The Gen Z paradox

Gen Z expresses a strong desire for sustainable fashion, but their actual purchasing behavior often contradicts this preference, favoring fast fashion instead. Here are the most important points:

Four researchers from Sheffield Business School and Sheffield Hallam University conducted a survey and found that:

- 63% of respondents expressed concern about the social consequences of the fast fashion industry

- 48% of them said they were afraid of the environmental consequences of fast fashion

- 3% of participants said they were not interested at all.

So much for declarations, but what about actual action?

- 17% of respondents admitted to weekly fast fashion purchases,

- 62% do it every month

- and 11% once a year.

A total of 90% buy fast fashion, although most of them are afraid of the social and environmental consequences.

What is it about? Where do these discrepancies come from? Researchers Malthe Overgaard and Nikolas R?nholt tried to answer this question already in 2020. According to them, digitalization is responsible for this contradiction in a broader sense. And in particular, Generation Z's main news channel: is social media, and the associated social pressure to follow trends, and the resulting need for self-expression.

Fast fashion brands use social media as a platform to spread aggressive marketing campaigns and set new trends every day.

Another study shows another interesting fact. The ECC Club 2022 study showed that 72% of surveyed representatives of Generation Z attach more importance to price than to product durability.

How do researchers explain this? T

his is probably a result of the fact that Gen Z, more than any other generation, grew up with the privilege of consuming cheaply, quickly, and as much as they can. No one wants to lose it, so when a choice has to be made, values may lose out to the desire to have it.

There is hope, however. As thredUP's Gen Z Fashion Report showed, Gen Z wants to break their bad habits. And that's why the platform launched the "Fast-Fashion Confessional Hotline" - a type of telephone consultation - to support Gen Z shoppers.

It seems that support is necessary because according to a survey conducted by First Insight and the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, 75% of Gen Zers say that sustainability is more important to them than brand. However, the actual shopping habits of young people are somewhat contrary to the declarations.

?A report on Gen Z, produced by online vintage marketplace ThredUp, found that while 65% of Gen Z respondents said they wanted to shop more sustainably and buy higher quality clothes, a third also described themselves as addicted to fast fashion and more than 2 in 5 people said they were buying clothes they would probably only wear once.

What will the future bring?

Bank of America estimates that the economic power of Generation Z is growing faster than other generations. According to forecasts, by 2030, when most of the generation starts working, their income will constitute more than a quarter of global income. By 2031, they will exceed the income of Millennials.

The research company Mintel presented a report showing that younger generations spend more on fashion than older ones. A 2021 McKinsey study found that 42% of U.S. Gen Zers said they don't even know what makes clothes sustainable.

Another study, conducted in 2022 and commissioned by Earthtopia, one of the largest eco-communities in the world on TikTok, provides some hope for the future. This research found that 96% of UK Gen Z and Millennial consumers believe the high cost of living prevents them from making sustainable purchases.

Therefore, there is a theoretical chance that when Generation Z representatives start earning more, their purchasing choices will be much more correlated with their declarations. The problem is that Generation Z is followed by Generation Alpha, which may turn out to be Gen-Z on steroids when it comes to social media, social shopping, and fast fashion.

Unless the planet solves the problem for us and we worry more about the lack of drinking water than fast fashion.

#GenZ #SustainableFashion #FastFashion #ConsumerBehavior #DigitalMarketing