Slow Fashion Trends: Are Consumers Willing to Change Their Shopping Behavior to Become More Sustainable?

Abstract

The fashion industry, despite generating great benefits in terms of trade, employment and income worldwide, is considered one of the most polluting industries due to the linearity of its production process with a high consumption of energy and raw materials as well as of waste generation. Furthermore, the short life cycles of its products, where the consumer seeks more to be fashionable than the products’ durability, contribute to this. However, this paradigm is changing due to society’s increased concern for the environment and a healthier way of life, promoting the emergence of a new concept called slow fashion, which seeks to improve the sustainability of fashion items from an environmental and ethical point of view. In this way, many companies are implementing circular economy measures in their production processes and innovating more circular products. The purpose of this work was to determine the consumer orientation toward slow fashion consumption, their perceived value and if they are willing to accept changes in their own behavior. The results confirm this new consumer orientation toward slow fashion consumption, which entails an important business transformation, fostering the innovation of new products and manufacturing systems characterized by a circular approach.

Pro-Circular Consumer Profile: An Approach to Their Identification and Characterization Based on the Components of the Value-Belief-Norm Theory

“…Clothing is a product category that has gained relevance in environmental issues, rejecting models of mass production and consumption [102] that favor constant changes in fashion, at low prices, and high turnover in purchase, which leads to rapid disposal (fast fashion) [103]. Instead, it encourages sustainable models that, in addition to production with less negative impact on the environment, extend the duration of products and promote their reuse and repairing before discarding them [104].…”

Slow fashion purchase intention drivers: an Indonesian study

“…In addition, the perceived value of slow-fashion products drives PI. Conscious consumers believe that they are helping to improve the environment by purchasing this type of product, and the benefits to society are tangible (Castro-López et al, 2021). When consumers are aware of the environmental impact of various products and understand how slow fashion can benefit environmental movements, they are more likely to incorporate it into their purchasing decisions (Chang and Watchravesringkan, 2018;Chi et al, 2019Chi et al, , 2021.…”

The Intersection of Fashion, Immersive Technology, and Sustainability: A Literature Review

“…Current fashion consumption patterns are considered unsustainable [7,10,11], and change and transparency about sustainability efforts [12,13] are required along the entire Sustainability 2023, 15, 3761 2 of 22 fashion supply chain to address the sustainability challenges within the industry and meet nationally and internationally recognised sustainability goals [14,15]. Slow fashion is promoted as a potential solution [16,17] given the focus on long-lasting items of clothing made with sustainability in mind, in contrast with the fast fashion approach, which aims to quickly bring trends to consumers and involves the 'mass production of clothes that represent the latest trends at high speeds and low cost to maximise profits' [18,19].…”