Social Responsibility

• What we consume 
• Why we consume 
• What forms our consumer patterns 
• Who is responsible for increased consumption 
• Our understanding of product use and where product goes 
• How our actions impact on others (links back to ethics)

Generational Shifts

• Different consumers, consume in different ways 
• Generation X; largely bricks and mortar (high street) with some online consumption 
• Generation Y; largely online, with some bricks and mortar consumption
• Generation Z; born into the digital age. 
• Methods of marketing to consumers are continually shifting, due to the complex nature of the cross generational experience of interacting with and identifying product

Marketing Methodologies 

• Bricks and mortar type institutions, for example, John Lewis
• Television 
• Loyalty cards/data collection 
• Long routes to identify 

Online

• Use criss sectional marketing/advertising 
• Social media 
• Some terrestrial TV adverts (BooHoo.com) posters/digital billboards/taxis
• Fast fashion social media cascade- what they think will sell quickly 
• High street retailers engaging the consumer 
• Both digitally and physically 
• Topshop: Online offers, as well as high street 'lock ins' 

Generation X

• Brought up through the era of in store shopping experiences 
• Department stores 
• High street brands 
• Have a tendency to brand loyalty, still attach 'value' to the cost of an item 
• Tend to reflect personal status through conspicuous consumption 
• Focussed on 'aspirational' product 
• Some understanding and connection to online (shopping) and media (twitter, instagram, facebook)

Generation Y

• Cross over generation 
• Technology occurred through their life time 
• Much more connected to digital forums; Instagram, Twitter etc.
• Primarily focused on online resource, but some consumer habits attach to bricks and mortar 
• Not as brand loyal 

Generation Z

• Born through the age of digital technology 
• Immersed in digital as a way of life, (naturally negative and attach to technology)
• Less interested in shopping in store because its easier and quicker online 

Consumer Shifts

Shift to online shopping 

• Comparing and contrasting product online 
• Sourcing the best price from online comparison 
• Social media; provides a platform to 'display' product choice
• Online shopping has seen the shift of consuming fast fashion through faster cycles; see the product, buy the product, move onto the next look and repeat
• Historically collections were bi-annual, moved through to quarterly drops; fast fashion cycle has developed a 52 week a year scenario

Impact of Online vs Highstreet

Online; 

• More convenient 
• Diverse choice (theres something for everyone)
• Drill down on product and able to find the cheapest price, theres also more choice regarding size (diversity)
• The opportunity to source garments which are less likely to be worn by others (if you search hard enough)
• Over head on product lower, meaning currently, products can be sourced cheaper

Highstreet; 

• Same products, different stores
• Increasingly less differentiation in products 
• Product prices are higher; retailers have to pay for space which is then embedded in the retail price 
• Physical act of going shopping; paying for transportation, bus/taxi or having to pay to park your own vehicle 
• Busier lives mean less time to spend seeking out products you might be looking for on the highstreet 

Now

• Globalisation 
• Materials 
• Labour 
• Sourced at low cost 
• Industrialised methods of growing crops 
• Habitat and environmental destruction 

Futures 

• Further digitisation (autonomous design) 
• Niche product (emotional connectivity)
• Embedding of technologies 
• Digitisation in fashion print/textiles
• 3D print product 
• Biometrics 
• Textile grown from organisms