After the Binge,
the Hangover
G
International Fashion
Consumption Survey
Insights into the Minds of Clothing Consumers
2After The Binge, The Hangover
A new survey, commissioned by Greenpeace,
of the shopping habits of people in Europe
and Asia fnds that regularly buying too
many clothes, shoes, bags and accessories
has become an international phenomenon.
This is especially striking in China and Hong
Kong, but is also widespread in Europe,
with up to half of consumers buying more
clothes than they need and use. Consumers
are no longer shopping because they
need something. On the contrary: younger
people in particular shop despite already
having too much, longing for fulflment and
encouraged by social media and the ease of
online shopping. However, shopping doesn’t
make people happy as the excitement only
provides a temporary fx.
Overconsumption of fashion is now deeply
entrenched in our everyday culture, both in
old European economies and in emerging
ones such as China. In many ways, China is
currently leading this trend, with more than
half of Chinese consumers owning more
clothes and bags than they need. Almost half
of Chinese consumers buy more than they can
aford - and more than makes them happy,
and around 40 percent qualify as excessive
shoppers, shopping compulsively more than
once a week. Young, high-income women are
the most vulnerable. The spread of online
shopping and social media makes people
even more susceptible to overconsumption.
These people are not shopping because they
need something new - their motivation is the
longing for excitement, satisfaction and
confdence in front of others. Shoppers also
seek to release stress, kill time and relieve
boredom.
However, shopping does not make them
happy: people already own too much and they
know it. Around 50 percent report that their
shopping excitement wears of within a day. A
third of the East Asians feel even more empty
and unfulflled afterwards. They also seem to
know they are on the wrong path: around half
of consumers are hiding their purchases from
others, fearing accusations of wasting money
or other negative reactions.
Shopping behaviour is widely infuenced
by people’s social environment and media
consumption. Social media platforms like
Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook or WeChat in
China are driving shopping mania, especially
among young digitally connected East Asians.
Browsing fashion blogs or following friends
and celebrities triggers even more buying.
After excessive shopping people experience
regular tiredness and boredom - the binge is
followed by a hangover.
About this survey
For this survey commissioned by Greenpeace,
independent survey institutes Nuggets, TNS
and SWG asked European and East Asian
consumers about their shopping habits (China,
Hong Kong, Taiwan, Italy, Germany) - how
often, where and for how long they shop for
clothing. We also wanted to know why they
go shopping, what triggers them to buy new
clothes - and whether they get fulflled by
doing so. All surveys are representative and
were carried out between December 2016
and March 2017 amongst at least 1000 people
aged 20 to 45 in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan,
Italy and Germany.1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Overconsumption of fashion is
an international phenomenon
3After The Binge, The Hangover
About the Detox my Fashion
Campaign
Since the launch of its Detox campaign in
2011, Greenpeace has been successfully
fghting for a cleaner textile industry, with
79 global textile brands and suppliers
committing to eliminate the discharge of
hazardous chemicals from their supply chain
by 2020. However, to protect our planet
and our health we need to go a step further.
We need to change the way we consume
clothing and tackle our consumption habits
and unsustainable lifestyles; we need to seek
for happiness in places other than shopping
malls and online stores.
Fashion always comes at a price - but in
the 21st century this is paid by millions of
exploited textile workers, mainly in Asian
countries, and the planet.2 The textile industry
continues to grow and is an important water
consumer and polluter worldwide. To produce
cotton, viscose, polyester and other synthetic
materials and blends, the textile industry
uses natural resources such as water, oil, coal,
cotton and wood. Energy from fossil fuels
is consumed to manufacture clothes and
transport them worldwide, contributing to
climate change. The textile industry pollutes
waterways and oceans with the approximately
3500 chemicals3 that are used for producing,
dyeing, coating and softening fabrics, quite
a few of which are hazardous for people and
the planet.
Since more than 60% of our clothing consists
of synthetic blended fbres,4 microfbres are a
rising problem5 - tiny fbres are released from
the garment during each wash, making up
a big chunk of the household plastics that
pollute the ocean and entering the food
chain. After disposal, many clothes end up in
landflls, where those made of synthetic fbres
do not degrade, or they are downcycled.
