Filipino consumers skeptical of sustainability claims of fashion items

MANILA, Philippines — Most consumers in the Philippines are skeptical of sustainability claims of fashion items and do more research before buying the item, a study from Milieu Insight showed.

Based on a survey conducted by the consumer research and analytics firm last June, 60 percent of Filipino consumers said they would research more about a fashion product that claims to be sustainable prior to making a purchase.

On the other hand, 33 percent of respondents from the Philippines would trust the brands’ sustainability claims, and eight percent said the claims do not matter.

The survey covered 1,000 respondents aged 16 years old and above each from the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia.

In most other Southeast Asian countries, over half of respondents said they would do more research on apparel marketed as sustainable before buying, such as Thailand with 84 percent, Indonesia with 66 percent, Malaysia with 61 percent, and Vietnam with 54 percent.

In Singapore, 50 percent said they would learn more about the fashion product that claims to be sustainable before buying.

Overall, 63 percent of Southeast Asian consumers are highly skeptical of brands marketing their fashion products as sustainable.

“Brands have to do more to ensure transparency in their sustainability claims to build trust with consumers,” Milieu Insight said.

Milieu Insight found that 66 percent of the consumers in Southeast Asia have purchased sustainable fashion products.

Countries with the biggest percentage of consumers that have bought sustainable fashion items are Vietnam with 86 percent, and Indonesia at 71 percent.

In terms of Southeast Asian consumers’ sentiments on sustainable fashion products, Milieu Insight said it was overall neutral at 52 percent and leaning more towards positive than negative.