference groups have
positive opinions regarding second-hand fashion items
may lead to more positive attitudes toward purchasing
second-hand fashion items compared to consumers
whose reference groups are indifferent or have negative
opinions about purchasing second-hand fashion items.
In addition, SN may be an antecedent of level of control
over purchasing second-hand fashion. Sharing infor-
mation, knowledge, and experience with reference
groups can facilitate certain consumer behaviours (Kim
& Karpova, 2010; Tsai, Chin, & Chen, 2010). If consu-
mers’ reference groups have a positive opinion about
second-hand fashion items, a feeling of uneasiness for
purchasing second-hand fashion items may be lower
than when their reference groups do not approve
second-hand fashion items. Thus, the following hypoth-
eses were posited.
305
H5a: SN positively influences consumer attitude toward
purchasing second-hand fashion items.
H5b: SN positively influences perceived behavioural
control for second-hand fashion items.
3. Method
3.1. Data collection
This study employed a web-based survey using conven-
ience sampling. In order to reach out to broad consu-
mers, two recruitment strategies were used. First, 1,888
email addresses for university students and staff were
obtained through the online directory of a large univer-
sity in USA and email invitations including the web sur-
vey URL link were sent. Second, ten non-profit thrift
organisations operating in the U.S. were contacted with
a request for research collaboration by posting the survey
invitation message and URL link on their social media
sites and/or forward the invitation email with the web
survey URL to their mailing lists. Two out of ten non-
profit thrift organisations contacted agreed to assist in
data collection. All participation was voluntary without
any incentives.
3.2. Instrument development
All measurements were adopted from previous studies
with adequate reliability and validity. Specifically, to
measure environmental belief, recycling importance
was tapped by the three items adopted by McCarty and
Shrum (2001). Belief in non-profit thrift stores was
measured by the five items adopted from Webb et al.
(2000). Frugality was tapped by seven items adopted
from Lastovicka et al. (1999). To address the three factors
of TPB, nine items for attitude toward buying second-
hand fashion products, six items for SN, and two items
for PBC were adopted from De Cannière, De Pels-
macker, and Geuens (2009). Purchase intention was
measured with three items adopted from Kang et al.
(2013). All responses were measured on a 7-point Likert
type scale (1 = strongly disagree; 7 = strongly agree). Fur-
thermore, demographic information (e.g. sex, education,
occupation, income, and etc.) was included at the end of
the questionnaire.
3.3. Sample description
A total of 287 thrift shoppers participated in the web sur-
vey. After deleting incomplete questionnaires, 197
responses were used for data analyses. The ages of
respondents ranged from 18 to 82 and the mean age
was 32.7 years (SD = 15.70) (see Table 1). About 32%
306 M. J. SEO AND M. KIM

Table 1. Sample descriptions of respondents. 20% of the respondents reported annual income of
Charactristcs n % Charactristcs n % $90,000 or higher. About 1 out of 4 respondents pur-
Gender Highest eudcation chased second-hand fashion items two or three times
Male 63 32.1 High School / GED 23 11.7
Female 133 67.9 Some College 47 23.9 in the last 12 months.
Age (M = 32.7 years, SD 2-year College Degree 26 13.2
= 15.7)
18–25 92 47.9 4-year College Degree 50 25.4
26–30 40 20.8 Graduate Degree 51 25.8 4. Result
31–45 13 6.8 Occupation
45–55 22 11.5 Professional/ Technical 36 19.3 4.1. Preliminary analyses
56 or more 25 13.0 Manager/ Official/ 11 5.9
Proprietor An exploratory factor analysis with varimax rotation was
Ethnicity Clerical 13 7.0 conducted with 35 items from all measures (consumer
White/Caucasian 168 86.6 Student 88 47.1
African American 4 2.1 Retired/ Unemployed 13 7.0 beliefs about environment, frugality, and non-profit
Hispanic 5 2.6 Sales 7 3.7 thrift stores; consumer attitude toward purchaisng
Asian 4 2.1 Other 19 10.2
Native American 3 1.5 Annual household second-hand fashion; SN, PBC; and purchased inten-
income tion) in order to assess the dimensionality of the scale.
Other 10 5.2 Less than $30,000 75 39.5
Resident state $30,000 – $49,999 34 17.9 The minimum eigenvalue of 1.0 was used as a criterion
California 11 5.8 $50,000 – $69,999 24 12.6 to manage the number of factors extracted. Only items
Oregon 162 84.8 $70,000 – $89,999 22 11.6
Washington 7 3.7 $90,000 or more 35 18.4
loading greater than .60 on a single factor and cross-
Other 11 5.8 loading at less than .40 on the other factors were
Note: N = 197, Missing value included. included. Exploratory factor analysis yielded 7 factors
containing 22 items using scree plot, accounting for
of the respondents were male and 68% were female. The 78.7 percent of the variance. The extracted 7 factors
participants were predominantly White Caucasian were fairly consistent with original scales (see Table 2).
(86.6%). Close to 40% of the respondents reported The first factor consisted of seven attitude items
annual household income less than $30,000, while nearly (Cronbach’s α = .94). The second factor included the

