The social game of cohesion and differentiation in sustainable fashion consumption

Abstract: The present study is grounded upon the traditional concepts of cohesion and differentiation in fashion by Simmel (1904) and Bourdieu (1984). The study reviewed these concepts in the social context of sustainable fashion consumption, with consideration of identity construction and expression. Furthermore, the study looked at the literature on certification labels and their value for consumers. Due to the exploratory purpose, the paper is designed as an in-depth qualitative study, guided by abduction and Spiggle’s (1994) analytical approach. Six semi-structured interviews guided the construction of three focus group sessions, with each session lasting for about an hour. All the 23 participants involved were selected from the consumer pool of Swedish, male and female, Gen Y, university degree consumers through purposive and then snowballing sampling techniques. The findings imply that consumers would like to cohere with sustainable norms, and differentiate from non-sustainable habits. Expressing these values are important due to the fear of being judged non-sustainable, yet consumers have to overcome the second fear of judgement, bragging. The ‘silent display’, collective after-purchase value of certification labels, enables consumers to avoid the judgements, and construct and express their sustainable fashion identity in a humble, discreet manner. Thus, contributing to the need for cohesion with the sustainable norms, and differentiation from non-sustainable norms. The present paper provides a unique insight on the after-purchase value of certification labels in terms of its potential to assist the consumer need of sustainable identity construction and expression, in the social process of cohesion and differentiation. This serves as a valuable insight as certification labels currently do not bear high consumer awareness within fashion. Thus, this paper offers a potential mechanism to enable labels to address consumers through their underlying social needs and motives.