A study on consumer perception of clothes repair and opportunities for brand intervention

Abstract: Repairing is one of the alternative business alternatives at the end-of-life phase of clothing, that is seen to be a potential solution for the biggest challenge that the fashion industry faces today - waste. The purpose of this research is to extend our collective understanding of consumers’ value in clothes that lead to their willingness to keep a garment in use for longer. It then identifies how brands could adapt their strategy based on this understanding to better involve consumers to promote the use of clothes repair. A quantitative research design was applied using a consumer survey. The survey questions were designed according to the subjects that emerged from the literature review to answer the presented research questions. The most significant cognitive factors affecting consumers’ repair attitude and behaviour arising from the findings are emotional attachment, product properties such as quality, fashion leadership, subjective norms and awareness of the environmental impact of repair. Demographic factors of age, gender and income group moderate the impact of these factors and are useful to narrow down the strategy for the brand’s target consumers. The communication, cost, service convenience and service quality are determined to be the dominant factors in the strategy for brands offering repair service.