Table 2. The result of factor analysis.

Factor Cronbach’s Initial % of
Factors/Items loading α Eigenvalue Variance
Attitude toward purchaisng second-hand fashion .940 7.882 25.585
Enjoyable .861
Pleasant .858
Worth the effort .855
Good for me .825
Exciting .775
A waste of time (R) .759
Important .727
Subjective norms (SN) .910 2.476 11.613
Friends who influence my behaviour purchased second-hand fashion at non-profit thrift stores. .903
Friends who influence my behaviour consider it a good idea if I purchase second-hand fashion at .847
non-profit thrift stores.
My friends approve that I purchase second-hand fashion at non-profit thrift stores. .838
Beliefs about environment .813 2.018 10.781
Recycling will save land that would be used as dump sites. .858
Recycling is important to save natural resources. .848
Recycling will reduce pollution. .787
Beliefs about frugality .804 1.647 10.317
I discipline myself to get the most from my money. .889
I believe in being careful with how I spend my money. .854
I am willing to wait on a purchase I want, so that I can save money. .784
Perceived behavioural control (PBC) .815 1.506 7.884
It does not fully depend on me whether or not I will purchase second-hand fashion items at the .906
non-profit thrift stores at least once during the upcoming season.
I do not fully control the fact that I will buy second-hand fashion items at the non-profit thrift .901
stores at least once during the upcoming season.
Beliefs about non-profit thrift stores .736 1.041 7.283
Non-profit thrift stores have been quite successful in helping people in need. .892
Non-profit thrift stores perform a useful function for community. .765
Purchase intention .716 .734 5.189
If I see a non-profit thrift store, I intend to visit the store to purchase a product. .710
The possibility of purchasing a fashion item will increase if I can find the same items in a non- .612
profit thrift store.
Note: R = reverse coded item.
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FASHION DESIGN, TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION 307

Table 3. The result of correlation.

Factors BE BF BNPB SN A PBC PI M SD
BE 1 6.222 .803
BF −.001 1 5.979 .844
BNPB .432** .046 1 5.532 .964
SN .145* .182* .174* 1 5.073 1.263
A .332** .197** .345** .520** 1 5.112 1.286
PBC .147* .063 .041 .172* .209** 1 2.859 1.442
PI .215** .174* .298** .437** .705** .141 1 4.598 1.384
Notes: BE = Beliefs about environment; BF = Beliefs about frugality; BNPB = Beliefs about non-profit thrift stores; SN = Sjubjective norms; A = Attitude toward
purchaisng second-hand fashion; PBC = Perceived behavioural control; PI = Purchase intention.
**p < .01, *p < .05.

