Jinhee Han wrote a dissertation, “Understanding Second-Hand Retailing- A Resource Based Perspective” that outlines possible consumer motivations for shopping at thrift stores (Han 2013). The primary motivations of Second Hand Consumption are Economic (economic advantages of frugal shoppers as alternative to new clothes), Ethical consumerism (ecological and social awareness) and Hedonic shopping (nostalgia, need for uniqueness, treasure hunting, social Interaction). Han’s outline of thrift motivations aligns with Brace-Govan & Binay’s 2010 Study of consuming “disposed goods”, which viewed thrift stores as complex sites of individual moral identity expression. Among other reasons, both Han and Brace-Govan et al. speculate that consumers choose to thrift for some ethical reason, whether it is social (aligning with charity etc.) or ecological (reducing overproduction and waste of clothing). Brace-Govan et al. goes on to claim that most thrifters “espoused a view of anti-consumption, which encompassed anti-corporatism” (2010).
Parallel to studies revealing ethical motivation for consumers within the thrifting economy, other research complicates individuals taking on this sort of economic activism. Johanna Moisander has researched the complexity of green consumerism using motivation as “an analytical tool”. She argues that, “as a private lifestyle project of a single individual, ‘green consumerism’ is much too heavy a responsibility to bear”, due to the moral complexity of socially conscious consumption. Many arguments problematizing ethical or ecological consumption are based on the assumption that these more responsible commodities are a privilege to purchase due to their higher cost.
In light of the recent popularity of the thrifting industry, and the trendiness and social acceptance of second-hand shopping, looking more deeply into the motivations of consumers and as well as the larger changes in the industry is important. As thrifting has become a trend, gaps remain in research about how the industry may be changing to tailor this trendiness, and whose benefit is and isn’t considered in the process.