2025/09/18 by Liamzina, Katarina V.
Arts and Humanities · Business, Management and Accounting · #Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification #Environmental Sustainability in Business #Fashion and Cultural Textiles
paper · doi:10.25990/socinstras.pss-29.v1fd-zv60
openalex publication_date 2025/09/18 · openalex created_date 2025/11/28 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/01
In recent years, fashion involving second-hand clothing has emerged as a global trend driven by environmental concerns, economic pressures, and the pursuit of individuality. Although consumer motivations and practices in the second-hand clothing market have been extensively studied within Western academic discourse, they remain underexplored in the contemporary Russian context. This study focuses on analyzing the motivations and consumption practices of second-hand clothing among Russian youth aged 18 to 35. Based on 31 semi-structured interviews and field observations primarily conducted in Saint Petersburg, and employing elements of reflexive thematic analysis (Braun, Clarke 2006, 2019, 2021), key motivational forces were identified: economic and hedonic, aligned with the typologies of Ferraro et al. (2016) and Machado et al. (2019). The findings indicate that the primary factors are economic accessibility, the pleasure of the hunt, and the desire for uniqueness, whereas ecological and ethical motivations appear less frequently and as secondary drivers. Particular attention is given to the influence of social environment and cultural memory on consumer practices, as well as the ambivalent attitudes of Russian youth toward fast fashion and trends. This work situates the Russian context within global discussions of fashion, identity, and consumer resistance, revealing how local socio-economic and historical conditions shape consumption values.