Consumer Behaviour in Second Hand Clothing

Today I met with Design Academy Eindhoven student Brandon Chow, to talk about intergenerational cooperation and the sociocultural approach given to my research tasks as part of Baltan Laboratories occupant social design program. Some research will be filmed as part of my film.

It couldn’t be any different. So far, more or less, everything I’ve developed professionally, that is, from translating the diary of an undergraduate student in Amsterdam born with brain damage, to the later above, engages sociocultural and cross-cultural perspectives. Such method, is thanks to seeing my career in culture and education as in filmmaking, more as social rather than cognitive activities.

My approach to second-hand clothing consumption won’t be any different. It all will have a cross-cultural intergenerational comparison between young and older consumers in the community. This challenge, plus Brandon’s multicultural background in Canada, brought me back to my life in Toronto before moving to the Netherlands, and read over current consumer behaviour findings.

Compared to mid 2000’s, Canada’s population hasn’t changed much in this regard. The population continues to have a high and diversified level of mass consumption with purchases mostly made in mass retailers and shopping centres. However, neighbourhood malls are no longer popular and many have disappeared for online shopping to take over and increase heavily.

According to latest data provided by Statistics Canada, the total spending of Canadian online shoppers reached over $50 billion in 2018, compared to $18 billion in 2012, with nearly above 80% of Internet users buying services locally. However, goods continue to be mainly produced internationally and now are mostly purchased online due to pandemic reasons. Imported products also continue to be considered more attractive due to the continuous immigration influence in consumer behaviour, especially with regards to food products. The government has addressed this minus point most recently by putting in place several regulations to control the nascent trend of buying things made in Canada.

Health concerns and health awareness continues to be steady among Canadian consumers where sustainable consumption, and the purchases of ethical or organic products are on the rise, where the second hand market has been growing. Reports show that in 2019, the trend for locally produced is particularly high among 18–24-year- olds, with consumers being more willing to buy at a higher price tag if clothes items are more sustainable.

#consumerbehaviour #textiles #socialdesign #research #documentary