1. Introduction
Becoming environmentally friendly is a fundamental and noteworthy concern of the cutting-edge world [
1]. Today, even though environmental awareness is more prevalent among the global community, both in the workplace and at home, many people are ignorant of modern practices used in the garment industry and have precious little knowledge of the ecological impacts of the production of synthetic fiber and concentrated cotton [
2]. However, the garment industry in Jordan has expanded rapidly in the recent years, also the percentage of workers in the garment sector who are Jordanian has reached about 20 percent. Moreover, a high percentage of Jordanians with low educational attainment are going towards the garment industry. The industry has enjoyed enormous growth since 1996 when garments manufactured in Jordan were first granted preferential duty free and quota free access to the United States. The garment industry typically has its biggest economic impact in developing countries transitioning from an agrarian society to low-level manufacturing [
3]. Furthermore, the garment sector has attracted Jordanian female labor forces.
Also, the most frequently used definition of sustainable fashion is “clothing, shoes, and accessories that are manufactured, marketed, and used in the most sustainable manner. In practice, this implies continuous work to improve all stages of a product’s life cycle, from design, raw material production, manufacturing, transport, storage, marketing, and final sale, to use, reuse, repair, remake, and recycling of the product and its components” [
4]. The ultimate goal is to decrease the unwanted environmental consequences of all manufacturing processes by ensuring that natural resources are used efficiently and responsibly (soil, water, biodiversity, animals, energy, ecosystems, plants, land, among others) while maximizing the utilization of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energy, and increasing recycling of product components.
According to Caniato et al. [
5] environmental sustainability has become a key issue to managers. Also, practitioners face a challenge of achieving a balance between a business needs and the environment. The fashion industry is one of the industries that is most exposed to the public. Therefore, fashion companies are held responsible for environmental problems that caused by themselves and by their suppliers. Accordingly, companies are encouraged to adopt green practices that can improve environmental sustainability. Also, green supply chain practices provide a practical approach when combined with industry practices to prevent pollution and waste. Firms can improve their economic performance with green supply chain practices through establishing a recovering and recycling system [
6]. A study conducted by Li et al. [
7] focuses on assisting companies to enhance environmental awareness and green manufacturing practices. The study found that corporate stakeholders can have a positive impact on practice performance through green manufacturing. In addition, companies should improve their green manufacturing technology to ensure smooth implementation of green manufacturing practices. According to Wu et al. [
8] a selected stand-alone practice of green, lean, and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) management systems has a positive impact on firm sustainability performance. Furthermore, consumers often have positive attitudes about green marketing. Thus, marketers can use communication techniques to set up their tone for sustainable fashion marketing. Based on balance theory, environmental priming can increase consumer preferences for fashion products with green logos. Based on the study that was conducted by Lee et al. [
9], the green logo effect causes significant activations in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC).
All employees and stakeholders should cooperate in developing a work environment that aligns their company’s green strategy with all factory processes and evolving a code of conduct and good ethics. The onus is on all companies working in the garment manufacturing area to promote green behavior by paying attention to every stage of the process, including how fabrics are washed and how the water used in the manufacturing process is disposed of Green Strategy [
4]. Most garment manufacturing companies have realized that they can set themselves apart in the market by introducing green fashion items, and sustainable fashion requires constant innovation. Innovation could include 3D printing, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and wearables. Thus, sustainable fashion innovation can thrive with the help of biology and research on technology for sustainable materials. Developments in wearable electronic systems have fostered sustainable fashion innovations that enable creative designers to integrate them into stunning fashion designs and clothes that interact with the wearer.
Green fashion innovation adoption has the potential to protect the environment. All around us, social structures are being reshaped as people are becoming more socially conscious and responsible consumers. As part of this process, the fashion landscape has already witnessed a rapid increase in the number of innovative fashion designers using science, biology, and technology to design sustainable fashion clothes. Garment designers are creating innovative clothing, which helps to protect and nurture nature and the environment, as well as looking good.
In green fashion, innovation prompts the taking of raw materials from nature, which are then returned to nature. Vehmas et al. [
2] asserted that environmental effects could be decreased by switching from currently used processes to new ones which focus on the reuse and recycling of materials. If old products can be recycled, composted, or reused, then the short life cycle of stylish clothing can be mitigated. Furthermore, if products are properly developed, then they can help to feed the ecosystem at the end of their useful lives rather than polluting and destroying that ecosystem [
2].
