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Voluntary simplicity: The Great American Apparel Diet

Dorothy E. Wu (Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA)
Jane Boyd Thomas (Marketing, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, South Carolina, USA)
Marguerite Moore (Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA)
Kate Carroll (Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA)

Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management

ISSN: 1361-2026

Article publication date: 5 July 2013

2114

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine consumers’ motivations to participate in voluntary simplicity in the current market environment.

Design/methodology/approach

Using established qualitative research methods, 834 individual autobiographies and blog entries from The Great American Apparel Diet (GAAD) are examined.

Findings

Six general categories of internal and external motivations to engage in voluntary simplicity are identified. Findings expand marketers’ understanding of voluntary simplicity and the role of virtual communities inspiring behavior in the contemporary marketplace.

Originality/value

This research is unique because it explores personal information shared in the blog entries of participants in the GAAD.

Keywords

Citation

Wu, D.E., Boyd Thomas, J., Moore, M. and Carroll, K. (2013), "Voluntary simplicity: The Great American Apparel Diet", Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 17 No. 3, pp. 294-305. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFMM-05-2012-0020

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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