Buying Used Clothes: Technology-Enabled Sustainability

Fast fashion contributes to 10% of global greenhouse emissions, is consumed at a high rate, and is responsible for water contamination. Online thrifting is a sustainable way of recycling used clothes. It is a niche market and is catching up with Generation Z. The generation usually wants to have a variety of clothing in their closet but does not want to pay expensive for it, thus seeking out thrift clothes. The thrift clothes are donated clothes. These used clothes are often donated to some charitable cause, which find its way to the market. In urban cities, there is a problem selling and buying thrift clothes as there is embarrassment associated with buying used clothes at a cheaper price. However, there is a growing online store selling thrift clothes, in many cases, the intention of buying thrift goods is not sure, whether it is economically benefit-motivated, sustainability-driven, or fashion-driven. We used the social contagion theory to link social networks and thrifting behavior. The study is qualitative, interviews are conducted to understand consumer behavior. The key themes for the study are the use of technology, environmental sustainability, economic sustainability, embarrassment, beliefs, norms, superstitions, and personality.