Virtual Conference Augmented and Virtual Reality and Its Effects on Social Responsibility and Fair Trade in the Apparel Industry

Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) are projected to be more commonly found in retail environments in the next few years, making it a key point of observation. The purpose of this study is to reveal what underlying values must be focused on to increase Fair Trade and social responsibility consumption by Generation Z consumers in the apparel industry through possible implementation of AR/VR. An online survey with a total of 214 respondents was conducted to better understand the use and perception of AR and VR, and how that moderates the effects of knowledge of Fair Trade leading to social responsibility concern and vice versa determining purchase intention. It was found that knowledge does not play a strong role in the use of AR/VR moderating purchase intention. However, focusing on concern of social responsibility in apparel production when using AR and VR and its impact on purchase intention is quite meaningful.

ITAA Proceedings, #77 -https://itaaonline.org conscious generation and control a great deal of a family's purchasing power, on top of their own (Amed et al., 2019). This generation also values individual expression and communication; and they want to be entertained by a brand (Francis & Hoefel, 2018). Integrating technology to promote social responsibility within a store would draw the attention of this generation. Knowing this, the implementation of AR/VR technology to promote Fair Trade and social responsibility would be beneficial in the apparel industry which has a growing concern for social sustainability.

Hypotheses and Model
Based on the literature and previous research, the following hypotheses and study model (see Figure 1) are presented concerning social responsibility concern, knowledge of fair trade and purchase intention moderated by use and perception of AR/VR among Generation Z: H1: Social responsibility concern has a positive significant effect on knowledge of fair trade.
H1a: Knowledge of Fair Trade has a positive significant effect on social responsibility concern.
H2: Knowledge of Fair Trade has a positive significant effect on purchase intention, with the moderating effects of Augmented and Virtual Reality.
H2a: Social responsibility concern has a positive significant effect on purchase intention, with the moderating effects of Augmented and Virtual Reality.

Methodology
An online survey was conducted through Qualtrics to better understand the use and perception of AR and VR and how that moderates the effects of knowledge of Fair Trade leading to social responsibility concern and vice versa determining purchase intention. A total of 32 questions regarding the use and perception of AR and VR used 10 items from Reiter (2015), knowledge of fair trade and concern for social responsibility was measured using Dickson's (1999) knowledge (4 items) and concern with apparel social issues scale using 11 items, and 2 items from Hyllegard, Yan, Ogle, and Lee (2012). A regression was run to understand the relationship between knowledge and concern and the moderating effect of VR and/ or AR on Purchase intention using SPSS 24.0. Due to the survey pool being a convenience sample from a large Midwestern University, many participants in the survey were female and in the 18 to 23 years old age range; therefore, they are a part of generation z.

Findings
A total of 214 respondents from a large Midwestern University took part in the survey. A majority was female (89.3%, n=191) and 18 years old (64.5%, n=138) followed by 19 (n=47), 20 (n= 19), 21 (n= 4) and 22-23 (n=1). A few additional questions were asked regarding the shopping behaviors and familiarity with AR and VR. It was split regarding their past use of AR and VR with 50% saying they've had a previous experience with it (n=107). A majority of participants said they prefer to shop in store (63.6%, n=136) compared to online (n=78) and would use AR or VR to enhance their shopping experience (78.0%, n=167). When asked to be more specific a majority said they would use both AR or VR in the retail experience (46.7%, n=100) followed by VR being the second choice (n=-76) compared to AR (n=37). when asked if AR and VR will be as common as mobile devices by 2025 a majority agreed (68.2%, n=146). All scales were found to be reliable with Cronbach's Alpha being >.7. A linear regression was conducted with the moderating variable of AR/VR use and perception between concern and purchase intention. It was found that concern of social responsibility issues is significant (F (2.209)= 6.057, p=.003) on purchase intention and the moderator, use and perception of AR/VR was also significant (F (3,208)= 4.297, p=.006). Standard correlations were conducted between knowledge and concern posing a non-significant correlation between the two, with a small strength of relationship (r=-102, n=149, p=.217). Additionally, knowledge of social responsibility issues is not significant (F (2,145)= 2.840, p=.062) on purchase intention and the moderator, use and perception of AR and VR was not significant (F (3,144)= 2.083, p=.105).

Conclusions
Looking at the results of this study knowledge does not play a strong role in the use of AR/VR moderating purchase intention. However, focusing on concern of social responsibility in apparel production when using AR and VR and its impact on purchase intention is quite meaningful. As retailers continue to use this type of technology to encourage consumers to purchase their products, sustainable retailers should utilize the concern level of their customers and play upon that in an AR/ VR in store or online experience. Understanding generation z's reasoning for concern and their ability to create empathy for those that make their clothes is the target for retailers and industry partners. Academics could begin to find ways to employ AR/VR experiences in their classrooms when trying to convey to future gatekeepers how choices in the apparel industry affect individuals all around the world.

Implications and Future Research
This type of technology integration has the possibility to emphasize learning within a classroom or retail shopping experience. Since gen z grew up with technology they have become better visual learners; VR and AR technology has the ability to visually teach students by providing insight into a variety of scenes and issues that they have never interacted with before such as social responsibility and concern for how garments are made. Additionally consumers can become more aware about the clothes they buy and how they are made including the treatment of workers who made them Future research into this topic could broaden the survey to reach a bigger age gap of gen z participants, and possibly millennials as well, since they are influenced by gen z (Amed et al., 2019). Future research also indicates that AR/VR programs regarding clothing responsibility should be of focus and ways of applying them in the retail and classroom setting can be fruitful.