The purpose of this research is to examine the relationships between objective knowledge, subjective knowledge, and prior experience of organic cotton apparel and their effects on purchase behaviors. The sample of the present study consisted of Millennial consumers living in the United States. Multiple regression and cluster analysis were used to assess the relationship among variables. Objective and subjective knowledge related to organic cotton apparel had a weak relationship suggesting they are distinct measures of knowledge. Direct experience, indirect experience, and education level were significant predictors of subjective knowledge, however, they had insignificant effects on objective knowledge. Furthermore, consumers who are willing to pay more for organic cotton and willing to search actively for organic cotton apparel displayed a higher level of subjective knowledge and had more experience with the product. Objective knowledge was found to have a limited relationship with pro-environmental behaviors. The current study examined distinct types of knowledge associated with organic cotton apparel and their relationship to pro-environmental behaviors which provides a sound basis for better understanding consumers’ organic apparel purchase. It is widely accepted that product knowledge affects consumer behaviors, however, how product knowledge is measured varies extensively across consumer research. The findings offer a valid explanation for the contradictory findings in previous research in terms of the effect of product knowledge on purchase behaviors.

中文翻译：

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有机棉服装的客观知识，主观知识和以前的经验

这项研究的目的是检查有机棉服装的客观知识，主观知识和先前经验之间的关系以及它们对购买行为的影响。本研究的样本包括居住在美国的千禧一代消费者。多元回归和聚类分析用于评估变量之间的关系。与有机棉服装有关的客观知识和主观知识之间的关系较弱，这表明它们是知识的不同衡量标准。直接经验，间接经验和受教育程度是主观知识的重要预测指标，但是，它们对客观知识的影响很小。此外，愿意为有机棉支付更多费用并愿意积极搜索有机棉服装的消费者表现出更高的主观知识水平，并且对产品有更多的体验。发现客观知识与亲环境行为关系有限。当前的研究检查了与有机棉服装有关的不同类型的知识以及它们与环保行为之间的关系，这为更好地了解消费者购买有机服装提供了良好的基础。产品知识会影响消费者的行为已被广泛接受，但是，在消费者研究中，如何衡量产品知识的方式差异很大。从产品知识对购买行为的影响方面，这些发现为先前研究中的矛盾发现提供了有效的解释。