As fashion comes to grips with its own responsibility in the climate crisis, the concept of sustainable clothing, whether remaking old clothes or re-engineering used fabric, is starting to take root in the consciousness of American consumers. That idea has also inspired several students in the Digital Marketing and Media program at the Katz School of Science and Health to conduct research on sustainability and to test their model on the fashion industry as part of a grant-funded project for the City of New York. The project is equal parts applied behavioral experiment on social responsibility and an analysis of fashion-industry practices that are damaging the environment. The research grant was written by Dr. Paul Russo, dean of the Katz School of Science and Health who said it “fits in the Katz School's vision to make the world smarter safer and healthier.”

Lavanya Karanth

Lavanya Karanth, Carli Muller, Alexandra Stern and Christine Vulpescu plan to explore ways of increasing consumer interest in sustainable clothing by measuring and understanding consumers’ attitudes, motivations and behaviors. Fast-fashion retailers have become giants by quickly churning out fresh, low-priced styles that pull trend-seekers into stores. But that comes at a price. Rapidly producing clothes in large batches can save money but encouraging shoppers to buy as often as trends change means old clothes can end up in landfills. According to the Katz School team, 200 million pounds of clothing, or 90.7 million kilograms, end up in New York City landfills every year—the equivalent of filling the Statue of Liberty 440 times. Today, more than 60 percent of fabrics are composed of synthetics derived from fossil fuels and, therefore, not biodegradable. “This makes it imperative for us to explore how to circulate clothing and promote closet-sharing to save the future of our planet,” said Lavanya. The growth in clothing waste coincides with the dominance of fast-fashion brands such as H&M and Zara, whose business models are based on selling low-priced items at high volumes. Zara, for example, releases 20,000 new designs a year and unveils new lines during shorter seasons beyond the traditional winter/fall and summer/spring lines.

Carli Muller

The clothing industry is responsible for about 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and consumes more energy than aviation and shipping combined, according to the United Nations Environment Program. The overall goal of the Katz School research is to develop a marketing research study and quantify citizen awareness and attitudes toward sustainability initiatives; design and test a marketing and education campaign to have a positive impact on those attitudes; and collect follow-up data six months afterward to measure the impact of the campaign on urban sustainability. “This elegant survey on consumer attitudes draws connections between business, social science and commerce,” said Dean Russo. “The outcomes could result in new sustainable business models.” Alexandra said that for the purposes of this project, the target audience would broadly include the residents of Manhattan and a few small to midsize apparel businesses. The intended audience for the digital campaign would be those already exhibiting favorable attitudes toward sustainable clothing, as well as those who are either indifferent or hostile to it. “In addition to the consumers, we feel it is equally important to learn the steps taken by marketers and businesses to promote sustainable action and their barriers,” said Alexandra.

Christine Vulpescu

Carli Muller said the team plans to review a host of research papers, from behavioral marketing and consumer behavior journals such as Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Consumer Research and Journal of Marketing Research to understand the key drivers of sustainable consumption. “We’ll also be conducting social deep listening to derive insights regarding the consumer awareness and sentiments of recycling and reusing clothes,” said Carli. The team's insights will form the basis of their quantitative research. “During this project, we want to use everything we’ve learned from the classes we’ve taken in the Digital Marketing and Media program and apply them to deliver impactful results,” said Christine. Asaf Hochman, the team’s advisor, said the Katz School encourages students to tie their academic education to their own interests and passions. “In this case,” he said, “the team's strong environmental consciousness is driving them to leverage their marketing skills in exploring an acute real-world challenge.” Click here for more information about the Bright Futures Scholarship Initiative that offers a fixed $25,000 tuition for master's degrees in science and technology programs at the Katz School.