Contributing to environmental sustainability requires more than merely reducing the production and consumption of fashion goods. Indeed, reducing production might cause social unrest should goods become less available. The adoption of green fashion innovations must, therefore, focus on real, sustainable growth and development, and the creation of innovative products that will furnish a fashion consumer with a multitude of environmentally friendly choices.
For all these reasons, KAP (Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice) in the Jordanian garment industry must be assessed alongside the relationship with the adoption of green fashion innovations. The research problems focus on assessing knowledge, attitude, and practice toward sustainable innovation adoption in the garment industry in Jordan. This research seeks to answer the question:
“What is the impact of KAP on the adoption of green fashion innovations?”
6. Discussion, Conclusions, and Recommendations
6.1. Discussion: KAP and Open Innovation
The results of the general hypothesis found a statistically significant impact of KAP (knowledge, attitude, and practice) on the adoption of green fashion innovation. The value of the correlation coefficient of KAP and the variable (green fashion innovation adoption) was 34.7%. Additionally, the value of Beta was 0.347, which means that there was an impact of KAP on the adoption of green fashion innovation. Therefore, the null hypothesis was rejected, and the alternative hypothesis was accepted.
Jansson [
78] revealed that parent’s knowledge, attitude, and practices were beneficial when those structural factors were favorable for family and community groups, such as social status, employment, capacity or inability to contribute and participate, and vice versa. The same idea can, therefore, be translated here that KAP has a positive impact on the adoption of green fashion innovation.
The present study also matched the findings of Chaturvedi and Singh [
79], which revealed that knowledge, attitude, and practices were significantly changed before and after the CAD incident. A strong association exists between awareness and attitudes. Such an association has been statistically established between knowledge and smoking in male subjects, as has the association between attitudes and weight loss in female patients.
For the first sub-hypothesis, the results show that there is a statistically significant impact of knowledge on the adoption of green fashion innovation. The present research agreed with Cervellon and Wernerfelt’s [
30] study which found a change in the quality of knowledge between the two cycles of sustainability and style. As communities mature, they are keen to scrutinize the sustainable supply chain and publish accurate information about it by covering various different aspects. New members of the community receive encouragement from established members and thus the trend towards green fashion grows. There is also an alignment between the findings of the current study and those of Husain et al. [
80] in that intervention improved knowledge. Moreover, Craig and Allen [
27] found that further information was actively sought by those who see sustainability to be a highly influential issue if their businesses are to remain successful over the long haul.
For the second sub-hypothesis, the results show that there is a statistically significant impact of attitude on the adoption of green fashion innovation. Correlation was found with the work of Vehmas et al. [
2] in that there has been a rise in consumer interest in recycling and green solutions. Consumers are trying to gain more tangible and realistic data on the environmental aspects of textile manufacturing and how their actions have influenced them. In addition to consumers, top management has an interest in and an attitude towards recycling and green solutions. Moreover, Suki’s study [
81] found that green brand awareness influenced the attitude of customers towards green products. Furthermore, Mohiuddin et al. [
82] examined how the level of environmental knowledge and awareness among business students influences their positive attitudes to green vehicles, and found that there was a significant correlation. The results of this current study align with these findings.
For the third sub-hypothesis, the results found no statistically significant impact of practice on the adoption of the adoption green fashion innovation adoption. The researchers likened these findings to those of Songlar et al. [
11] who conducted a study concerning the impact of emergency situation training. They found that participants had a good knowledge of and attitude toward earthquake safety and security. Nevertheless, their practices regarding earthquake preparation was inadequate due to low levels of training. The same situation was present in this study in that manufacturers have high relevant knowledge and positive attitudes, but exhibit low or no relevant practices. Furthermore, Bano et al. [
70] found that promoting awareness and developing proper attitudes was necessary for a change in practice, in contrast to the current study which found that manufacturers in Jordan lagged in practice. For example, more than 70% of manufacturing firms claim that they are manufacturing sustainable products, promoting environmental cleanup ventures, and trying to reduce energy use during manufacturing.
6.2. Conclusions
This research explored the concept of green fashion innovation adoption in Jordan, and investigated the impact of knowledge, attitude, and practice on the adoption of such innovation. This correlation of these variables was the first such study in Jordan.
