Background. Social media has transformed the fashion industry, helping to popularize cheap and stylish "fast fashion" items. But fast fashion has led to significant environmental harm and social inequity worldwide, which highlights the need for consumers to adopt sustainable fashion brands. Social media influencers helped make fast fashion so dominant, but they also hold underrealized potential to serve as effective messengers for sustainable clothing. This study defines and then applies the contemporary influencer approach to persuasion to shift attitudes towards sustainable clothing and consumption behavior. The study tests the effectiveness of this "messenger-forward" influencer approach against a "message-forward" persuasion approach rooted in extensive social psychological research - the EQUIP model of persuasion (Crano et al., 2018).


Methods. This pre-registered study uses a between-subjects design, with participants recruited from the online platform Prolific*. Participants will view one of three video appeals or a control message, which emphasize either the durability or stylishness of a real sustainable clothing brand. Online "influencers" will deliver the video appeals, and the impact of messenger-based characteristics on attitude and behavior change will be assessed. After receiving the persuasive appeal, general and brand-specific attitudes towards sustainable clothing (in terms of durability and stylishness), purchase intention and actual consumption choice will be assessed.


Results and Implications. The results will demonstrate which type of online influencer persuasion is more effective in encouraging positive attitudes towards sustainable clothing and the associated clothing consumption behaviors. It is expected that the "message-forward" EQUIP persuasion approach will result in greater positive change in attitudes, intentions and behaviors than the "messenger-forward" contemporary influencer approach. However, both are expected to outperform the written appeal condition. The findings will deliver effective online influencer communication strategies for sustainability and social justice causes.


*data will be collected early Winter 2026