I am starting to write the timeline of my research again. Through Myra Margolin’s video, I understand that his first step is to collect and organize data and then distill it onto cards. After that, he transfers the material from the cards to sheets of paper, drawing key diagrams and clusters. Finally, he begins the writing process.
At this stage, what I am writing in my research timeline is more akin to Myra Margolin’s second step of listing and identifying key points and interventions. So, it’s no longer about planning but more like summarizing before I move on to the third step of writing the evaluative report.
Research question is :
How to motivate Chinese millennials gen-z to treat their unwanted clothes for second use instead of directly dithering or throwing aways these clothes?
Identify each of the important points and interventions
Background:(Oct 2022- Dec 2022)
The United Nations also warned that in the decade from 2020 to 2030, mankind must reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 7.6% each year to avoid catastrophic consequences (Wang et al., 2020). This is probably the reason why the United Nations included responsible consumption and production in its 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (The United Nations, n.d.). From this perspective, the fashion industry must be changed for the wellbeing of the entire human beings.
Scale of the issue at the heart of my research
In terms of the scale of the secondhand clothing market for the millennials and Gen Z customers in Shanghai China, it is massive, or even enormous. According to the official census from the Chinese government, as of 2020, among the total population in Shanghai, 20.3% were born between 1980 and 1989, and the figure for those born between 1990 and 1999 and those between 2000 and 2009 were 15.0% and 5.5 % respectively (An, 2023). This indicates that about 40.8% of the population in Shanghai is either millennials or Gen Zs, as generally millennials and Gen Zs refer to people born between 1981 and 2012. According to Textor (2023), as of 2020, the total population in Shanghai reached 27.06 million. This means the potential market size of my project will cover about 10.824 million people (27.06 million *40%=10.824 million). In fact, the population in Shanghai is projected to reach 34.34 million in 2023 (Textor, 2020). In other words, in the future, the market size for my project can be even larger than 10.824 million.
In the meantime, in case of secondhand clothes, there are also abundant resources in Shanghai. According to Shi (2019), Chinese people throw away 26 million tons of old clothes every year, but in Shanghai alone, hundreds of tons of clothes are thrown away every day, and less than 10% of them are recycled. In other words, each year, millions of tons of clothes are thrown away in the city of Shanghai along.
Personal reasons for this project
to focus on this subject matter as well. When I studied in Nottingham Trent Uni, I majored in fashion. Since that time, I have been aware that the fashion industry is a heavy polluting business. While I enjoy all kinds of beautiful and stylish clothes, pollution caused by the fashion industry has always made me feel guilty, as if I were the one polluting the environment. Therefore, this project is meaningful to me personally because it can make me feel better about my fashion consumption by allowing me to make a difference.
As a fashion PR professional,
I start by frequently engaging with influencers I encounter in my surroundings.
Interview with influencers in Shanghai: (Nov 2022)
During this process, I found that some people think that the donation model seen online is unreliable in China, where there is a phenomenon of fake charities. For example, Tencent Charity was accused of illegal fundraising. This shows that fake charities have been a problem in China for some time. Some individuals or organizations will use the name of public welfare and charity for illegal fundraising or false propaganda in order to gain improper benefits (shasha, 2021). I think this is something that I should avoid when working on this project in terms of reuse.
Secondly, during this interview, I learned that some people hesitate or even regret their decision to dispose of clothes. For example, in the later stage, when they want to make a new match. They find that the style or colour of the clothes they have already disposed of is exactly what they need. This shows that the meaning of rematching is greater for them. However, the reason they choose other ways to dispose of their clothes is to quickly deal with them. Therefore, in my project, how to help people dispose of their clothes quickly is also a direction to consider.
Interview with my expert-LVMH Beauty- Sustainability Head China，Tingting Han(Feb 2023)
Han believes that the biggest obstacle to dealing with unwanted clothing is a lack of good/innovative channels. So, my goal is to gain a deeper understanding of the target audience’s needs and how to better meet those needs, and to encourage them to participate in activities and share their stories.
Han suggested that I conduct market segmentation analysis, which is also very important. Different cities may have different priorities and needs, and I will focus more on Shanghai for this project, as the literature Han provided me with indicates that Gen-Z in first and second-tier cities in China are driving growth. They account for over 65% of preloved goods buyers, which presents a large market and development opportunity.
First intervention (April 2023)
-Online intervention
•I realized that promoting the sustainable culture of second-hand clothing requires not only one-time online interventions but also longer-term and more comprehensive strategies.
•I discovered the need for a deeper understanding of the needs and preferences of the target audience, as well as their perceptions and attitudes towards sustainability, in order to better design and implement interventions.
-Sell the second-hand clothes in my community
My community can’t approve my request.
-Street interview intervention
•I predicted that people would be more unaware of how to deal with unwanted clothes. But the fact is that most people have a strong concept of second-hand usage.
•strong awareness of the concept of second-hand usage indicates that sustainability consciousness is gradually spreading.
•willing to try second-hand clothes suggests that there may be more people choosing to buy second-hand clothes in the future.
•Understanding the concerns of interviewees about second-hand clothes, such as hygiene issues, personal preference for new items, and accessibility issues to second-hand shops, can help me better understand consumer needs and preferences, and thus develop more targeted intervention strategies.
