Although greater than 70 % of Europeans wish to make extra sustainable trend decisions, important obstacles are holding them again.
Trellis information companion GlobeScan just lately partnered with European trend platform Zalando to conduct a complete research of Gen Z and Millennial shopper attitudes, behaviors and expectations relating to trend and sustainability throughout 5 European international locations. The findings reveal a big aspiration-action hole:
- 74 % wish to be extra sustainable sooner or later by holding clothes gadgets for longer or extending their lifespan
- 71 % of customers aspire to buy extra sustainably
- 66 % of customers say they’re making extra sustainable trend decisions
And but, persistent obstacles mood shopper ambitions:
- 41 % mentioned the value premium related to sustainable trend is a number one deterrent
- 27 % mentioned it was troublesome figuring out sustainable gadgets
- 24 % mentioned they didn’t know the place to seek out sustainable trend decisions
- 21 % mentioned that they had restricted information of sustainable trend
- 19 % had skepticism towards sustainability claims
These information-related challenges are going down in a shifting regulatory panorama the place new anti-greenwashing guidelines goal to enhance transparency however may also make it extra advanced for manufacturers and retailers to speak clearly about their sustainability efforts.
What this implies
These findings, which had been supplemented with interviews with business specialists, underscore the significance of bridging the hole between aspiration and motion in sustainable trend. There’s important untapped potential for extra sustainable trend behaviors, however provided that key obstacles are addressed.
Style manufacturers and retailers have an important position to play, whether or not by tackling the value premium by means of product innovation or by emphasizing the added worth that buyers are keen to pay extra for, akin to sturdiness or high quality. They will additionally harness the business’s artistic strengths to speak sustainability extra successfully and compellingly.
Nevertheless, closing the aspiration-action hole requires greater than retailer or brand-level initiatives. It calls for coordinated efforts throughout the whole trend ecosystem—from policymakers, regulators, social media platforms, influencers and society.
Primarily based on a survey of greater than 5,000 Gen Z and Millennial customers in France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and the U.Ok. performed in February 2025.