This research concluded that garment companies in Jordan possess a good knowledge of the green fashion concept, green raw materials that contain organic components and decompose safely, how to manage electricity consumption in efficient and effective ways, green machines and equipment for assembly line that is environmentally-friendly, and recycling. They are aware that there is a problem with water and soil pollution from toxic chemicals that are used to produce and dye fabrics. The release of these chemicals into the environment has severe consequences for the communities that are located near production sites. Finally, they are fully acquainted with the government regulations regarding CO2 emissions and the control of pollution by non-biodegradable materials. Importantly, they know that the adoption of green practices can give them a competitive advantage in the fast-moving fashion market.
Moreover, the research found that garment companies in Jordan prefer to use organic raw materials to nurture the environment, instead of using synthetic fibers and concentrated cotton generation. They are prepared to adopt the concepts of recycling vintage clothes and leftover fabrics, and are aware of green and innovative ideas to save the environment and atmosphere. In a country like Jordan, with a warm and sunny climate, solar power is an obvious solution when seeking to reduce the use of fossil fuels and minimize environmental pollution.
Unfortunately, this research found that, up until the present time, the green practices actually adopted by Jordanian garment companies remain limited. Low toxicity organic or locally grown/produced raw materials could be used in production, but currently their use is minimal because such materials are not readily available. There is a lack of waste management in companies to recycle materials resulting from the manufacturing process. Efforts need to be made to utilize environmentally responsible cleaners throughout a property, establish a system for prompt disposal of packaging materials and crates to reduce wastage, have energy-saving bulbs in all rooms, establish active recycling programs for materials in all sections of a factory, participate in environmental campaigns, put green label information on each product, use solar energy resources as a substitute for other electricity, introduce green ideas during the design phase, and train employees for better environmental performance.
Alongside the other factors, the study shows that the adoption of green fashion innovation was influenced by the desire to improve economic performance and achieve market satisfaction among consumers, as well as building a relative advantage while taking into consideration future consequences. Companies also seek to reduce institutional pressure (e.g., from the Ministry of Environment), while they also see the necessity of shouldering social responsibility by improving their environmental performance. Furthermore, a study was conducted by de Araújo Burcharth et al. [
83] stated that open innovation practices are related to employees’ attitudes to knowledge. Thus, negative attitudes to sharing knowledge negatively influence the use of open innovation practices. Therefore, company’s policy can be set to provide specific types of training programs in order to increase the impact of positive attitudes toward open innovation practices. Additionally, Management can specify an important intraorganizational antecedent of openness, by indicating that employees’ attitudes indeed contribute to the understanding of the variance in the adoption of open innovation. Also, a company’s culture for open innovation dynamics can reduce the barriers to openness. Entrepreneurial cyclical dynamics of open innovation can enhance their development activities such as employee training, which have the potential to mitigate the impact of undesirable attitudes via learning mechanisms and the adoption of new technology. The management paradigm of open innovation may decrease the role of negative attitudes as barriers to the implementation of management strategies, specifically open innovation strategies in the context of garment sectors in order to praise openness in general.
6.3. Recommendations
This study proffers the following recommendations for top management of Jordanian garment companies. Each company should conduct additional research company to address the specific issues related to going green in the manufacturing process. Also, companies should participate in environmental campaigns to increase awareness about environmentally-friendly fashion among their employees and society at large. All organizations should recognize the importance of knowledge management, and in particular those that undertake green projects need to carefully monitor their employees’ information sources. It is necessary to increase the interest of corporate management leaders in studying and understanding the characteristics and dimensions of effective knowledge management processes, through which companies develop and grow, as well as how to manage these dimensions in a manner that achieves their development and growth. In addition, flexible strategies should be adopted to harmonize the internal activities of the company with the variables of its business environment. Alternative plans and programs that can be used in the event of any change in the environment should be developed.
Training programs should be developed for employees to give them a complete picture of practices involved with the adoption of green fashion innovation and environmental conservation. This will contribute to improving the organizational structure, and thus ensure a company’s continuity in keeping up with developments and increasing market share. Waste management programs should be established to recycle materials resulting from the manufacturing process.
6.4. Research Limitations
One of the limitations of this study is geographic, as the research was limited to companies in only three Jordanian cities, namely Amman, Zarqa, and Irbid. More comprehensive results would be achieved if the study sample was expanded to include garment companies based in other cities. Furthermore, this research only considered the situation in Jordan, whereas the achieved findings might differ in other countries. In addition, only the three variables of knowledge, attitude, and practice were assessed. There is a possibility of introducing numerous other variables and investigating them in the field of adoption of green fashion innovation.