Fast fashion retailers have faced a difficulty in translating in-store experiences to online experiences. Although online shopping is increasing, the in-store shopping is still very important for a superior shopping experience. Technology has had a major impact in making multichanneling retail more consistent, although there are gaps that technology can not fill. This study attempted to measure how consistent the customer experiences were online and in-store. Shopping experiences were measured with different concepts such as: flow, usability, interactivity, atmospherics and tactility. These concepts were measured separately in-store and online, in order to be compared. The purpose was to find out which concept is inconsistent so the authors could make recommendations for improvement to fast fashion retailers. The research approach was a mixed method approach and the chosen research design was cross sectional, using quantitative research to corroborate qualitative research findings. The results from a quantitative questionnaire of 263 experienced fast fashion consumers in Sweden show that the consistency varies between the concepts. The qualitative study was done at two occasions on a sample of six interviewees in each focus group, and gave a deeper understanding for why the shopping experience was or wasn't consistent. The qualitative results varied amongst the individuals and show that reasons for being inconsistent are intrusive salesmen, insufficient size measuring tools, long queues, lack of tactility and the most interesting of all: making better return and ordering policies. The future lies in making it easier to order online, in order for the consumer to be able to experience the product in real life, through staff-free fitting rooms and showrooms and such, rather than making the experience better online. The future seems to lie in solving the reverse of the start point of this study, namely translating online to in-store experiences.

Background: Customers are becoming increasingly conscious about sustainability, for instance when choosing a fast-fashion brand. Brand loyal customers are in direct relation with the success of a brand and promoting brand information of sustainability efforts on social media platforms could positively influence customers brand loyalty, brand satisfaction, brand trust and brand engagement.  Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between brand information regarding sustainability efforts of fast-fashion brands and brand loyalty, brand satisfaction, brand trust as well as brand engagement. Further, this study examines whether brand trust and brand engagement work as antecedents to brand satisfaction, respectively brand satisfaction to brand loyalty.  Research questions:  How does brand information of sustainability efforts from fast-fashion brands on social media affect brand loyalty? How does brand information of sustainability efforts from fast-fashion brands on social media affect brand satisfaction and its antecedents brand trust and brand engagement? How do brand engagement and brand trust affect brand satisfaction respectively brand loyalty?  Methodology: This research follows a quantitative and deductive research approach. The data was collected through an online survey and the sampling method was a non- probability and a snowball sample. The data collection reached a total of 160 answers which were analyzed through SPSS. Validity and reliability were ensured before testing the hypotheses.  Findings: The findings from this research revealed that there is a positive relationship between brand information regarding sustainability efforts and brand loyalty, brand satisfaction, brand trust, and brand engagement. Further, the results indicated that the hypothesized antecedents brand trust and brand engagement were also accepted.  Implications: This study contributes with its results to today’s increased interest in sustainability, and it delivers significant insights which could be used by fast- fashion brands strategic decisions regarding the content of social media channels. Further, it adds valuable information to current academic literature in a few different ways.  Originality: This paper brings focus to the importance of brand loyalty and how closely it is related to brand information regarding sustainability efforts of fast-fashion brands.

Background: Due to accelerating environmental problems caused by fast fashion sustainable business solutions become increasingly important. Thus, the following thesis examines generation y’s intention to perform in-store recycling at fast fashion retailers and investigates the factors most influential on intention. Besides, it analyses if an attitude-intention gap exists. To fulfil the study’s purpose, a combination of the theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1985) and the norm activation model (Schwartz, 1977) is used.   Approach: Within this study a quantitative method in terms of an online survey is applied. Based on a sample of 326 respondents, relationships between variables are analysed with Pearson correlation analysis and multiple regression. To further identify differences among groups, Independent samples t-test and ANOVA are conducted.     Findings: The study’s findings reveal that generation y generally intends to participate in in-store recycling, while the intention is significantly higher among women than men. The intention to perform in-store recycling is predominantly intrinsically motivated as it is most driven by individuals’ personal norm.    Value: The findings of our study particularly add value for fast fashion retailers and marketers by presenting a novel research model combining most relevant factors required to adequately address consumers among generation y to perform in-store recycling. This specifically allows fashion retailers to successfully establish the concept of in-store recycling. Our study is further beneficial for sustainability researchers, environmental activists, charity organisations and policy makers to create a more sustainable future.