By far the biggest factor for the environmental
footprint of the textile industry is the rising
volume of clothes produced and consumed.
Fashion retailers have been speeding up
the turnaround of fashion trends since the
1980’s. Brands such as Zara and H&M, which
have both shown an “explosive expansion”
since 2000, have become the largest clothes
retailers in the world. The “fast fashion”
promoted by these and other brands leads to
increased consumption of all clothes. While in
2002 sales of clothing were worth $1 trillion,
this has risen to $1.8 trillion by 2015 – and is
forecast to rise further to $2.1 trillion by 2025.6
This represents huge volumes of material -
clothing production doubled from 2000 to
2014.7
At the same time, the average person buys
60 percent more items of clothing and keeps
them for about half as long as 15 years ago.8
A throw-away mentality has developed in
many societies that marks a sharp break from
our previous attitude to clothes, which used
to be cared for, shared and repaired. Instead,
shopping and disposing of the latest trends
has become a common pattern.9
The average person in North America bought
16 kg of new clothes in 2014 – the equivalent
of 64 T-shirts or 16 pairs of jeans10 – compared
to 6.5 kg per person in China.11 Both countries
are already exceeding the global average
consumption of 5 kg/person, which could
increase to anywhere between 11 and 16 kg
per person by 2030. Even if the amounts
per person remain the same, increases in the
populations of countries such as China and
India mean that the absolute quantities of
clothing will continue to rise.12
It is therefore more important than ever to
question our current overconsumption. Only
by reducing our environmental footprint
individually and pressing companies to turn
away from the current fast fashion business
models, can we reduce the impact of fashion
and stay within planetary boundaries.
4After The Binge, The HangoverThe global virus of
overconsumption
In all the countries surveyed, but most
strikingly in the emerging economies of China
and Hong Kong, the majority of respondents
consume far more clothes than they actually
need and use. Two thirds of Hong Kong
residents admit they own more than they
need. The same is true for 60 percent of
Chinese and over half of German and Italian
respondents. Over half of the mainland
Chinese and Hong Kong respondents and
RESTLESS, COMPULSIVE AND UNFULFILLED
THE CLOTHING CONSUMER
Figure 1 : I own more than I need
40-46 percent of Taiwanese, German and
Italian respondents have brand new clothes
with hangtags in their closets that have never
been worn. Despite this honest assessment,
frequent shoppers continue to shop for
clothes which they actually do not need.
The most afected personality:
the excessive shopper
Some consumers are more afected than
others - 41 percent of all Chinese consumers
are found to be excessive shoppers, showing
I own more than I need
5After The Binge, The Hangover55
traits of compulsive behavior.13 59 percent
of Chinese consumers report that they can’t
stop themselves making impulse buys even
though they realize they are buying too
much. A quarter of respondents in Germany,
a third in Italy, 42 percent in Hong Kong and
a staggering 46 percent in China admit that
they often buy more clothes than they can
aford.
While the average consumer buys clothes
around once or twice a month, the excessive
shopper goes for less than one week without
purchasing new stuf. This applies to around
40 percent of respondents in Hong Kong
and Taiwan, and women in China. Shopping
is a time consuming habit: while the average
Chinese consumer spends two hours online
shopping daily, 11 percent of Chinese women
in their thirties shop online for as long as
three hours per day. Two thirds of Chinese
and Hong Kong residents and 55 percent of
Taiwanese are shopping online even during
class or work.
When they are not shopping, around a third
of the East Asians surveyed admit feeling
empty, bored or lost. What’s more, around
half feel guilty about their shopping habits,
sometimes hiding their purchases from others
for fear of negative reactions or accusations
of wasting money. Shoppers seem to be
contradictory beings: they crave recognition
and self esteem, but don’t want to be judged
for their purchases or for how much they
spend.
Young people are most likely to be excessive
shoppers. In China 40 percent of all
respondents are excessive shoppers, with
58 percent of these young females (25-34
year olds). In Taiwan 12 percent are excessive
shoppers,14 the majority of these being 25-
34 year olds. In Hong Kong 17 percent are
excessive shoppers, 43 percent of which are
25-34 years old. In Germany, the 18-24
year olds shop more often (the majority
at least twice a month) and for longer (on
average three hours).
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