Consumer study: What do consumers think about fast fashion?

Fast fashion is a term that describes when new, trendy clothes get quickly and cheaply disseminated to consumers to wear while those clothes are still trendy. This article gives an overview of how it works and the impacts on society.

We wanted to find out if consumers knew about fast fashion and how they feel about it. Just like fast fashion hits the market quickly, this research study was done in no time. Let’s dive in.

The methodology

The entire study of 300 respondents took less than 12 hours and was conducted through Voxpopme’s Influence community of on-demand consumers.

We combined quantitative and qualitative questions in the study and the results were neatly packaged for me in one dashboard.

On the quantitative side, we asked:

• Are you familiar with the term “fast fashion”?
• How frequently do you purchase new clothes?

On the qualitative side, we asked:

• What does the term “fast fashion” mean to you?
• When purchasing clothes, is whether a brand is “fast fashion” a consideration for your purchase decisions?
• What is your opinion on fast fashion and its impact (if any) on the environment?

Read next: Not sure what to ask? Check out Voxpopme’s tried and tested open-ended questions for video research.

The results

Here’s a quick highlight reel of responses, which we created directly in the platform:

The quant results

The majority – 67 percent – of respondents said they are familiar with fast fashion.

The majority of respondents said they buy new clothes quarterly, followed closely by monthly purchases.

The qual results

For the qual questions, respondents recorded a quick video message – selfie style, directly from their phones.

In all, the automatic sentiment analysis showed that 41 percent of all statements were on the positive side, with 31 percent being negative and 28 percent were neutral.

Unlike the quant questions, this sentiment analysis is pulled from what respondents actually said in their video responses.

The automatic theme explorer and Word Cloud gave me an idea what some of the most mentioned topics were.

Respondents discussed the impact on the environment, quality and time to market.

The analysis

I like to review the theme explorer first to get an idea what trends I’m seeing. The Word Cloud is my next step. Then I like to skim through the automatic transcripts and each response.

The environment

Many discussed the impact on the environment or what they’ve heard about it.

“My personal opinion of fast fashion is it’s a waste,” said Dominica, 41, of El Paso. “So much ends up in landfills. It’s bad for the environment. We need to create fashion that’s going to last.”

Carri, 47, of Little Rock, did share an idea: Don’t throw the clothes away when you are done wearing them.

“I think that they can be resolved by doing more donations and helping homeless shelters. And also do donations to a second-hand shops,” she said.

Trends are fleeting

Some consumers discussed that it’s good to remember that fast fashion trends come and go. That’s something to consider: Do you want the latest clothes and keep buying new ones quickly or not?

Shayauni

“When I purchase clothes and the brand is considered fast fashion, I do take that in consideration on whether I’m going to purchase it or not,” said Shayauni, 27, of Joliet.

Chassidie, 19, of Las Vegas, said she doesn’t see the need for fast fashion as there are plenty of options for clothing.

“My opinion on fast fashion as it’s unnecessary, and we have enough textiles and secondhand clothing to not have to make fast fashion,” she said. “And we also have the techniques nowadays to make our own clothing. Also my opinion on the impact on the environment is that fast fashion does is that it makes me very upset. And I feel like my community of people could do better.”

Quality

“The term fast fashion to me is trendy clothes that are suspiciously affordable,” said Katelyn, 29, of Seattle. ”

Jodie

“There was a time I bought that kind of stuff and then it fell apart in two or three washes,” said Jodie, 40, of Kenosha. “So if I only spent a couple bucks on it, not such a big deal, but if I really liked it, then I was disappointed. So I’d rather spend a little bit more money so that something is durable.”

Read next: How you can use video surveys for your next project!