Corporate Social Responsibility or CSR has, in step with societal development and awareness, driven companies to take several aspects into account. Issues relating to climate, sustainability, social and financial issues are some of the meanings of social responsibility and to which companies are taking into account. The knowledge about the textile industry has broadened throughout society which has led to a certain awareness about what we buy. This makes CSR communication important. Recently, several companies in the fashion industry have chosen to introduce various recycling programs of clothing in an attempt to reduce its climate footprint and position themselves as more sustainable in the market. One example is the fast-fashion company NA-KD and their sustainable initiative NA-KD Circle. Previous research has demonstrated how the inclusion of CSR can be important for the brand's credibility and loyalty. Based on methods that have been linked to the theoretical framework studied, the study has applied rhetorical and semiotic analysis as well as Kim and Ferguson’s six dimensions of effective CSR. In addition to these, Stuart Hall's model of encoding and decoding has also been used to illuminate the reception of the respondents. With the help of semi-structured interviews, the study's second and third questions have been attempted to be answered. These have touched on the topics of whether NA-KD Circle can be perceived as effective CSR and how this affects young women's attitude towards NA-KD as a brand. The interviews were further analyzed with qualitative content analysis where two themes were identified. The women's attitude and influence towards NA-KD as a brand resulted in its image being more skeptical than unchanged. It can also be read that the recipients did not decode the material of NA-KD Circle in the way that the sender was striving for. The recipients partly received the message but applied their personal perspectives and interpretations to the material.

With the constant development of marketing strategies, it has become more vital to continuously communicate online with consumers. As Generation Z is born with digital devices and increased social media channels, customers demand fashion brands being present online. The empirical findings in this study were obtained using a qualitative research method through semi-structured interviews. The interviews were conducted with five fast-fashion brands in Sweden that target Generation Z. The authors have used a deductive approach in this thesis. The conclusion of this thesis shows several factors that fashion brands use to create brand loyalty with Generation Z. Findings indicated that social media should be a communication channel. Furthermore, this research is from a retailer’s perspective. Finally, loyalty is something that is earned by creating relationships.

Background: Every time sustainability has a more important role in the fashion industry and more consumers have higher environmental consciousness and look out for sustainable products in that area and companies that are genuinely sustainable. But the main problem is that lots of companies claim to be sustainable, but they are not and use the tactic of greenwashing, to attract consumers and trick them to purchase their products. Therefore, consumer education and awareness became essential to be able to avoid these misleading tactics implemented by the fast fashion firms.    Purpose: This study goal was to investigate the influence of customer knowledge of greenwashing on their purchase decisions and behaviour when it comes to environmentally friendly items, with a particular focus on the fast fashion sector.  This research endeavour aims to provide valuable insights into the challenges associated with promoting sustainable consumption and to propose strategies for increasing consumer engagement with genuinely environmentally friendly products through a comprehensive review of literature and empirical research.   Method: The investigation follows a deductive approach, and it uses both qualitative and quantitative methods to gather the information to resolve the research question. It uses focus groups as the main source of insights that are complemented by a survey.   Conclusion: Increasing the awareness of the consumer was enough to increase their purchase intention but not enough to convince them to make the change. The overall results add information on the findings of the literature review, but it would be interesting to add more information on our results, meaning that future research is needed to get more in-depth with these findings. In other words, have a more specific idea about consumer awareness on greenwashing and purchase intentions to sustainable products.

This thesis is situated in the research field of electronic commerce, specifically the aspect of fast fashion brands. This has drawn consumer interest because they find struggles when shopping for clothes online due to their inability to try the product before purchasing from sellers, which tends to result in information asymmetry. Therefore, they may be more hesitant to purchase online due to the perceived risk that results in low level of trust while shopping clothes online; therefore, businesses should strive to alleviate their concerns. Previous research has shown that electronic word of mouth (e-WOM) can guide and increase confidence.  The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of how consumers perceive online reviews as ways of reducing information asymmetry and reduce risk in order to ensure that they will be satisfied with their purchase. Furthermore, many factors identified in previous research that could influence the use of online reviews were identified and analyzed in the context of fast fashion for this study. Therefore, the study discovered several factors that influenced the use of online reviews.  This study investigates the role of trust as a mediator between customers' perception of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) and their subsequent actions. Specifically, the study focuses on the influence of the perceived usefulness of online reviews on customer trust in fast fashion websites. To gain a comprehensive understanding of consumers' opinions on online reviews, a qualitative research approach employing semi-structured interviews was conducted. The interviews provided participants with the opportunity to elaborate on their responses and provide nuanced insights. The findings indicate that fast fashion brands should prioritize the inclusion of online reviews and enhance their mechanisms based on the factors identified in this study. By recognizing the importance of customer trust and addressing the perceived usefulness of online reviews, fast fashion brands can improve their relationship with customers and foster positive consumer actions. This study contributes to the existing literature on eWOM, trust, and online reviews, offering practical implications for fast fashion brands aiming to optimize their online platforms.

