Exploring consumer behavior and attitudes towards return fees in the fashion industry: an investigation into online product returns

Purpose: Consumers’ purchase and return intention towards return policies in the fashion industry has been subject to major attention due to its high impact on retailers’ profitability and the environment. Nevertheless, it has not been scientifically put to test, thus, this paper explores consumers’ behavior and attitudes towards the introduction of return fees in the fashion industry.
Design/methodology/approach: The authors of this study started their research by conducting a comprehensive literature review on the existent literature body. Thereafter, in trying to test the conceptual model, the research had to undergo a quantitative research approach by designing a scenario-based experiment, which revolved around a unisex hoodie, emanating from two different fashion categories, FF-Fast Fashion and LP-Luxury Premium. Then, fourteen different return fee level scenarios were developed, ranging between free return, low, medium, and high return fees in both cases percentage-based return, and fixed return fee. This was created in the form of a scenario-based online survey, with the participation of 600 individuals. Results were analyzed quantitatively using SPSS.
Findings: The findings of this study suggest a decrease in purchase and return intention in the face of the existence of return fees. Additionally, it was substantiated that the higher the return fees the lower the purchase and return intention are, yet without seeing any difference across fashion categories.