three items for SN (Cronbach’s α = .91). The third factor
included three items for beliefs about environment
(Cronbach’s α = .81). The fourth factor included three
items for beliefs about frugality (Cronbach’s α = .80).
The fifth factor included three items for beliefs about
non-profit thrift stores (Cronbach’s α = .74). The sixth
factor included two items for PBC (Cronbach’s α
= .82). The seventh factor included two items for pur-
chase intention (Cronbach’s α = .72).
To measure sampling adequacy, the Kaiser-Meyer-
Oklin (KMO) test and Bartlett’s test were run. The
KMO (.863) was higher than a very good index (.80)
(Mayers, 2013). Bartlett’s test of sphericity value was
highly significant (x2231 = 2738.27, p < .001). The results
indicate the sampling was adequate. Bivariate corre-
lations among all variables were shown in Table 3. Atti-
tude was significantly correlated with all other variables.
A strong correlation between attitude and purchase
intention existed (r = .71, p < .01).
4.2. Hypotheses testing
Path analysis was run with Mplus to simultaneously
examine the hypothesised relationships (see Figure 1).
The tested model was assessed with goodness-of-fit-indi-
ces, x2(7) = 8.53, p > .05, CFI = .99, TLI = .99, RMSEA
= .03, SRMR = .03. Fit indices indicate an acceptable
model fit. Five out of the eight hypothesised paths were
significant at p < .05. The model explained 50.5% of the
variance in purchase intention. The revision of model
was not required because the extracted modification
indices (MI) were less than 4 and the suggested relations
were not supported theoretically.
H1 (a-c) examined the influence of three consumer
beliefs (environment, frugality, and non-profit thrift
stores) on attitude toward purchasing second-hand
fashion items. As predicted, both beliefs about environ-
ment (β = .19, p < .01) and beliefs about non-profit thrift
stores (β = .18, p < .01) were positively related to attitude
toward purchasing second-hand fashion items. However,
beliefs about frugality did not have a significant relation-
ship with attitude. As a result, H1 was partially
supported.
Attitude toward purchasing second-hand fashion
items was positively related to purchase intention (β
= .66, p < .001), supporting H2. Contrary to predictions
based on the TPB, SN and PBC were not related to pur-
chase intention, failing to support H3 and H4. Path
analysis further showed that SN was positively related
to attitude (β = .44, p < .001) and PBC (β = .18, p
< .05) respectively, supporting H5a and H5b (see
Table 4).

Figure 1. Empirically tested path model with standardised estimates.

