TRANSFER: TRading Approaches to Nurturing Sustainable consumption in Fashion and Energy Retail

Completed

Energy Efficiency(Residential and commercial)
Not Energy Related

Basic and strategic applied research

SOCIAL SCIENCES (Business and Management Studies)
SOCIAL SCIENCES (Sociology)

Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Consumer attitudes and behaviour)

Dr CR Jones
Psychology
University of Sheffield

Standard

ESRC

20 January 2014

19 January 2015

12 months

£131,845

Yorkshire & Humberside

KT

Dr CR Jones, Psychology, University of Sheffield

Professor SCL Koh, Management School, University of Sheffield
Mr A McIntosh, London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London
Professor H Storey, London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London
Ms D Williams, London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London

Project Contact, Here Today Here Tomorrow
Project Contact, MK Things Happen
Project Contact, Meadowhall Shopping Centre
Project Contact, Westfield Shopping Centre
Project Contact, ASOS Plc
Project Contact, E.ON UK (formerly PowerGen)
Project Contact, National Grid plc
Project Contact, Rêve En Vert
Project Contact, Adam Mufti
Project Contact, Susie Stone Ltd
Project Contact, DED Associates Ltd
Project Contact, Marks and Spencer
Project Contact, Topshop

The TRading Approaches to Nurturing Sustainable consumption in Fashion and Energy Retail (TRANSFER) knowledge exchange project is a new collaboration between the University of Sheffield and the London College of Fashion at the University of the Arts, London. The project aims to facilitate knowledge exchange between energy and fashion retailers regarding the promotion of sustainable consumption.Promoting sustainability within a carbon-constrained world presents challenges for retailers, who rely upon the public consumption of their products and services in order to ensure their long-term commercial viability. For example, UK energy retailers as a result of governmental legislation are required to promote household energy-efficiency and conservation to their customers; thus paradoxically encouraging these customers to consume less of the product that they are selling. However, these retailers have quickly learned of the economic value of such activity. For instance, there are recognised business opportunities associated with the promotion and installation of energy efficiency measures in homes, not to mention the opportunities to enhance public relations, foster trust in consumers.Fashion retailers share similar issues to those faced by energy companies. The fashion industry has a large environmental impact, not only in terms of the consumption of raw materials during manufacture, but also in terms of the energy and water needed to create and distribute items and the eventual waste when items have reached the end of the useful (or fashionable) life. Increasingly retailers are becoming aware of the need to reduce this environmental impact by producing and promoting more environmentally sustainable products and encouraging their customers to consume fashion in a more environmentally savvy way. However, promoting the 'sustainable consumption' of fashion again necessitates retailers encouraging consumers to either 'buy less' or 'buy different', which could again threaten profit margins if done incorrectly.In sum, energy and fashion retailers face the common challenge of encouraging the reduced consumption of saleable products and services in order to promote sustainability (and conform to existing and emerging legislation), while simultaneously maintaining growth and financial prosperity. Energy retailers are experienced in such practices having been legally required to promote energy-efficiency to consumers for some years. This is paired with a growing recognition among fashion retailers of the need to engage in activities that help to promote sustainable consumption among consumers. This project aims to bring together representatives of the energy and fashion retail sectors, with academic experts in psychology, management and fashion, to exchange best practice around the promotion of sustainable consumption to consumers, and to investigate how efforts to promote sustainable consumption within these sectors is received and responded to by consumers. Through this project we hope to foster a more complete understanding of how initiatives to promote sustainable consumption in both sectors can be successfully designed and implemented in order to have maximum impact on the public awareness of the issue of sustainable consumption, while maintaining the competitiveness of the retailers

01/05/14