Why consumers don’t shop their values — and how to change that

This article is part of our new editorial package, The Future of Shopping, in which we predict how the retail landscape will be shaped over the next decade. Click here to read more. Ask most consumers whether they value sustainability, social justice and inclusion and they’ll say yes. But ask whether they consistently avoid fast fashion, shop mindfully and carry out research into every brand they buy — and the answer is usually quite different. Vogue Business interviewed 25 consumers between the ages of 22 and 40. All but one said their values — ranging from inclusion and responsibility to animal welfare — play a role in the way they shop, yet most admitted they don’t always shop according to them. The reason for this dissonance between values and behaviours often boils down to a combination of price, convenience, lack of sizing options and — more broadly — a sense of disillusionment about the lack of progress towards sustainability. An excess of information and a world full of greenwashing and tokenism also make it hard for the consumer to know what to believe. Victoria Ash, 24, a statistical programmer, says she is not sure how to evaluate a brand’s progress. “I wish there was a way you could have the information that almost makes the decision for you,” she says. Ash has consulted sustainability ranking platforms and brand certifications, but struggles to determine how valid the ranking systems are and what certifications mean in practice. While consumers are confused about how to shop their values, brands are equally confused about how to communicate theirs. Most brands have web pages committing to broad-brush values such as sustainability or diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I), but what’s less clear is how they act on those values. Others are shying away from communicating theirs at all out of greenwashing or tokenism fears. How do we take the guesswork out of how to be a value-driven brand or consumer? Regulations will play a big role. Once the fashion industry becomes more regulated on sustainability, it won’t be up to consumers to make the decision to buy better — instead it will become the standard for brands to structure their supply chains more responsibly and disclose their progress. Equally, anti-greenwashing legislation — such as the Green Claims Code in the UK (published in 2021) and the Green Claims Directive in the EU (which came into force this March under an 18-month transition phase) — will make the parameters for communicating desired values much clearer for brands. Caught up in consumerism The discrepancy between what consumers say and what they do is known as “pick-and-mix ethics”, says Kate Hardcastle, consumer specialist and founding partner at Insight with Passion. “It’s not as simple as consumers feeling the need to say the right thing publicly then actually being quite wicked behind the scenes — there’s more complexity to it,” she says. “The consumer is bombarded and engages with brands 24/7, and that communication can be warped and moulded, sometimes by third parties and sometimes intentionally by companies, to suit a narrative.” Many consumers understand a brand’s unethical behaviour but purchase anyway. “During a cost of living crisis I’m not always capable of purchasing ethical basics because these are often, understandably, more costly, so I excuse myself for buying fast fashion for the likes of underwear and socks,” says Molly Elizabeth Agnew, 22, a fashion writer. Gen Z are the biggest consumers of fashion, according to Mintel, with 27 per cent having bought five or more pieces of fashion in the last quarter, rising to 36 per cent among women aged 16 to 24. Mintel researchers also found that while 71 per cent of women in the UK aged 16 to 24 say sustainability is important to them, 54 per cent of those same shoppers have purchased from Shein. Important life phases, such as graduating from school, starting a career and having a child, are key predictors for changes in consumption, says Katia Dayan Vladimirova, senior lecturer at the University of Geneva and founder of the Sustainable Fashion Consumption research network. These changes in consumption are partly for practical reasons, and partly because of the identity shift associated with these phases. “The highest throughput of a wardrobe can be observed between the phases of teenage, adolescent and young adults,” she says. One reason why consumers may not act on their values is a sense of their individual ineffectiveness, says chartered psychologist Dion Terrelonge, who specialises in fashion, wellbeing and sustainability. “The chaos in the world is driving people into a sense of hopelessness because they don’t feel empowered to enact change that will make a difference, so they do the little things that benefit their well-being and give them a lift for a moment.” This disillusionment with the state of the world rings true for Charlie Jones, 29, an editor and advisor. “There’s no ethical consumption under capitalism,” he says. “But there are some very nice coats.” Just as with essentials, one-off luxury purchases are often excluded from value-driven decision-making, says Damian Benders, general manager at digital media company B Code Media, which helps brands connect with Black consumers. “When you’re considering luxury, a lot of decision-making factors are not related to your core morals and instead relate to the zeitgeist, culture, and — particularly for the Black community [and other communities of colour] — the idea that I’ve been excluded from this group and now I can afford it,” he says. The appeal of a value-driven brand Certain consumer groups are more appreciative of value-driven brands. People from marginalised groups are more likely to feel affinity with brands that display strong values — and to boycott those that don’t. “As a trans person, it can be quite easy to identify brands that stand opposed to my identity, especially as my community shares so much information between us,” says Samuel Moir-Smith, 24, who has boycotted brands including McDonald’s, Puma and Bud Light. The spending power in the West for minority ethnic communities (known as the global