IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i17p10821-d902060.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Extending the Lifetime of Clothing through Repair and Repurpose: An Investigation of Barriers and Enablers in UK Citizens

Author

Listed:
  • Lisa Zhang

    (UCL Centre for Behaviour Change, University College London, London WC1E 7HB, UK)

  • Jo Hale

    (UCL Centre for Behaviour Change, University College London, London WC1E 7HB, UK)

Abstract

Repairing and repurposing clothes can extend their lifetime, helping reduce the environmental impacts of the fashion industry. We aimed to investigate influences on clothing repair and repurpose using the Theoretical Domains Framework. A survey was conducted with a representative sample of 300 UK citizens. The frequency of, and influences on, clothing repair and repurpose behaviour were measured with self-report scales and a free-text item. Quantitative (logistic regression) and qualitative (thematic) analyses were used to identify barriers and enablers of behaviour. Findings showed that participants typically engaged in the behaviour every six months. The main barriers concerned a lack of skills, poor product design, unaffordability of repair services, and incongruence with identity. Key enablers concerned the ability to focus during DIY tasks, dynamic social norms, beliefs about benefits of repairing, emotional attachment to clothing, and having routines and habits of repairing. This study is the first to apply the Behaviour Change Wheel to identify intervention types and behaviour change techniques that can modify these influences, such as training workshops and the provision of free repair and repurpose services. Policy options were suggested to support implementation, such as extended producer responsibility. Awareness and skill-building campaigns, while important, are not enough to support behaviour change; structural and policy changes are needed.

