Target market and sustainability thesis

Running head: Target market and sustainability ! 1

For my collection my target market is women. I choose to design for women because my ideas

and designs will mostly appeal to them. The women are mainly middle to high class hence have

disposable income that they can spend on purchasing clothes. Their occupations are varied and

our designs are meant to suit women in different professional industries such as creative

industries, employed, and even those in regulated professional bodies like law. The women are

also educated and are knowledgeable on matters of sustainability which is also a marketing

strategy for my collection (La Pechoux, 2012). This means that they understand how important

sustainability is. The women that my collection is targeting are aged 25 to 50. These are therefore

working-class women who are seeking comfort in their outfits as well as the fashionable

element. The outfits are not limited to a specific location but will be available countrywide.

Efforts will be made to ship deliveries to other countries once the business grows and stabilizes.

This way I will be able to offer sustainable outfits options to women across the globe.

The psychological shopping habits of my target clients include wanting to purchase products that

make them feel more in touch with mother earth. This includes earthy colors and colors that feel

grounding or colors that represent the ocean. As they often think of sustainability, they are also

likely to want to purchase garments that are long-lasting to avoid fast fashion. They are therefore

likely to look for details relating to quality that other buyers won’t consider. The target audience

could be either single or married. Their relationship status does not affect their likelihood to

purchase my collection.

Women embrace sustainable fashion for a couple of reasons. Throughout history, unsustainable

fashion has been shown to have negative effects either on the environment or on people. Most

Target market and sustainability ! 2

individuals sitting behind sewing machines creating garments in garment production factories are

usually women. They are therefore often the recipients of most of the negative effects of

unsustainable practices. These could range from low wages to even death. An example is the

Rana Plaza garment factory’s demise. On April 24th, the building collapsed killing more than

1100 people who were mostly women and girls. The day before the collapse, workers expressed

concerns about a crack and an engineer even stated that the building was unsafe after examining

it. This however did not stop the owner and managers from forcing the workers to enter the

building the next day and threatening to hold the salaries of those who seemed to hesitate.

Women, therefore, choose sustainability to stand in solidarity with fellow women by pioneering

the sustainable fashion movement (Brough, 2016).

Another reason why women are also more eco-friendly is that women are not only the more

powerful consumers but are also responsible for the domestic sphere. Women still take charge of

the running of most households including buying clothes hence eco-friendly campaigns are often

targeting them making their purchases sustainably (Normandin, 2020). In the past women’s

likelihood to purchase sustainable products was linked to their personalities. Women have a great

tendency to be prosocial, altruistic, and empathetic hence displaying a greater ethic of fashion.

Research suggests that women have higher levels of social responsibility which leads them to

adopt environmentally friendly behaviors and care for environmental problems as well making

them a great target for my collection.

Target market and sustainability ! 3

References

Normandin, H. (2020). On the Eco-Gender Gap.

Brough, A. R., Wilkie, J. E., Ma, J., Isaac, M. S., & Gal, D. (2016). Is eco-friendly unmanly? The

green-feminine stereotype and its effect on sustainable consumption. Journal of

Consumer Research, 43(4), 567-582.

Le Pechoux, B., Little, T. J., & Istook, C. L. (2012). Innovation management in creating new

fashions. In Fashion Marketing: Contemporary Issues (pp. 156-184). Routledge.