The Power of Clothing Libraries : ANEMPIRICALSTUDYONMEMBERSOFACOLLABORATIVE CONSUMPTION BUSINESS WITHIN THE FASHION INDUSTRY

Abstract: Purpose - The purpose of this study is to explore the early adopters of clothing libraries and find out why they become members of this new fashion business model within collaborative consumption. The study aims to obtain an evaluation of clothing library users and understand their motives and determinants for joining a clothing library. Methodology - The study pursues a quantitative approach. Firstly, the background research was conducted during which data were collected through open-ended interviews with managers of five clothing libraries in Sweden. This enabled the researchers to establish categories of determinants for clothing libraries which were then verified in the next part of the research: a survey filled out by clothing library members. The survey was distributed to members of five clothing libraries in Sweden and resulted in 30 responses from users from all five clothing libraries. Conclusions - The outcome of this study shows that clothing library members are not a new segment of collaborative consumption but rather they are already existing second-hand consumers. Joining clothing libraries merely adds another channel of consuming used clothing. Although the intentions to join a clothing library are mostly based on sustainable motives, style and design are still highly valued by the members.