308 M. J. SEO AND M. KIM

Table 4. The results of hypotheses testing. showed more positive attitude toward buying second-
Paths b SE β p Result hand fashion products at non-profit thrift stores. This
H1a Environment –> A .304 .103 .190** .003 Accepted finding offers empirical evidence connecting consumer
H1b Frugality –> A .165 .089 .109 .063 Rejcted
H1c Non-profit thrift .242 .086 .181** .005 Accepted beliefs about the environment and attitude toward pur-
stores –> A chasing second-hand fashion. In prior studies (Cervellon
H2 A –> PI .707 .065 .656*** <.001 Accepted
H3 SN –> PI .108 .066 .098 .102 Rejcted
et al., 2012; Xu et al., 2014), there have been inconsistent
H4 PBC –> PI −.013 .051 −.014 .797 Rejcted empirical findings about the relationship between
H5a SN –> A .449 .061 .441*** <.001 Accepted environment concern and purchasing behaviours.
H5b SN –> PBC .196 .082 .172* .015 Accepted
Notes: ***p < .001, **p < .01, *p < .05, x2(7) = 8.529, p > .05, CFI = .993, TLI
Although this study does not provide the direct evidence
= .985, RMSEA = .034, SRMR = .034. of the relationship between environmental concern and
A = Attitude toward purchasing second-hand fashion, SN = Subjective norms, behaviour of purchasing second-hand fashion, this
PBC = Perceived behaviour control, PI = Purchase intention.
study demonstrates that environmental concern posi-
tively influences attitude toward purchasing second-
Furthermore, the decomposition of effects was per- hand fashion, and furthermore attitude was a significant
formed in order to examine the mediation effects of atti- predictor of purchase intention.
tude and PBC on the relationship between SN and Despite a common belief about frugality being a main
purchase intention. The results revealed that attitude reason for shopping at thrift stores for low prices and
toward purchasing second-hand fashion items had a sig- empirical evidence to support the influence of beliefs
nificant mediating effect on the relationship between SN about frugality in the context of shopping at thrift stores
and purchase intention (β = .29, p < .001). No mediating (Cervellon et al., 2012; Roux & Korchia, 2006), this study
effect was found for PBC. The direct and indirect effects did not find the influence of beliefs about frugality on
were shown in Table 5. consumer attitude toward purchasing second-hand
fashion items. This unexpected finding perhaps reflects
the shifting trends in second-hand consumptions. With
5. Discussion growing concerns about the environment and sustain-
This study aimed to investigate how consumer beliefs ability, consumers may have turned second-hand shop-
(i.e. environment, frugality, and non-profit thrift store) ping as the alternative consumption way for society
impact attitudes toward purchasing second-hand fashion and environment (Lundblad & Davies, 2016; Strähle &
at non-profit thrift stores. Extending the TPB, this study Klatt, 2017; Yan et al., 2015). The growth of second-
empirically tested the relationships among attitude, SN, hand shopping did not come from consumers with
PBC, and purchase intentions for second-hand fashion financial motivations but may have come from rising
in the context of non-profit thrift stores. The empirical social awareness about the environment and growing
findings of the current study offer useful insights into interest in non-profit works. Purchasing second-hand
understanding non-profit thrift store shoppers. goods is not simply consumption to save money, but a
Consistent with previous studies supporting the practice of altruism such as supporting the community
impact of environmental beliefs on consumer behaviour and helping the needy. Additionally, the abundance of
in the context of donation behaviour (Bianchi & Birtwis- low price fast fashion items in the U.S. market (Strähle
tle, 2010; Joung & Park-Poaps, 2013), the current study & Klatt, 2017) may explain why frugality was not a sig-
strongly supports the influence of consumer beliefs nificant predictor of attitude toward buying second-
about the environment on consumers’ attitude toward hand items in the context of fashion shopping.
buying second-hand fashion items. Specifically, people This study further demonstrated that consumer
who indicated being concerned about the environment beliefs about non-profit thrift stores were positively
related to consumers’ attitudes toward buying second-
hand fashion items. In the context of clothing donations,
Table 5. The direct effect, indirect effect, and total effect of each Ha-Brookshire and Hodges (2009) found that social con-
construct. sciousness was not the major motivation for people to
Effects b SE β p donate even when non-profit stores’ mission to help
Direct effect (SN –> PI) .108 .066 .098 .102 society was emphasised. Perhaps this discrepancy is
Total indirect effect .315 .052 .287*** <.001
SN –> A –> PI .317 .052 .289*** <.001 related to differences between the acts of donating and
SN –> PBC –> PI −.003 .010 −.002 .798 buying. People may engage in donation out of their con-
Total effect .423 .071 .385*** <.001
cern about the environment regardless of their interest in
Notes: ***p < .001.
A = Attitude toward purchasing second-hand fashion, SN = Subjective norms, the mission of non-profit thrift stores. However, when
PBC = Perceived behaviour control, PI = Purchase intention. choosing non-profit thrift stores over other retail options
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FASHION DESIGN, TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION
(e.g. for-profit thrift stores or discount stores with extre-
mely low prices) to buy second-hand items, key motiv-
ations may stem from beliefs about the mission of
non-profit thrift stores. The finding of this study sup-
ports the speculation that consumer decision-making
differs between non-profit thrift stores and for-profit
thrift stores. In this vein, Liu et al. (2014) suggested
that non-profit thrift stores need to develop a moral
brand legitimacy to demonstrate their contribution to
society and the environment when donators visit the
stores.
This study empirically tested the TPB in the context of
second-hand fashion shopping to investigate what leads