Suggested Citation

  • Lisa Zhang & Jo Hale, 2022. "Extending the Lifetime of Clothing through Repair and Repurpose: An Investigation of Barriers and Enablers in UK Citizens," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-18, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:17:p:10821-:d:902060
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/17/10821/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/17/10821/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sonali Diddi & Ruoh-Nan Yan, 2019. "Consumer Perceptions Related to Clothing Repair and Community Mending Events: A Circular Economy Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-17, September.
    2. Kirsi Laitala & Ingun Grimstad Klepp, 2018. "Care and Production of Clothing in Norwegian Homes: Environmental Implications of Mending and Making Practices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-20, August.
    3. Marium Durrani, 2018. "“People Gather for Stranger Things, So Why Not This?” Learning Sustainable Sensibilities through Communal Garment-Mending Practices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-23, June.
    4. Siti Hasnah Hassan & Jasmine A. L. Yeap & Nabil Hasan Al-Kumaim, 2022. "Sustainable Fashion Consumption: Advocating Philanthropic and Economic Motives in Clothing Disposal Behaviour," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-17, February.
    5. Ingun Grimstad Klepp & Kirsi Laitala & Stephen Wiedemann, 2020. "Clothing Lifespans: What Should Be Measured and How," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-21, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mahendran Balasubramanian & Pariya Sheykhmaleki, 2024. "Comprehending the Consumer Behavior toward Sustainable Apparel," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-17, September.
    2. Saliha Karadayi-Usta & Erfan Babaee Tirkolaee, 2023. "Evaluating the Sustainability of Fashion Brands Using a Neutrosophical ORESTE Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-17, September.
    3. Gloria Jiménez-Marín & María del Mar Ramírez Alvarado & Cristina González-Oñate, 2022. "Application of Sensory Marketing Techniques at Marengo, a Small Sustainable Men’s Fashion Store in Spain: Based on the Hulten, Broweus and van Dijk Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-17, October.
    4. Wenjun Guo & Eunyoung Kim, 2023. "Identifying Factors Influencing Consumers’ Choice of Disposal Channels Regarding Children’s Clothing in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-17, August.
    5. Wenjun Guo & Eunyoung Kim, 2023. "Categorizing Chinese Consumers’ Behavior to Identify Factors Related to Sustainable Clothing Consumption," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-18, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gloria Jiménez-Marín & María del Mar Ramírez Alvarado & Cristina González-Oñate, 2022. "Application of Sensory Marketing Techniques at Marengo, a Small Sustainable Men’s Fashion Store in Spain: Based on the Hulten, Broweus and van Dijk Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-17, October.
    2. Julie Madon, 2023. "“When we got divorced, I left all my things behind.”: How the lifespan of household goods is linked to the biographical trajectory of their owners," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(3), pages 822-833, June.
    3. Sonali Diddi & Ruoh-Nan Yan, 2019. "Consumer Perceptions Related to Clothing Repair and Community Mending Events: A Circular Economy Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-17, September.
    4. Sarah Gray & Angela Druckman & Jhuma Sadhukhan & Keith James, 2022. "Reducing the Environmental Impact of Clothing: An Exploration of the Potential of Alternative Business Models," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-24, May.
    5. Olga Zakharova & Anna Glazkova & Lyudmila Suvorova, 2023. "Online Equipment Repair Community in Russia: Searching for Environmental Discourse," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-16, August.
    6. Wenjun Guo & Eunyoung Kim, 2023. "Categorizing Chinese Consumers’ Behavior to Identify Factors Related to Sustainable Clothing Consumption," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-18, April.
    7. Michelle Burton & Rachel Eike, 2023. "The Sustainability-Conscious Consumer: An Exploration of the Motivations, Values, Beliefs, and Norms Guiding Garment Life Extension Practices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-16, August.
    8. Andreza de Aguiar Hugo & Jeniffer de Nadae & Renato da Silva Lima, 2021. "Can Fashion Be Circular? A Literature Review on Circular Economy Barriers, Drivers, and Practices in the Fashion Industry’s Productive Chain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-17, November.
    9. Ana Neto & João Ferreira, 2021. "“ I Still Love Them and Wear Them ”—Conflict Occurrence and Management in Wearer-Clothing Relationships," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-19, November.
    10. Namhee Yoon & Ha Kyung Lee & Ho Jung Choo, 2020. "Fast Fashion Avoidance Beliefs and Anti-Consumption Behaviors: The Cases of Korea and Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-20, August.
    11. Matthias Lehner & Oksana Mont & Giulia Mariani & Luis Mundaca, 2020. "Circular Economy in Home Textiles: Motivations of IKEA Consumers in Sweden," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-23, June.
    12. Sher Jahan Khan & Saeed Badghish & Puneet Kaur & Rajat Sharma & Amandeep Dhir, 2023. "What motivates the purchasing of green apparel products? A systematic review and future research agenda," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(7), pages 4183-4201, November.
    13. Chung‐Wha (Chloe) Ki & Sze Man Chong & Jung E. Ha‐Brookshire, 2020. "How fashion can achieve sustainable development through a circular economy and stakeholder engagement: A systematic literature review," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(6), pages 2401-2424, November.
    14. Hampus André, 2024. "Opening the black box of the use phase in circular economy life cycle assessments: Environmental performance of shell jacket reuse," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 28(3), pages 542-555, June.
    15. Rikke Marie Moalem & Mette Alberg Mosgaard, 2021. "A Critical Review of the Role of Repair Cafés in a Sustainable Circular Transition," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-25, November.
    16. Claudia Arias & Jhon Mario Quiroga Beltrán & Javier Mauricio Martínez Ariza & Javier Bernardo Cadena Lozano & Miguel Angel Bello Bernal, 2022. "Pro-Circular Consumer Profile: An Approach to Their Identification and Characterization Based on the Components of the Value-Belief-Norm Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-36, June.
    17. Claudia Arias & Javier Bernardo Cadena Lozano & Miguel Angel Bello Bernal, 2024. "The Role of Value in Extending the Lifetime of Products: An Analysis of Perceived Value and Green Consumption Values on Pro-Circular Behaviors of Repair and Reuse," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-26, February.
    18. Rémi Beulque & Helen Micheaux & Marcus Bergmann, 2024. "Policy Instruments to Upscale Electronic Products Repair Business Models. A Financial Approach," Post-Print hal-04642945, HAL.
    19. Ruth Mugge, 2018. "Product Design and Consumer Behaviour in a Circular Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-4, October.
    20. Daniel Jato-Espino & Carmen Ruiz-Puente, 2020. "Fostering Circular Economy Through the Analysis of Existing Open Access Industrial Symbiosis Databases," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-24, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:17:p:10821-:d:902060. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.