Sustainability Chic and the Future of Fashion Marketing

Jon Hewitt, Lukas Parker, Grace McQuilten and Rimi Khan

Chapter 7 in Beyond the Dark Arts:Advancing Marketing and Communication Theory and Practice, 2023, pp 125-147 from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.

Abstract: This chapter unpacks the challenges faced in marketing sustainable fashion products within an industry fuelled by perpetual reinvention and growth. In recent decades, the fashion industry, but most notably fast fashion, has been mired in controversies ranging from environmental sustainability to the exploitation of cheap labour and disregard for workers’ health and safety. In parallel, increasing consumer demand has emerged for sustainable fashion options, which has led to a rapidly growing but diverging market. Adopting the three R’s — Reduce, Reuse and Recycle — this chapter explores the complexities involved in (1) the promotion of reduced consumption and demarketing, (2) the rising popularity of second-hand/vintage clothing, fashion libraries and the use of deadstock fabrics, and (3) recycling and upcycling. Barriers faced by marketers in promoting these more sustainable options are examined in considering paths forward to more sustainable practices.

Keywords: Advertising; Behaviour Change; Communication; Data-driven Advertising; Data-Driven Marketing; Digital Advertising; Digital Marketing; Digital Media Studies; Macromarketing; Marketing; Marketing Communications; Social Change; Social Impact; Social Marketing; Social Media; Social Media Marketing; Social Responsibility; Socially-Responsible Communication; Socially-Responsible Marketing; Sustainability; Sustainable Development Goals; SDG; Social Advertising; AI; Artificial Intelligence; Behavioural Ecological Model; Big Data; Communication Ethics; Communication Studies; Consumer Data; Corporate Social Responsibility; Culture; Design Thinking; Diversity; Emerging Technologies; Ethical Behaviour; Ethical Marketing; Ethics; Health; Health Communication; Inclusion; Machine Learning; Media Studies; Public Health; Public Policy; Supply Chains; Social Media Influencer; Influencer; Socially Responsible; Advocacy; Brand Activism; Business Ethics; Circular Fashion; Conspiracy Theories; Context; Coronavirus; COVID-19; Crisis Communication; Critical Communication; Critical Marketing; Dark Side; Emerging Adults; Esports; Ethical Fashion; Fake News; Fast Fashion; Gamers; Evaluation; Gaming; Honesty; Inequality; Legal and Regulatory Frameworks; Modern Slavery; Morals; Multidisciplinary; Natural Language Processing; Nutrition; Objectives; Norms; Paradigms; Philosophies; Racism; Retailers; Slow Fashion; Strategic Communication; Sustainable Fashion; Stakeholders; Technological Solutionism; Transparency; Upstream Social Marketing; Vulnerability; Young Adults (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: M1 M3 M30 M31 M37 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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