Developing a typology of sustainable apparel consumer: An application of grounded theory

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to develop a data-driven typology to explain sustainable apparel consumers’ orientations towards clothing acquisition and use. Using grounded theory, we analyzed comments of New York Times readers to a sustainability-focused article and identified the two core constructs that allowed for a systematic and effective classification of sustainable apparel consumers: (1) importance of personal appearance and (2) willingness and/or ability to pay for clothing. The typology was developed based on the discourses of several hundred people’s comments to share and encourage sustainable practices for acquiring and using clothes. As a result of applying the two constructs to the data, four groups of sustainable apparel consumers were established: classy affluents, chic thrifters, functional minimalists, and austeritics. The paper outlines each group’s unique apparel needs and priorities that manifest in everyday practices.

KEYWORDS:

• Sustainable apparel consumer
• affluent
• thrifter
• fashion sustainability
• sustainable consumption typology

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. For better flow and readability of the paper, for short quotes, we did not include readers’ names and locations, which are included in Table 2 as well as available on the NYT website as the comments to the Cline’s (2019) article.