The purpose of this study was to better understand how consumers of fast fashion clothing with different shopping motivations consider sustainability during their purchase. The different shopping motivations are hedonic and utilitarian, which are respectively the emotion of shopping and the function of shopping. The main question for this research was “How do consumers of fast fashion clothing with different motivations (hedonic or utilitarian) consider sustainability during their purchase?” This qualitative research made use of 11 focus groups and a total of 44 participants to obtain in-depth data. The participants were divided into whether their main shopping motivation was hedonic, or utilitarian based on how they answered specific questions. The answers from both groups were compared with each other to find possible differences. When weighing the evidence and conclusions from the research, it appears relatively likely that there are no significant differences between consumers with a hedonic main shopping motivation and consumers with a utilitarian main shopping motivation. This leads to the conclusion of the main question, which is that there is no difference in how consumers of fast fashion clothing with different motivations consider sustainability during their purchase.

Online consumption and e-tail have clearly increased in recent years, largely sinceaccessibility is an advantage that consumers notice as beneficial. The availability of e-tail has also received clear environmental disadvantages, as returns are an inevitable part of online orders. The increased return rate results in large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions, something customer groups with environmental awareness has perceived. Which leads to the purpose of this research, to provide information about environmentally conscious consumers, their behaviors, and intentions towards e-tail returns. Theinformation collected, can be of great significance to fast fashion companies, e-tail platforms, and decision-makers, to guide them in developing effective strategies aimed at promoting sustainable consumption behaviors and mitigating the detrimental environmental effects associated with returns.The empirical findings were gathered through qualitative research, where semi-structured interviews were conducted on 15 Swedish e-tail consumers in the ages 24-44. The empirical evidence was analysed with a Thematic Analysis and discussed in context with the secondary data to strengthen the collected empirical evidence.The conclusion of the thesis portray that the participating environmentally conscious consumers have a predominant insight regarding the environmental impact that occurs when returning e-tail purchases. The research shows that environmental awareness is considered when ordering and returning garments, however, to varying extents, which leads to inconsistent actions. The participants have more environmental thinking regarding the product, production, delivery and consumption i.e., the buying process that directly affects the participants. However, conflicts are identified in several aspects such as that environmental communication from e-tail companies is difficult to understand, economic aspects and the conflict of the desire for certain garments. In summary, the results show that the return process is not prioritized to the same extent as the buying process, because of indirect influence or lack of knowledge of the participants. The findings indicate that there is not always a harmony between the perceptions and actions of the participants.

During the last years, the phenomenon of ultra-fast fashion, specifically the retailer SHEIN, has grown massively and became popular among young female consumers. SHEIN is also known for their polluting productions, bad working conditions, violating (social) sustainable laws and stealing designs from other designers. Still, this does not seem to impact the consumers' attraction towards clothes from SHEIN. The purpose of this research is to investigate the appeal of SHEIN for young female consumers. This research employs qualitative research methods to examine the empirical material in relation to three prominent theories: Hawkin Stern's "impulse buying theory", John Schouten and James McAlexander's "consumption subculture theory", and Russel Belk's "extended self theory". The empirical material for this research was obtained through 10 semi-structured interviews. Given the limited existing research on the phenomenon of ultra-fast fashion, an exploratory research design was chosen to investigate this topic. The empirical findings of this research can be divided into three different themes: The contradicting appreciation, The irrelevance of socioeconomic status and The SHEIN consumption subculture. The central theme lies in SHEIN’s big collection and the respondents’ appreciation for it. Another theme shows that there is not a clear pattern found between the socioeconomic status of the respondents and their SHEIN consumption. Lastly, around the consumption of SHEIN clothes, a consumption subculture is formed. This research is believed to contribute to the under researched area of ultra-fast fashion, as well as further develop and question the selective theories.

