From retail to resale: Understanding how second-hand market participation shapes clothing consumption
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Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
School of Business |
Master's thesis
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Author
Date
2024
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Creative Sustainability
Language
en
Pages
90+10
Series
Abstract
The fashion industry, one of the most polluting industries, is in its linear nature a large contributor to the environmental crisis at hand. The textile industry is still growing, but simultaneously, concerns over the exploitative and polluting customs of the industry have started to emerge. One suggested solution to the issue, opposed to the linear fashion system, is circular economy. The concept of circular economy is based on a regenerative cycle, where materials and products are kept in the loop for as long as possible. Second-hand, an industry that is currently growing, is tightly linked with circular economy, as through reuse of clothing, it can be one part of creating a more circular fashion system. Reuse is one of the most efficient ways of keeping materials in the loop for longer, and thus, through promoting reuse of garments that already exist, the second-hand market could lead to decreased virgin production and slowing down of the fashion system. However, the sustainability of the second-hand market is not a given: the second-hand market can grow and be upheld without any actual changes in consumption habits, and in that case, can support the fast fashion paradigm and maintain the cycle of consumption. Second-hand acquisition and clothing disposal have been researched in previous literature, however, no holistic studies of second-hand consumption as a whole taking into consideration its effects on overall consumption seem to have been conducted. This thesis aims to answer this gap in research related to a holistic view in the second hand context by answering the research questions of how does engaging in the second-hand market, including both buying and selling, influence consumer behaviour in regard to consumption practices of clothes? and in what ways does this involvement either accelerate or decelerate the consumption cycle? These questions are approached utilizing the consumption cycle by Arnould and Thompson (2005) to understand how second-hand market participation shapes clothing consumption throughout clothing lifecycles. This study was conducted by interviewing 14 young women, who are active second-hand consumers. The results of the semi-structured interviews were analysed using content analysis. The findings of the study suggest that the effects of second-hand market engagement on consumer behaviour and on the consumption cycle are diverse, and likely vary across the different phases of the cycle, further demonstrating that the effects of second-hand on sustainable consumption are not straightforward.Description
Thesis advisor
Turunen, LindaKeywords
sustainable fashion, circular fashion, second-hand, consumption cycle
