No Love in the Labour: How Young Women Perceive Physical and Emotional Effort in Second-Hand Shopping

Abstract

The fashion industry faces increasing scrutiny regarding its environmental and social impacts. To combat the detrimental impacts of the linear fashion system, sustainability advocates highlight the need for in-depth consideration of circularity models in fashion, where extending the lifespan of garments is the ultimate aim. One mode of fashion consumption that fits within the circular model is that of second-hand apparel consumption. In this article, the focus is on young female fashion consumers and their engagement with second-hand apparel. The study takes a value-in-consumption approach, utilising the Theory of Consumption Values (TCV) as a lens to understand how these consumers construct value in their fashion consumption practice. The study finds that young women prioritise emotional and conditional value propositions in their fashion practice, resulting in a perception of second-hand shopping as too mentally and physically laborious, compared to buying new. Further, the study finds that other circular modes of fashion consumption, such as collaborative use via sharing and swapping hold greater potential for young female consumers, where these modes are perceived to hold low relative complexity and greater relative benefit to the individual.