The discussion about organic and fair trade products has been a big issue during the last few years. Despite an extensive knowledge about the environmental problems and a willingness to do something about it, the consumers are not always acting that way. Children do imitate their parents and other adults at an early age, so if the role models do not begin to act, think and dress ethically correct, neither will the children. Three problems have been identified out of the discussion. They relate to the questions of how older school children and parents of younger school children are taking sides regarding the organic/fair trade clothes and how existing trends in the society as well as those in fashion contexts influence their attitudes and consumer behaviour. Finally, we have a question regarding how the school children and their parents prioritize and evaluate various factors when purchasing clothes. The purpose of the study was to find out how school children along with their parents are behaving concerning organic/fair trade clothes and what is affecting their purchases. By analyzing their thoughts and opinions regarding the subject, the aim was to describe the consumer behaviour in the different age groups and find answers to the problem formulations. Initially, the purpose is explorative and then it exceeds to become describing. The study integrates research about school children’s general consumer behaviour with research about their consumer behaviour regarding organic and fair trade garments and creates new conclusions and theories out of the gathered empirics and earlier theories. Thus, the study explores a new area while it describes how the consumer behaviour looks like. The study is hermeneutical with a qualitative approach. In the theoretical reference frame the model of the consumer buying decision-making process and its influencing factors (Jobber 2008), the push and pull strategies (Doole & Lowe 2004), the model of the different buying roles and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (Kotler & Armstrong 2008) have been used in order to interpret the collected empirics. The empirics consist of surveys with the school children and their parents and interviews with employees in different kinds of organic/fair trade shops. The analysis in the study is a comparison and linking of the selected theory and the gathered empirics. The survey responses have been interpreted and analysed the parts into a whole. The main results show that school children and their parents generally have relatively poor knowledge of organic/fair trade products, which is shown in their choice when purchasing clothing. Due to lack of marketing, the consumers are not convinced to visit organic/fair trade shops but mainly choose the familiar brands. High prices and low supply appears to be the main reason to why school children and their parents do not buy organic/fair trade garments. / Program: Textilekonomutbildningen

Klädindustrin har förändrats betydligt de senaste 30 åren. Detta har lett till nya affärsmodeller som bygger på trendigt, billigt och snabbt mode. Dessa affärskoncept benämns fast fashion och i Sverige finns kedjeföretagen H & M, Lindex och Gina Tricot för att nämna några. Konceptet uppmanar konsumenter till att ständigt konsumera kläder som därmed stimulerar konsumenternas behov av att bära det senaste modet till ett rimligt pris. Detta beteende får i längden konsekvenser för miljön vilket leder till att media och samhällsaktörer ifrågasätter dessa affärsmodeller. Kedjeföretagen förhåller sig till detta genom att ta in ekologiska produkter i sortimentet som en del av deras hållbarhetsarbete. Den stora frågan är då hur konsumenterna uppfattar detta eftersom de handlar hos kedjeföretagen, för att tillfredsställa behovet av att bära något nytt och trendigt till ett bra pris. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur konsumenter uppfattar det ekologiska sortimentet hos fast fashion företag, med tanke på att begreppet, i praktiken såväl som i tanken, strider mot ett hållbarhetsperspektiv. Detta undersöks via en kvantitativ metod i form av en enkätundersökning som sedan fördjupas i en kvalitativ metod, genom en aktiv deltagande observation. Därmed undersöks konsumenternas attityder till ekologiska produkter i fast fashion företagen. Enkätundersökningen syftar även till att besvara hur konsumenterna förhåller sig till ekologiska produkter i fråga om pris, design och kvalité. Dessutom användes en passiv observation, för att se hur ett fast fashion företag kommunicerar det ekologiska sortimentet i butik. Den slutsats som framkom var att konsumenterna hos fast fashion företag prioriterade andra faktorer före ekologiskt framställda kläder samtidigt som fast fashion företaget som undersökts i studien inte alls kommunicerar de ekologiska kläderna. Detta kan därmed tolkas som ett imageproblem ut mot kund. I och med att företagen arbetar med ett hållbarhetsperspektiv som dock kommunicerades ytterst lite. / Apparel industry has changed significantly during the last 30 years. This has led to new business models based on trendy, cheap and fast fashion. H & M, Lindex and Gina Tricot are some Swedish supply chain retailers with a fast fashion concept. The concept encourages consumers to constantly consume clothing and stimulates the need of consumers to wear the latest fashion at a reasonable price. This behaviour has a long-term impact on the environment, which has led to companies wanting to be more responsible. The companies need to take more responsibility to avoid media and stakeholders from questioning their business models. Retail chain companies have started to produce organic products to meet their expectations. The big question is how the consumers perceive this, considering that the customers want to satisfy their needs to wear something new, trendy and cheap. The purpose of this thesis is to examine how consumers perceive organic products in fast fashion companies, given that the concept, in practice as well as in thought, is contrary to a sustainability perspective. This was examined through a quantitative method in the form of a survey and for an in-depth examination through a participant observation, to study consumer attitudes to sustainable products in the fast fashion companies. It also had examined how a fast fashion company communicates their organic products in their store through a passive observation. The conclusion that emerged was that fast fashion consumers prioritize other factors like price, design and quality over sustainability when they shop. This study indicates that the fast fashion company does not communicate their organic products actively to their customers. This can be interpreted as a defensive marketing to avoid problems with their image out to the customers. Since companies are working with a sustainability perspective but does not communicate this to the customers.