Sustainable Fashion, Circularity and Consumer Behavior – Systematic Review and a Social Marketing Research and Policy Agenda

Abstract

Background: Circular fashion presents a new challenge in understanding consumers and marketing. There is a gap in research connecting the different layers of consumer behavior, sustainable fashion, with a systemized view on social marketing. Focus: This systematic literature review adds value by drawing on the richness of evidence of consumer behavior and sustainable fashion research. The novel, combined method maps out the six key themes, time periods and focal points of the evolution of the field to identify barriers to change and inform social marketing strategies (Action Goals) for a new circular fashion system. Finally, it unpacks the challenges from a systems approach to suggest Research and Policy Recommendations for a circular fashion system, linking the macro, meso and micro levels. Importance to the Social Marketing Field: This systematic review has applied a systems social marketing approach to set the agenda for future research avenues and identified action goals for social marketing benchmarking. Research question: This review seeks to investigate existing research to seek for the controversial interpretations and messages about sustainability in the fashion market and the evolving conflicting values of different stakeholders. It unpacks CB in SF, to look for barriers to change. Method: The study advances the systematic review method by combining scientific mapping and a multi-phase qualitative thematic coding techniques. Quantifying the research trends, along with uncovering the thematic and relational structures has enriched the results and findings. Result/Recommendations: By unpacking consumer behavior and sustainable fashion to inform about the barriers to transition, this study adds value by embedding fashion into a systems perspective. This study has laid the foundations to support the transformative process for a circular fashion system with Action Goals for Social Marketing, and Research and Policy Recommendations.