Today it seems like fast fashion brands are affecting luxury brands. Have the fast fashion brands been ignored too long and have luxury brands failed at protecting their brand values?  Luxury fashion brands make collaborations with fast fashion designers, something that would have been unthinkable a long time ago. Luxury brands have increased their number of seasons, some have diffusion lines and others sell online on their own websites. Luxury brands and fast fashion brands are sold on the same streets, worn by the same customers and can be found in the same magazines. Once fast fashion brands were irrelevant for the luxury brands and they ignored them, but time has changed. Fast fashion has affected the luxury industry in several ways. “Fast design turnover”, “Limited-edition products”, “brand communication”, “celebrity products and brand endorsement”, “prestige retail location” and“co-branding with luxury fashion designers” are just examples of tactics fast fashion brands use to imitate luxury brands (Okonkwo, 2007). But luxury brands have characteristics that fast fashion brands don’t such as high quality, exclusivity, high prices, status, and offer highlevels of symbolic and emotional values (Tynan, McKechnie, & Chhuon, 2009). Common characteristics for fast fashion brands are trendy clothing, cheap, interpreted after fashion shows and the collections are delivered quickly (Plunkett, 2010). This study is of qualitative nature and the topic is under-researched academically, which makes it more interesting to explore. However, the fast fashion and luxury fashion has been examined by an extensive literature review. The fast fashion has been dominating the fashion industry in recent years. The purpose was to find out how fast fashion brands and luxury fashion brands were connected. Seven interviews were conducted with people working in the luxury industry. Luxury and fast fashion, consumers, e-commerce, seasons and collaborations will be explored in this paper. This dissertation will mainly focus on how the fast fashion already has affected luxury brands. The conclusion was that luxury brands have been affected by fast fashion brands in numerous ways, it seems to affect bigger luxury brands more than independent designers. Clearly, the luxury industry has been affected by the fast fashion industry.

Området för denna studie är att studera kommunikation mellan företag och kunder. I studien har ett “fast fashion” företag används som exponent. Studien avgränsas till unga kvinnor 15-30 år då företaget har detta kundsegment som målgrupp.  Kommunikation är idag ett viktigt verktyg för företag att sända ut budskap. Den digitala utvecklingen kräver att företag använder digitala medier för att behålla och generera nya kunder. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur kommunikativa instrument kan påverka och optimera företagets specifika kundsegment. I studien analyseras hur budskapet når fram och hur den utsända signalen uppfattas, samt vilka strategier som används för att behålla kundsegmentet i takt med att detta ständigt utvecklas. Schramms kommunikationsmodell har använts som hjälpmedel och visar att signalen från konsument till företag är minst lika viktig som tvärtom. Målet med studien är att få svar genom att besvara tre utvalda forskningsfrågor; Hur uppfattas företagets kommunikativa instrument utav den specifika kundsegment? Hur gör företaget för att behålla sitt kundsegment? Hur kan de kommunikativa instrumenten förbättras i relation till kundsegmentets preferenser? Frågeställningarna besvaras med hjälp av insamlat empiriskt material där intervjuer, enkätundersökning samt passivt deltagande observationer har förts. Genom det framgår resultatet att det är viktigt att exponenten sänder ut signalen till rätt kundsegment. Slutsatsen är att konsten att behålla sitt kundsegment i den snabba förändringen inom “fast fashion”, är att ha kommunikation som den viktigaste pelaren och att veta till vilka den ska riktas mot.

[pt] Este trabalho trata das recentes transformações ocorridas na indústria da moda através da investigação das estratégias utilizadas pelas empresas para implementação do sistema fast fashion. Fenômeno em expansão na indústria do vestuário, o fast fashion tem como principal traço a aceleração da produção através da multiplicação da quantidade de coleções, e seu objetivo é estimular o aumento da velocidade do consumo de modo a escoar a produção crescente, garantindo assim a lucratividade das empresas. As alterações de cunho produtivo e estratégico desencadeadas pela implementação do sistema respondem a mudanças na configuração do modo de produção capitalista. Com base na crítica da economia política marxiana, buscamos compreender o fenômeno fast fashion relacionando-o às características-chave do capitalismo tardio, atual momento do desenvolvimento do modo de produção. O capitalismo tardio se expressa culturalmente no que David Harvey (2007) chamou de condição pós-moderna e tem a acumulação flexível como padrão de acumulação. Partindo da hipótese central segundo a qual o surgimento e expansão do sistema se dá a partir de demandas postas na esfera da produção e não do consumo, consideramos o fast fashion a apresentação da moda na condição pós-moderna. Buscamos definir de que maneira mudanças no processo produtivo para aceleração do giro de capital, a precarização do trabalho, a desterritorialização da produção e a tendência à concentração e centralização do capital – traços marcantes do capitalismo tardio – se apresentam no fast fashion. Além disso, através da análise de uma importante estratégia utilizada por grandes redes varejistas de roupas, as coleções assinadas, procuramos investigar a produção do valor simbólico do produto de moda. / [en] This research points out the recent transformations in the fashion industry through the analyses of the strategies used by companies to implement the fast fashion system. Growing phenomenon in the clothing industry, fast fashion has as its main feature the acceleration of production by multiplying the amount of collections. Its purpose is to stimulate the speed of consumption in order to dispose the rising production, thus ensuring profitability of companies. The changes in production and strategies triggered by the implementation of the system respond to changes in the configuration of the capitalist mode of production. Based on the Marxian critique of political economy, we seek to understand the fast fashion phenomenon relating it to key features of late capitalism, the current moment of development of the mode of production. Late capitalism is culturally expressed in what David Harvey (2007) called condition of postmodernity and has the flexible accumulation as accumulation pattern. Starting from the central hypothesis that the emergence and expansion of the system result from demands imposed in the sphere of production and not of consumption, we consider fast fashion the fashion presentation in the condition of postmodernity. We seek to define how changes in the production process to accelerate of capital turnover, precarious employment, the deterritorialization of production and the trend towards concentration and centralization of capital - striking features of late capitalism - perform at fast fashion. In addition, through the analysis of an important strategy used by large clothing retailers, the signed collections, we investigate the production of the symbolic value of fashion product.

