Perceived Authenticity of Assam Handloom Products: A TPB Model of Awareness, Sustainable Brand Image, and the Role of Demographic Moderation

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-608-1_13How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Sustainable Brand Image; Consumer Awareness; Sustainability Perception; Perceived Authenticity; Purchase Intention

Abstract

This study explores the psychological and socio-cultural drivers of sustainable purchase intentions for Assam handloom products by extending the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) with constructs of Sustainable Brand Image, Perceived Authenticity, and demographic moderations. Using data from 210 purposively sampled consumers, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) validates a conceptual framework where Consumer Awareness and Sustainability Perception shape Purchase Intention both directly and indirectly via brand evaluations. The findings establish Sustainable Brand Image as a pivotal mediating mechanism and reveal how demographic factors moderates the awareness–brand image pathway. Women in higher-income groups link sustainability to emotional and cultural continuity, whereas customers from East and North-East India in particular exhibits stronger perceptions of sustainability, authenticity, and intention. Novelty emerges from integrating sustainable consumption, authenticity perceptions, and demographic heterogeneity within the TPB framework, contextualized in the culturally significant Assam handloom industry. The study extends existing literature by demonstrating that sustainability narratives and authenticity not only reinforce ethical consumption but also enhance emotional brand attachment in emerging market settings.

Social implications advocate for awareness-driven sustainable marketing and cultural heritage promotion, sensitive to income and regional contexts whereas managerial insights suggest tailoring sustainability communications to diverse consumer segments through authentic storytelling strategies. To increase customer involvement, marketers could make use of income-based value propositions, gender-sensitive storylines, and regional pride. Cross sectional design and regional context are the limitations. Overall, the paper contributes a differentiated perspective on how traditional industries can effectively align cultural identity, sustainability positioning, and consumer psychology to drive responsible consumption behaviours’.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Karpagavalli Gurusamy
AU  - Preshth Bhardwaj
AU  - Ankita Gogoi
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/03/10
TI  - Perceived Authenticity of Assam Handloom Products: A TPB Model of Awareness, Sustainable Brand Image, and the Role of Demographic Moderation
BT  - Proceedings of the 12th AIM-AMA Sheth Foundation Doctoral Consortium & International Marketing Conference 2025 (IMCDC 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 210
EP  - 242
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-608-1_13
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-608-1_13
ID  - Gurusamy2026
ER  -