Thrift shopping for clothes: To treat self or others?

Abstract

With the increased awareness about ecological concerns and the growing popularity of sustainable fashion, thrift retail stores are growing fast both in number and sales. However, limited research has examined thrift stores as a distinct retail sector from a general second-hand retail sector that includes both non-profit thrift stores and for-profit resale stores. To fill this void, this study identified the motivational antecedents of thrift store shopping behavior (TSSB) and profiled thrift shoppers by developing a decision tree predictive model of TSSB. The results provide the key driving factors of TSSB including self-oriented factors (treasure hunting, seeking name brand products) and others-oriented factors (responsible citizenship). Practical implications are also suggested for thrift store managers.