Fast Fashion, Addressed Slowly

 

By Olivia B.

Sustainable markets: Motivatingfactors, barriers, and remedies for mobilization of slow fashion is an academic article that discusses the harsh the impact that the current fashion industry is having on both society and our planet, as well as what changes can be made to consumers’ habits to make an impact. Written by professors, Zeynep Ozdamar Ertekin and Deniz Atik, the article was published in the Journal of Macromarketing, a peer-reviewed academic journal that covers a variety of business disciplines but focuses on marketing and the social issues that surround and connect to it. Because this is an academic article, it’s main audience is other scholars. It is hard to access the whole article online, so only people who have access to a resource like the UWL library database, or want to pay, can see it. This excludes a lot of the general public, as the majority of readers are likely students or other academics preparing to conduct their own research.

Based on this particular situation, I would argue that publications in academic journals written in the official style are not always the most appropriate way to share research findings. In situations where a lot of background knowledge on the topic is not necessary to understand the findings, official style is the only thing that is standing between the general public and this information. In this case in particular, excluding them almost defeats the purpose of the findings of their study.

In order for their message to make a difference, pretty much everyone needs to know what the research found and what they can do about it. It seems as though they aren’t really trying to change anything with this article, but rather just report their findings to an elite audience. It is an academic article, published in a journal, so it makes sense that it would be written at such a high level, but the content is too important to be hidden in the official style.

The current audience being addressed appears to be environmental activists, other researchers, students doing research or learning about the topic. The audience should, however, be the general public, or at least people who shop for clothes a lot. This is where things get complicated, as there is vast diversity in levels of reading, background knowledge, and topic understanding. The group of “the general public” is extremely diverse because that includes all individuals of all ages, backgrounds, and reading levels. The audiences of this article range everywhere from teenagers who like to shop at H&M with their friends, to academics conducting research on environmental issues, and that is a very broad range of reading and understanding levels.

Small changes in diction and sentence structure would make a huge difference in making this information accessible to the people that really matter. Shorter sentences, reducing unnecessary phrases, and using easier words would make a big difference. For example, “this necessitates taking into account cost/benefit trade-offs among social, ecological, and generational consumption consequences (Prothero et al. 2011) and trade-offs among different accounts of well-being (Dolan et al. 2006)” is such a complex sentence, that the message is getting lost. I like their use of modifiers to describe nouns, like “excessive consumption” and “capitalist system,” but if they were used in a way to make the nouns more understandable, rather than more complex, it would help. These stylistic choices improve the authors’ credibility and establish a certain level of expertise among readers, so if that is what they are going for, they did a great job.

In addition to the authors’ word choice, the decision to write the article in passive voice creates another barrier for readers. Because the piece is written to be an academic article, it is written in passive voice, addressing the issue and possible solutions as abstract concepts, not direct instructions. This article has great suggestions as so how to begin to remedy the issues with the current fashion industry, but instead of urging readers to follow their instructions, they present them as research findings.

Lack of knowledge, skills, awareness, and consideration in sustainability issues and problems often act as barriers (Bonini and Oppenheim 2008; Kollmuss and Agyeman 2002; Thøgersen 2005; Vermeir and Verbeke 2006; Williams and Dair 2007). Increased concern for the environment alone is often not sufficient; increased awareness of the relationship between technological, political, and economic institutions and environmental deterioration is also required (Kilbourne, McDonagh, and Prothero 1997). However, individual consumers rarely connect consumption practices and outcomes (Connolly and Prothero 2003; Hobson 2004). In this regard, education systems and related activities are critical in increasing awareness and knowledge (Ertekin, Z. O., & Atik, D., 2015).

The above quotation, taken from the text, is an example of passive voice because it is addressing an issue that readers can work fix, without the direct call for them to do so. The sentence: “education systems and related activities are critical in increasing awareness and knowledge,” could instead read as “schools need to teach students about the consequences of fast fashion.” The second example addresses who needs to do something different and what they can do, while the first is just recognizing that there is an issue with what might be a possible way to improve. Nobody is being addressed, so the call the action can easily be missed.

            Despite the many reasons that this information should be available to the general public, I can’t help but consider the arguments as to why this article should remain in the official style and only available in online databases. The biggest reason for this is likely that to establish credibility. The authors are signifying expertise by using complex word choice and technical jargon. The tone of the official style also demonstrates a level of credibility. Because they are talking about shopping and clothing production, it might be difficult to gain the attention and respect of other academics. Without the credibility that follows official style, this research might not get much, or any, attention.