Improving Society and the Planet: Sustainability and Fashion Post-Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of our ecosystem and demonstrated a crucial need to address sustainability across the fashion supply chain, including the end-use consumer. As consumers become more conscious and demand sustainable fashion, the question of whether the pandemic has shaped such behaviors for long-term transitions remains unanswered. This qualitative study aimed to understand whether the COVID-19 pandemic has created a societal shift in individual attitudes toward sustainable fashion, whether it can help to motivate long-term sustainable consumption practices, and whether positive psychology plays a role in this context. With online survey data collected from 154 US consumers, summative content analysis and thematic analysis results revealed that as consumers continued to be puzzled by what constitutes sustainability, their pro-sustainability attitudes and behaviors did not evolve as claimed by prior literature. However, not only positive emotions associated with care and concern motivated consumers’ pro-sustainability, but indeed post-purchase positive feelings of contentment and altruism were revealed, affirming the need for marketing messages to incorporate positive psychology perspectives to motivate long-term sustainable fashion consumption practices.