There are five personas of global fashion consumers with well-defined socio-demographic profiles and behaviours.
These personas exist along a spectrum that measures consumers' concern about sustainability, their willingness to take action, and their actual behaviour, new research released by Bain & Company and WWF Italy has concluded.
The Report: The report, How Brands Can Embrace the Sustainable Fashion Opportunity, says that currently 15% of global fashion consumers are already highly concerned about sustainability and consistently make purchasing decisions to lower their impact.
- But this percentage is likely to increase sharply, to more than half of fashion consumers as more shoppers gravitate toward sustainable practices.
- The report, which examines consumer behaviours related to sustainability and fashion, shows that of the nearly 5,900 fashion consumers across six countries (China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States) that Bain surveyed, approximately 65% said they care about the environment, but only some regularly prioritise sustainability in their shopping.
The Five Personas: Bain and WWF have identified five personas of global fashion consumers:
- Sustainability Champions: Highly concerned about the environment and regularly buy sustainable apparel. Their intentions and actions are aligned, and those consumers are willing to pay a very significant premium price (84%) to access sustainable products.
- Idealists: They mainly belong to the millennial generation. They show a high level of concern for the environment but hardly ever purchase sustainable fashion goods.
- Good Citizens: This category mainly consists of millennials and Gen Z consumers, who usually gather information from in-store displays, social media, and brand websites. They are willing to pay a less significant premium price (64%) for sustainable products.
- Shoppers: Gen X and older consumers. They usually acquire their information from in-store displays and word of mouth. They are willing (sometimes) to engage in sustainable behaviour.
- Indifferent Consumers: These consumers are not concerned about sustainability and seldom factor it into their purchasing decisions.
What They Said:
Sustainable shopping is an inevitable change. Concern for sustainability is strong among younger generations—and growing overall. Hence, fashion brands need to embrace the sustainability conversation and make sustainable purchasing easier for all consumers. Brands that proactively design sustainability into their strategy and operations will cement their relevance and capture a windfall of unmet demand, now and into the future. In fact, everyone will benefit from a commitment to sustainability from the fashion industry.
— Claudia D'Arpizio
Senior Partner, Milan / Global Head (Fashion & Luxury)
Bain & Company
The fashion industry is highly dependent on nature and biodiversity. A great deal of the raw materials used in fashion and to make textiles come from nature, and the production and processing of these materials wouldn't be possible without natural resources like water. But despite all of these dependencies, the industry's practices are responsible for many damaging impacts to nature that put the sector's survival at risk. The time is now for brands to take action on sustainability—they'll not only benefit from enhanced resilience but will have incredible opportunity to build brand loyalty with increasingly conscious consumers.
— Payal Luthra
Global Apparel and Textiles Lead
WWF
