Apparel rental, also known as collaborative apparel consumption, has created an innovative and popular business model, providing consumers with the ability to focus on using their products instead of ownership. Recent surveys show that sustainability is driving demand and customer loyalty in the US. Among all generations, Gen Z consumers lead the way. To better understand the emerging popularity of apparel rental services among Gen Z consumers who are becoming a major driving force for retail growth and the sustainability movement, this study aimed to identify the factors significantly influencing Gen Z consumers’ intention to use apparel rental services; 362 eligible responses were gathered via a questionnaire survey. The psychometric properties of the proposed model were examined, and the multiple regression method was applied to test the hypotheses. Attitude, subject norms, perceived consumer effectiveness, past environmental behavior, and fashion leadership significantly affected Gen Z consumers’ intentions to use apparel rental services. Attitude plays a mediating role between Gen Z consumers’ environmental knowledge, fashion leadership, need for uniqueness, and their intention to use apparel rental services. The proposed research model exhibited good explanatory power, accounting for 58.6% of the variance in Gen Z consumers’ use intention toward apparel rental services.

Given the recent trend of the athleisure lifestyle in the U.S., this study sought to examine female millennial consumers’ value perceptions for purchasing recycled polyester-made athleisure apparel. Using an inductive approach with grounded theory, the perceived green value (PGV) framework was applied to guide data collection through the in-depth interviews and data analysis. The findings of the study provide theoretical insights and sustainable solutions for the industry and academia. Five main values identified include functional value, social value, emotional value, conditional value, and epistemic value. Within these perceived values, 13 sub-themes emerged. Female millennials consider price and performance key deciding factors for purchasing recycled polyester-made athleisure apparel. However, this is contingent upon products being fashionable, comfortable, and versatile for numerous occasions. The perceived social value reaffirms that peers and family can strongly influence purchasing decisions. Female millennials are more likely to purchase from well-known sustainable companies whose products are aligned with their beliefs and are exempted from false advertising. Companies need to empower consumers with the necessary product information and environmental knowledge. Epistemic value relies on consumers being educated and aware of sustainable products and their benefits.

Despite the increased research into the business potential and environmental impact of fashion renting, no previous research has studied the sustainable presentation of fashion (apparel, textiles, shoe, accessory, or jewelry) rental company platforms, which is the purpose of this study. The triple bottom line framework and content analysis methods were used to identify themes in their communications. An open coding method was applied to develop first-level concepts and sub-categories, followed by a calculation of the frequency of the aspects addressed on each website. A total of 56 active fashion rental businesses in the U.S. were identified and analyzed. A total of 11 main themes and 27 sub-themes emerged. The companies with the overall most mentioned sub-themes were REI and The Lauren Look by Ralph Lauren. The results indicate that sustainability information on company websites needs to be more organized for clear presentation and easy access to the public. Many companies can make simple adjustments such as educating consumers on the sustainable nature of their business model and providing data-related evidence for determining the social and environmental impacts. Companies must also provide more detailed information on COVID-19 cleaning/sanitizing practices to reduce the perceived risk while promoting consumers’ willingness to try fashion rental services.

No abstract

No abstract