FAITH MIYARE

Students’ from the marketing and merchandising pathway have to carry out their major project dissertation throughout their final year. Students’ have the opportunity to research in depth into a fashion related topic of interest. Shown below is Caitlin French’s abstract for her dissertation that researches into the education of sustainability in the fashion industry to reduce consumerism.

Is Sustainability Education the Solution to Excessive Consumerism?

An Account of the Project Work Carried Out for the Degree of Abstract BA (Hons) Fashion Buying with Marketing Under the Supervision of Dr Annette Crisp

The normalisation of excessive consumption among young fast fashion consumers can be seen throughout social media, with the rise of influencers promoting a lifestyle in which buying more makes you feel good. This tie of positive self-image to consumption is leading the fashion industry into an environmental disaster, in which today’s throw-away consumption culture accumulates masses of unsustainable waste. This study explores the rise of excessive consumption among 18-25-yearold’s and assesses how increased sustainability awareness may encourage consumers to adopt more sustainable methods of shopping. The secondary research of this project formed an extensive base knowledge of existing theories and patterns that have been presented within the existing literature. This was essential to understand the fast fashion consumer and their purchasing motivations, and the complex role influencers play in this. Current literature illustrated fast fashion consumers as uninterested in green shopping behaviours and acknowledged the promotion of a throw-away culture from influencers as one of the main causes of this. A mixed method approach to primary data collection investigated both consumers’ and influencers current consumption habits alongside their ethical and sustainable beliefs. This was conducted through interviews, questionnaires and focus groups to gather extensive results. The main findings of this study highlighted the importance of sustainable education when encouraging 18-25-year-olds to shop more sustainably. This offered a contrasting evidence to existing literature attitudes towards fast fashion consumers. This research presented that fast-fashion consumers are aware and interested in the climate crisis yet lack the education and awareness to make more sustainable choices while shopping. By targeting this age group within education and marketing campaigns, a societal change in current shopping behaviours can be adopted. The support of macro and micro-influencers in promoting more sustainable methods of consuming would accelerate this through to mainstream markets. By Caitlin French Faculty of Art, Design and Humanities De Montfort University, Leicester April 2021 Copyright De Montfort University 2021