The rise of fast fashion in the global fashion industry has changed the consumption patterns of consumers. However, fast fashion consumption patterns are unsustainable and constitute a risk to environmental and social sustainability. As China is a major player in the global textile industry, its young consumer is particularly attracted to fast fashion. Although the Chinese young generation is more educated than the previous generation, their attitudes and intentions do not always lead to actual behavior. This study aims to explore the factors that influence the consumer behavior of young Chinese consumers toward fast fashion products in the context of sustainability. Seven hypotheses based on the Theory of Planned Behavior, with four additional extension factors, were constructed to form the research hypothesis system. A total of 309 valid questionnaires were collected after screening by relevant criteria. Data analysis and hypothesis testing were completed using SPSS 26.0 statistical software. The final results indicate that the consumer behavior of young Chinese consumers toward fast fashion products is negatively influenced by their Attitude, Perceived Behavioral Control, and Perceived Consumer Effectiveness. On the other hand, Face Consciousness has a positive impact on it. This study could serve as a guide to encourage consumers to prioritize sustainability and environmental issues, leading to greater awareness and social responsibility, and inspire fast fashion retailers to develop environmentally friendly and sustainable products, as well as provide a basis for the government to introduce relevant regulations to reduce the resource waste and environmental pollution caused by the fast fashion industry.

Background & Problem: As society becomes more aware of what climate change is provoking in the environment, urgent action toward a more sustainable way of living is being called for. Businesses need to find ways to become more sustainable. One of the fastest-growing industries in the market is the fashion industry, despite it being part of the second-largest polluting industry. It is up to the business but also the consumers to make drastic changes in order to sustain the planet. There are multiple factors that affect consumers purchasing decisions, such as Price and Environmental Knowledge. The problem found when conducting the literature review was that no previous articles could be found in Sweden regarding consumers’ purchasing decisions when buying clothes within the fast fashion sector regarding sustainability.   Purpose: This study aims to understand what substantial factors affect consumers' purchase decisions on clothes. The authors aim to explain existing literature on the chosen topic while providing new insights and data to understand the effect of different variables on consumers’ purchase decisions within Sweden.   Method: A quantitative approach was used, where a questionnaire was sent out to consumers in Sweden. The theoretical framework and the two hypotheses were built on previous literature collected through search engines. The data gathered from the questionnaire was analyzed through the statistical data analysis tool IBM SPSS with a regression model and a descriptive model to answer the research question.   Conclusion: The results of this study show that individuals in Sweden often prioritize Low Prices over the environmental impact of their choices, as well as showing that having Environmental Knowledge affects consumers purchasing decisions. However, not as much as it was expected. The two hypotheses tested were both accepted. Environmental Knowledge and Low Prices affect consumers’ purchasing decisions when buying fast fashion products in Sweden. The results are coherent with previous literature.

The emergence of online stores specializing in fast fashion apparel has presented a significant challenge to brick-and-mortar stores and has had detrimental consequences for the environment. Consequently, it is essential for physical stores to stay informed about emerging trends in physical store design. Currently, the fashion industry is acknowledged as a highly detrimental sector in terms of its environmental impact, attributable to its extensive utilization of harmful chemicals, substantial consumption of energy and water resources, and contribution to waste generation and pollution. Therefore, it is imperative to adopt more sustainable practices when it comes to purchasing apparel, particularly in light of sustainability concerns. Moreover, physical second-hand stores play a crucial role in promoting sustainability by offering pre-owned items. To attract customers, these stores need to cultivate a more appealing ambiance and atmosphere. To achieve this, the implementation of a sensory marketing strategy within physical second-hand stores can be employed to enhance the customer experience. By engaging the senses of smell, touch, vision, and hearing in a cohesive manner, a sensory marketing strategy can potentially contribute to a more enjoyable shopping experience and attract customers to physical second-hand stores. This study adopts a qualitative approach, collecting empirical data through semi-structured interviews with female participants aged between 18 and 60 years old in Sweden. The interviewees consisted of individuals who frequently made purchases in physical second-hand stores, as well as those who did so less frequently. The empirical findings were subsequently analyzed in conjunction with the existing literature. The research findings conclude that the implementation of sensory marketing techniques in physical second-hand stores has the potential to enhance the store's image, market position, and overall attractiveness. Creating congruence among the senses can result in a positive customer experience and a pleasant atmosphere, thereby increasing the likelihood of customers choosing to purchase apparel from second-hand stores. Additionally, the study reveals a growing interest among customers in sustainable shopping choices, leading to an increased inclination to opt for second-hand items.