Learning from the UK
Compare data in London and Shanghai (May 2023)
In the survey conducted among Shanghai students, it was found that out of the 118 participants, over 70% chose to directly throw away their unwanted clothes, while 30% opted for donation. This data is completely opposite to the findings from the street interviews in London. The habitual choice of throwing away and discarding for 71.19%.
Interview with my expert-manager at the British Heart Foundation Kealan (May 2023)
I’ve come to understand that Millennials and Gen-Z in London prefer donating due to their heightened social and environmental awareness.
The widespread promotion of secondhand culture has made it an engaging and meaningful way to curate their wardrobes.
Find out the why behind this data( June 2023)
Cultural and historical factors
Important to find out the reasons behind Chinese people and British people’s different attitudes towards used clothes or secondhand clothes.
UK attitudes
they care about the environment and that they are contributing to make a difference.
Since World War I, the scarcity of resources have made secondhand clothing a symbol of perseverance in difficulty times in the UK (Maude Bass-Krueger, 2020)
China attitudes
Born in the 1990s and 2000s, do not think too much about economic or environmental protection motivations when they buy fashion items.
In the 1970s, many people still have the impression that used clothes are symbols for low-class and having low social acceptance (Xu et al., 2014).
Comparison between the reference and the actual experiences of my mother and grandmother (July 2023)
My mum and grandma did not mention that clothing symbolizes social status.
The main is difference in attitude towards second-hand clothing between China and Britain reflects cultural and economic factors, as well as individual preferences and perceptions of cleanliness and value.
Interview with vintage store owner in Shanghai (July 2023)
This interview has once again confirmed that among the consumer base for second-hand clothing in Shanghai, young people represent the largest potential customer segment.
If the sales approach were to shift to online, I need to consider how to convey a similar experience visually to online viewers as compared to the physical store. Simultaneously, testing how to handle second-hand clothing online and increasing awareness among young people will be crucial aspects of the upcoming intervention.
Second intervention (July 2023)
Influencer: zhiyu
Location: Shanghai
Background: student
Follower: 608 Collection:2836
Role in my intervention:
Test to take action and try to engage in facilitating the flow of unwanted clothing.
Promotional form: Live streaming
Set price: 90% discount from the original price
Secondhand Price: 2-3GBP/ piece (20-30yuan)
Clothes from: Promotional clothing given by the brand
•Feedback from stakeholder:
•This is my first attempt at live streaming, Unfortunately, perhaps because it’s my first time and I’m a relatively small influencer, there wasn’t much viewership. However, I’m glad to have had the experience of selling secondhand clothing in this way. It’s possible that this method is the right one, but for me right now, it might be more suitable to sell on Idle Fish (an online marketplace), which won’t take up too much of my time. I’m willing to try again when my follower base grows. Now I suggest collaborating with influencers who have more follower base to try this out.
My reflection:
In this intervention, In our first live stream, we set prices right from the start. Despite being at a very low price for brand new clothing, it clearly affected the likelihood of final transactions. For the current promotion of secondhand clothing, setting prices at the beginning seems inappropriate. Also because the influencer’s own follower count is relatively small. However, feedback from a few participants indicated that they felt the sizes weren’t suitable and the styles were too basic. It can be inferred that participants were actually interested in making purchases, but the issues of style and size were beyond our control.
Third intervention: (August 2023)
•Influencer : lora
•Background: 6 years Fashion influencer
•Location: in Shanghai
•Follower: 99k Likes and collections：471k
Role in my intervention:
High follower influencer to leverage their reach and credibility. Thereby promoting participants’ enthusiasm for second-hand clothes.
Promotional form: video
Feedback from stakeholder:
•This intervention has successfully engaged stakeholder in their areas of expertise, particularly in giving old clothing new styling. Approaching from different angles such as color, style, and body proportions, it confirmed that new combinations can indeed serve the purpose of reusing clothing. Based on participants feedback, almost followers appreciated the content, especially the color combinations, as a valuable reference for them.
•The influencer’s active engagement with followers after seeing their comments has boosted participant enthusiasm. However, stakeholder also noted, as found in previous research, that they receive a significant amount of brand promotional products every month, making it challenging to manage.
Fourth intervention: (September 2023)
•Influencer: Zoe
•Background: Fashion influencer
•Follower: 3096 Likes and favorites：1.7w
Role in my intervention:
Experimenting with a gifting approach to handle unwanted clothing. Additionally, I aim to establish connections with their followers to enhance fan engagement, making it easier for them to manage unwanted products.
Feedback from stakeholder:
•This approach is beneficial for stakeholders to manage their clothing and can be carried out as a seasonal clothing giveaway video activity. We also established an agreement during this video to ensure that the clothing will not be discarded again. However, a majority of participants in the comments primarily chose clothing items numbered 3, 6, 16, 17, and 18. There may be situations where some clothing items cannot be given away, and some participants may return items due to size issues after receiving them. So, in the intervention I’m designing, it should better accommodate such occurrences to help stakeholders address their clothing concerns.
•The audience, upon receiving the secondhand clothing through such videos, expresses great happiness and willingness to become stakeholders’ followers. This represents a win-win model.