people to choose to patronise non-profit thrift stores.
Consistent with prior research conducted in various con-
sumption settings (Arvola et al., 2008; Kim & Karpova,
2010; Zhang & Kim, 2013), this study offers general
empirical support for the TPB in terms of the positive
relationship between attitudes and behavioural inten-
tion. The consumers with more favourable attitudes
toward buying second-hand items had higher intentions
to buy second-hand items at non-profit thrift stores. In
addition, another notable finding is how SN and PBC
impact purchase intention in this study. In the original
TPB, both SN and PBC had a direct impact on behav-
ioural intention. In this study, however, while SN did
have an indirect effect on purchase intention through
impacting attitudes, no direct effect on purchase inten-
tion was found. This suggests a different underlying
mechanism by which SN plays a significant role in the
context of second-hand shopping at non-profit thrift
stores.
Furthermore, PBC had no effect on purchase inten-
tion in this study. Accoridng to Ajzen (1991), a potential
loss of predictability of PBC can occur in an unknown or
unfamiliar situation. This may suggest that the context of
second-hand shopping is unlikely to be a situation in
which people perceive a lack of ability to perform their
own behaviour, especially in the case of those who
have sufficient experience with second-hand shopping.
Another plausible explanation is that the single dimen-
sion of PBC used in this study might be insufficient to
represent the nature of PBC as a whole, as suggested
by Kidwell and Jewell (2003). Future research should
look into the role of multi dimensional PBC in the con-
text of second-hand shopping.
In sum, the major theoretical contribution of this
study is to provide new insights into consumer
decision-making in the context of non-profit thrift stores
for second-hand fashion items by applying the belief-
based TPB model. This study offers empirical evidence
that consumers’ beliefs for environment and non-profit
organisations form positive attitudes toward buying
309
second-hand fashion items. The changes in current mar-
ketplace (e.g. low price fast fashion items) and growing
consumer awareness of environment and community
help explain the findings of the study. Additionally, the
dynamics between attitude, SN and PBC were different
in this study from the original TPB model, suggesting
that second-hand shopping creates a unique consump-
tion situation where individuals’ own attitude shaped
by their beliefs about environment and non-profit organ-
isations is a main driver of consumer behaviour. What
others think of second-hand shopping (e.g. SN) influ-
ences one’s attitude, but does not drive purchase behav-
iour. This finding expands the TPB model and suggest
further research. Additionally, by focusing on second-
hand shoppers’ internal processes leading to intention
to purchase second-hand fashion at non-profit thrift
stores, this study offers new insights into consumer
behaviour related to second-hand shopping. First this
study provides empirical evidence that challenges long-
held beliefs that financially deprived consumers engage
in second-hand shopping (Williams, 2002). Second,
this study supports the direct relationship between
environment consciousness and attitude toward pur-
chasing second-hand fashion. Third, by focusing on
non-profit thrift stores, this study demonstrates consu-
mer beliefs about non-profit stores are indeed critical
to influencing consumers’ attitude toward purchasing
second-hand fashion items. These findings further
suggest that consumer beliefs underlying second-hand
fashion shopping at for-profit thrift stores may differ
from the critical beliefs in the context of non-profit thrift
stores. Future study should examine differences in con-
sumer decision-making as a function of different types
of thrift stores (for-profit vs. non-profit).
The findings of this study further provide non-profit
organisations with empirical findings about their poten-
tial retail shoppers and what drives their motivations to
patronise thrift stores. Generally, thrift stores tend to
promote their low prices as a primary way to bring cus-
tomers in and encourage purchases. This research
suggests that thrift stores need to consider crafting retail
communication messages aligned with the beliefs of
second-hand fashion shoppers. Given the abundance of
low-price fashion items in today’s marketplace, retail
communication strategies of non-profit thrift stores
need to evolve and amplify the environmental impact
and the positive social impact their organisations are
making with the support of shoppers.
6. Limitation and future research
There are several areas for improvement in the present
study. First of all, this study used convenience sampling
310 M. J. SEO AND M. KIM
methods, and thus the findings may not be generalisable
to the general population. The findings are specifically in
the context of non-profit thrift stores in the U.S. Future
research can reach out to a more representative group of
shoppers in the U.S. and beyond. More research is also
needed to gain an enhanced understanding of consumer
psychology and behaviour in the context of second-hand
shopping.
Another limitation is associated with the product type
used for the study. Product types are known to be among
the most significant factors affecting consumer behav-
iour (Beatty & Smith, 1987; Moon et al., 2008). Future
research needs to examine whether product type plays
a role in impacting consumer decision-making in the
context of second-hand shopping. In addition, future
research needs to investigate consumer behaviour in var-
ious thrift retail formats (e.g. website, consignment, gar-
age sale, and flea market). Specifically, future research
should focus on online business models, because the
sales of second-hand items through online and mobile
sites represent a fast-growing trend.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
ORCID
Min Jeong Seo http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9006-394X
Minjeong Kim http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4684-5442
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