Consumer Perception of Environmentally Friendly Antimicrobial Textiles: a case study from India

Venkatraman, Prabhuraj ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4290-4510, Sayed, Usha, Parte, Sneha and Korgaonkar, Swati (2021) Consumer Perception of Environmentally Friendly Antimicrobial Textiles: a case study from India. International Journal of Advanced Science and Engineering, 7 (3). pp. 1782-1793.

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Abstract

The recent global pandemic and increasing awareness of hygiene led to changes in consumers’ behaviour towards their health and wellbeing. Owing to growing consumers’ knowledge on the environmental impact of textiles, especially those who are health conscious and living in cities, it becomes vital to explore their perception towards antimicrobial textiles. This study investigated the consumer perception and specific requirement of sustainable antimicrobial textiles. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted online and collated from 306 participants (Female 49.3%; Male 50.6%) of five main cities in India including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Chennai. The majority of participants were healthcare workers and academics with an average age of 32 ± 7 (6.6 standard deviation). The questionnaire had high internal consistency and reliability, and the factor analysis indicated 15 items relating to four attributes that were relevant to extract information from the community on environment-friendly antimicrobial textile. The findings show that consumer’s awareness of rural health, hygiene and environmental issues could influence the purchase of sustainable antimicrobial textiles made of organic fibres with herbal finish. Consumers believe that by purchasing a sustainable product they contribute towards society. This is the first study to report on consumers’ preferences for sustainable antimicrobial textiles and contributes to the literature by developing a scale with high reliability that is community-relevant, consumer centered, and product-specific. This research underscores the importance of consumers’ awareness, knowledge, and preference of environmentally friendly antimicrobial hygiene textiles. The outcomes will benefit various stakeholders [healthcare workers, industry, and community] in promoting environmental-friendly and sustainable products among consumers in India.