majority) is rising fast. According to a report from British advertising agency WPP, the combined disposable income of this community in the UK is expected to surge from £252 billion in 2023 to £3.06 trillion in 2031 and £16.7 trillion in 2061. According to McKinsey, Black consumers’ collective economic power is expected to grow in the US to $1.7 trillion in 2030, up from $910 billion in 2019. Diasporic communities and communities from within fast-growing global markets (such as China, the Middle East and India) are equally a focus. These consumers, particularly those of younger generations, are very savvy about the authenticity of brand DE&I efforts, says Benders of B Code Media. “Internal leadership representation and marketing representation are essential, and if you’re not demonstrating those, you’re not even in the game.” Community programmes — whether supporting cultural events or scholarships with HBCUs — tend to resonate most meaningfully. Collaborations with representatives from communities can help. “When brands are thinking about speaking to this consumer, it’s really important they consider aligning with Black creatives, Black designers and Black founders,” says Brandice Daniel, founder of Harlem’s Fashion Row, which connects designers of colour with retailers. Brand engagement with contentious global issues is a big call. Huda Beauty, for instance, took the decision to speak out in support of Palestine. “We received a lot of backlash and pressure,” says founder Huda Kattan. “However it is always our responsibility to use our voices through our platform and reach for those who do not have a voice, even at the risk of losing our business.” Of course, independent and founder-run brands tend to be more in control of their narratives as they don’t often have to worry about shareholder opinions. “The reason we’re seeing more beauty brands and disruptors coming through is because they have more power in their values and can stick to that with more rigour, and I think consumers appreciate that,” says Hardcastle. Marketing your values: How brands can get it right Public-facing community projects are easier for consumers to evaluate than the micro-details of a brand’s supply chain. But with legislation on the horizon, fashion brands will have to start being clearer about the responsibility of their supply chains — as well as how they talk about their responsible practices. In the future, brands will have to implement innovations like QR code labels or product passports, and even think about taking responsibility for their products’ end-of-life, says Simon Platts, CEO and co-founder of SaaS circularity platform Re-Up by Recomme, who spent a decade as responsible sourcing director at Asos. “We need to formulate what the bar is for brands so they can re-engage with customers about what the products are made of; how you care for products; what happens to them when you’re finished with the products — encouraging consumers to pass them to friends or give them back to us to give them a new life or deconstruct back to its virgin state and create new products; giving a digital product passport that shows the whole lifecycle and maybe a QR code that tells you about who made your clothes,” says Platts. To avoid greenwashing, some brands will continue to avoid labelling themselves as ethical and sustainable altogether. Ruth Andrade, environmental partner at British cosmetics brand Lush says, “We don’t want to label ourselves as ‘ethical’. We should normalise these practices and demand them as the basics of doing business.” For brands that do want to label themselves by their values, transparency will become increasingly important. Among the brands taking this approach is Reformation, known for its tagline: ‘Being naked is the #1 most sustainable option. We’re #2.’ Chief sustainability officer and VP of operations Kathleen Talbot says the brand takes an “oversharing approach to sustainability”, detailing progress in regular reports and publicly owning both its wins and losses. “Our hope is that by laying it all out there, we’re not only building trust with customers but also creating space for other brands to follow suit and join a conversation where progress is valued over perfection,” she says. Pascal Brun, VP of sustainability and D&I at Zalando, says the scrutiny that legislation will continue to pose in the future is a “positive challenge” that helps keep companies accountable to their commitments. In February, the retailer committed to revising its sustainability claims following an EU ruling that they were misleading. “Whilst scrutiny is inevitable, we believe that our commitment to our values and being transparent about our journey is the best way to build long-term trust with our customers and partners,” he says. Buyers are also becoming more sensitive to greenwashing claims. “If you’re buying because it’s sustainable, and you’re going to market it as a ‘sustainable brand’, then the retailer needs to be accountable, making sure [of] due diligence,” says Natasha Advani, buying consultant, former head of buying at Selfridges and founder of Not/Applicable Vintage. Selfridges has a checklist for buyers when considering a brand for its Project Earth category, she says — a strategy that many more retailers may adopt in future. Helping consumers shop according to their values might mean exploring what fashion looks like beyond the production of new clothes, says academic Vladimirova. She points to business opportunities for repair services, peer-to-peer clothing exchange programmes, rental services and modular garments that can be updated over time. “There are multiple ways for brands to be consistent with sustainability ideas and regulations, while still enhancing their revenue — but if we’re speaking about the traditional model of produce, sell and forget about the rest, that model’s going to have issues.” Comments, questions or feedback? Email us at feedback@voguebusiness.com. More from The Future of Shopping: What really happened with Matches and where do we go from here? How Gen Z’s shopping habits will shape the future of retail Can good customer service make shopping fun again?

Make better business decisions

Make better business decisions