This study investigates the underlying rationale of environmentally and socially conscious young Swedish consumers for their continued consumption of fast fashion. Furthermore this study assesses influential factors that shape young Swedish consumers’ attitudes and beliefs towards fast fashion. The fast fashion business model is largely based on the exploitation of poor working conditions and lack of environmental protection laws in the production countries. However, consumers are becoming increasingly aware of this dark side of fast fashion and the retailers are addressing their concerns with selective organic clothing collections. In order to gain in debt understanding of young Swedish consumers rationalizations, I applied an inductive research approach based on the philosophy of interpretive social science. More specifically I conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 Swedish participants between the ages of 18 and 25. The findings of this study show that the participants prioritize price, quality and how the clothes look over where they have been produced and under what circumstances. Furthermore, the interviewees indicate a high dependency on the Swedish government to punish misconducts of fast fashion retailers. Greenwashing, the Swedish school system as well as a green trend in contemporary Swedish society seem to shape young consumers attitudes and beliefs towards fast fashion. Future research could investigate how the Swedish government and the Swedish school system can take a more pro-active role in educating their citizens and students about the actual negative impacts caused by the overconsumption of fast and disposable fashion towards society and environment.

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the quality of design, materials, construction, appearance, and performance of mens 100% cotton jersey knit t-shirts from three retail categories: mass merchant, fast fashion, and better. These retail categories were represented by brands Fruit of the Loom, H&M, and Brooks Brothers, respectively. A convenience sample was comprised of 78 t-shirts. 13 white and 13 navy t-shirts from each brand were used for testing according to ASTM and AATCC standards and specifications. Evaluations and measurements were conducted before washing, and after one, five, ten, and twenty laundry cycles. The t-shirts were evaluated for fabric weight, fabric count, color change, whiteness change, crocking, smoothness appearance, bursting strength, pilling, dimensional stability, and skewness. The navy t-shirts in the ‘better’ retail category met five out of the six requirements specified by the ASTM standard. However, the navy t-shirts in the ‘fast fashion’ category met four out of five met by the ‘better’ category. In conclusion, the decision to purchase a t-shirt from these retail categories may depend on consumer expectations.

The implication and rise of the fashion industry is not only affecting its consumers, but the whole world. As the fashion industry is proclaimed to be one of the largest contributors to climate change, and makes up for 4.8% of Swedish consumption (Centrum för konsumptionsvetenskap, 2016, p. 12), it is timely that more sustainable approaches must be taken. Disposing of one’s textiles is a vital part to reaching a more sustainable consumption, since many textiles can be recycled for redesign or to extract fibres. Post-retail initiatives are set out by many fashion firms, where they extend services to their customers in order to aid in sustainable clothing care or helping them dispose of their textiles in a more sustainable manner. The purpose of this study is to understand the perception of male consumers, a demographic that is often overlooked in fashion studies, and how they perceive post-retail initiatives, as well as looking into how male consumers take responsibility for their clothes after use. The following research questions: How are post-retail initiatives perceived by millennial men? How are sustainable clothing collections from a fast fashion company perceived by men? How do men take responsibility for their clothing when they are finished using them? Where does the responsibility lie of recycling clothes?   By using a qualitative method, in terms of semi-structured interviews, 8 participants were interviewed and questions with different themes such as: CSR, post-retail initiatives, sustainable consumption, behaviour and attitude towards sustainable consumption, fast fashion, and hedonism vs utilitarianism were used to code the data for analysis. The inductive nature of the study allowed for a model to be derived after data collection. By adapting a technological acceptance model (TAM) and a model for decision making of sustainable consumption the sustainable acceptance model (SAM) was made to interpret how external variables contribute to perceptions of sustainability and post-retail initiatives and how that can instigate a changed attitude or behaviour.    The SAM model helped to answer the research questions and showed that for perceptions to be formed, social and individual factors played a large role. One’s social context as well as situational and individual factors play a role in the perception of post-retail initiatives. The bearers of responsibility for textile recycling was believe to be in the hands of the municipalities, not the fashion industry, as they have a bigger influence of creating situational opportunities to instigate awareness for recycling textiles.   The findings show that perceptions of post-retail initiatives are derived from influences from external variables. Convenience plays a large role in perception as something that is perceived well must also be easily accessible. Clothing collections are not perceived well as availability over other convenient choices are not present. Responsibility for clothing varies from sale to donation, but an understanding was made that the lack of knowledge on where to dispose sustainably was limited. Responsibility for recycling clothing was said to be from a municipal level not the [clothing] industry level.

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