Gen Z adults are interested in using apparel rental services. The reason behind this is to reduce over-consumption. The source of this information is from a new study in the journal Sustainability, a research was done by the Washington State University researchers.
Collaborative apparel consumption which is also known as Apparel rental extends the life of an article of clothing. It is because people don’t throw it away after wearing it a few times.
“The idea is growing more popular, especially among Gen Z consumers,” said Ting Chi, the corresponding author on the paper and chair of WSU’s Department of Apparel, Merchandising, Design, and Textiles. “They are very interested in sustainable consumerism, care about the environment, and are willing to make changes to help the planet.”
According to the research, which was done by Chi and co-authors Lindsay McCoy and Yuan Ting Wang. It is understood that most of the respondents were still interested in being fashionable without owning a product. The survey was done on 362 adults who were born between 1997 and 2002 from across the United States.
“They’re more focused on usage,” Chi said. “That increases a product’s lifecycle if it is worn by different people. It also reduces waste while still meeting consumer needs for variety.”
Gen Z adults accepted clothing rental due to several other factors which were reported after the research. The most important, according to Chi, the perceived effectiveness of making a difference. If consumers feel their effort will have an impact, they’re more likely to accept a change.
Another factor was the focus on usage, not ownership.
“They would get newer products more frequently than if they own an item,” Chi said. “The desire to get more new articles of clothing made it more likely that they would try rental services.”
The concept of renting clothes is not a new idea. For decades people have been renting formal wear but expanding into more daily situations is a major change for consumers.
“That’s why we started by talking with Gen Z,” Chi said.
“They’re more willing to adapt to changes, and doing so to help the environment makes it even more appealing.”
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, in the recent year statistics of 2018, the consumers sent over 17 million tons of textiles to landfills in the U.S. The number has been increasing from year to year, in the year 2009 it was 13 million and in the year it was 9.4 million.
“We’re wasting too many textiles,” Chi said. “Americans are buying an average of 67 clothing items every year, but how many do we really need? They’re inexpensive but cause real environmental damage. We need to make an individual effort to help the environment and one way to help is bringing in a sharing economy.”
The researchers’ Chi and his co-authors have a plan to continue their research. They plan to survey other generations to gauge their interest in rental apparel.
