Motivating Generosity - Investigating Persuasive Strategies for Increasing Clothing Donations to Charitable Causes

Abstract: Today, the textile industry in Sweden is responsible for up to 1800 tons of textile waste per year, a poor use of resources that results in a negative environmental impact. Additionally, with the rise of fast fashion, which is characterized by rapid trend circulation and a clothing production that matches, clothes are discarded at a higher rate than ever before. However, the popularity of secondhand clothes shopping is steadily increasing among the Swedish population, especially younger individuals. This creates an opportunity for a service that connects key actors in the clothing industry: e-retailers, consumers and charitable organizations. Providing consumers with a service that facilitates and simplifies the donation process can increase their motivation to make charitable donations of clothes. Furthermore, connecting this service to established e-retailers and helping organizations can aid in moving Sweden towards a circular textile industry. This report guides the reader through the development process of such a service, from data collection and analysis to discussion of the final prototype and research findings. Solutions to the donation service as well as methods of motivating users to donate clothes to charity are explored. A user centered approach was adopted, and a high-fidelity prototype of the service was developed, utilizing the Double Diamond and Fogg’s Eight Step Design Process for Creating Persuasive Technologies as a framework for development work. The process builds on behavioral design principles and motivational aspects. Prototypes and research results are verified by a series of user tests. With the development of this service, we hope to contribute to the circularity of Swedish fashion e-commerce by increasing the overall donations of clothes to charity, thus reducing textile waste, and connecting the key actors of the clothing industry.