Exploring generational cohorts’ engagement in voluntary simplistic clothing consumption practices in the South African emerging market context

Abstract

In a developing country such as South Africa, consumption is vital in boosting economic growth and creating job opportunities. However, growing concerns exist about how the existing fast fashion model encourages excessive consumption and generates vast amounts of waste. With the onset of industrialisation, human actions have significantly impacted the climate in unprecedented ways. The fashion industry is expanding rapidly despite its well-known adverse effects on the environment. Fast fashion substantially contributes to this growth, relying on low-cost production, frequent consumption, and short garment lifecycles. However, many people worldwide have recently become aware of the impact of excessive consumption. The pandemic highlighted resource scarcities, leading to expected changes in consumer behaviour. The COVID-19 pandemic is likely the impetus for a transition towards sustainable consumption (Cinar, 2020; Cohen, 2020). Sustainability is closely linked to voluntary simplicity and is gaining global attention, particularly in the fashion industry. Voluntary simplicity promotes a simple way of life that focuses on essential consumption rather than excessive consumption. However, voluntary simplistic consumption, especially in the fashion industry, has yet to be extensively explored, particularly regarding generational cohorts' differences in the local context. Additionally, research has not determined consumers' inclination towards voluntary simplistic clothing consumption practices, specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, this research explores generational cohorts’ engagement in voluntary simplistic clothing consumption practices in the local South African context.

A review of existing literature highlights five voluntary simplicity dimensions initially proposed by Elgin and Mitchell (1977). These dimensions were later used by Leonard-Barton (1981) to develop a behavioural index on which the scale items for this study were based. During the initial data generation, questionnaire development and collection commenced in 2021 as part of a larger final-year Clothing Retail management research project in the Department of Consumer and Food Sciences at the University of Pretoria. The scale items used were derived from existing scales developed and adapted by Reis (2019), Taljaard and Sonnenberg (2019) and Taljaard (2020) to measure voluntary simplistic clothing consumption behaviour. Hence, the voluntary simplistic dimensions of material simplicity, self-determination, ecological awareness, and human scale were revised for clothing practices in particular and used as a foundation for this study. The research utilised an online survey that was self-administered and distributed via Qualtrics. The survey questionnaire consisted of seven sections, but only two of these were used for this study, specifically those that measured voluntary simplistic (sustainable) clothing consumption and demographics. A total of 788 questionnaire responses were considered satisfactory and formed part of the final dataset for this study. The project adopted a quantitative approach using a cross-sectional survey that predominantly served exploratory purposes. The data analysis followed a descriptive approach to highlight the demographic profile of the sample and exploratory factor analysis (Centobelli et al., 2022) to determine underlying factors in the voluntary simplistic clothing consumption data. After that, a one-way analysis of variances (Inanova et al., 2019) was implemented to determine any significant differences in generational cohorts’ engagement in voluntary simplistic clothing consumption practices.

The EFA revealed a five-factor solution with well-isolated loadings. The five factors were subsequently labelled as “Ethical and Sustainable Clothing Consumption”, “Handcrafted Clothing Consumption”, “Reduced Consumption”, “Locally Produced Clothing”, and “Repurposed Clothing”. The most statistically prominent factor, namely “Reduced clothing consumption”, may stem from the initial data gathered during the COVID-19 pandemic, when consumption was limited and consumer spending was restricted. Overall, respondents seem to engage in all five consumption practices moderately to more frequently. Moreover, this study's findings indicated that, compared to younger generations, older generations, such as Baby Boomers, are more inclined to engage in reduced consumption behaviour, repurpose/ repair unwanted clothing and support ethical and local clothing alternatives. In theory, Baby Boomers are said to be more interdependent than younger generations. Interdependent individuals tend to exhibit higher ethical standards and demonstrate increased concern for community issues. Consequently, they tend to experience greater guilt when faced with ethical dilemmas, leading them to act (Ham et al., 2022). These results accentuate Mannheim’s (1970) Generational Cohort Theory (GCT), which emphasises the interconnectedness of individuals of the same generation and their shared experiences, behaviour, and attitudes through historical events.

The findings of this study can provide a practical foundation for profiling local consumers who engage in voluntary simplistic clothing consumption behaviour. This can allow marketers to refine their marketing strategies, especially about generational cohorts. The comprehension gained from this study could further equip local clothing businesses with the necessary tools to achieve their sustainability goals through effective marketing of sustainable alternatives. Theoretically, the study narrows a gap in the current literature surrounding the value of the GCT in interpreting various generational cohorts’ voluntary simplistic clothing consumption practices, specifically in the local emerging market context. Future research could focus on expanding the results of this study by incorporating more representative samples and establishing whether voluntary simplistic consumption practices have endured beyond the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.