Fashion rental websites should appeal to mass market
Clothing rental websites should use similar marketing tactics to fast-fashion retailers to drive a revolution in shopping habits, argues a new academic paper.
In a paper co-authored for a special edition of the journal Sustainability, Dr Elaine Ritch explores how best to convince fashion consumers to change their buying habits.
The paper uses the phenomenal growth of the fashion rental platform Wardrobe as a marketing case study.
Fashion rental sites allow customers to hire designer clothes and high-end outfits for a short period for a fraction of their retail price.
Wardrobe, a US-based peer-to-peer rental site, reported a tenfold increase in transactions during the pandemic.
Dr Ritch, Reader in Fashion, Marketing and Sustainability at Glasgow Caledonian, writes: "The paper is one of the first to argue that development of the Circular Fashion Economy (CFE) is dependent on recognising the importance of addressing social and emotional capital to engage fashion consumers in adapting their fashion practice.
"Although the sustainability aspect is important, it is a secondary value that appeals to consumers.
"Previous research has considered fast fashion an oxymoron to sustainability, and as consumption was stimulated by marketing, the link between mimicking fast fashion marketing to encourage CFE acquisition had not been recognised.
"However, given that consumers are reluctant to sacrifice their social and emotional capital, despite increasing concern for the climate emergency, this unique innovative approach may be pivotal in growing sustainable fashion practices."
The paper, which appears in a special issue of Sustainability entitled Fashion Marketing amid the Wicked Problem of Sustainability, was co-authored with Dr Noreen Siddiqui, of the University of Glasgow.