Communicating sustainability to children: an exploratory study on sharing sustainability through fashion retail third places

This project aims to investigate the suitability of retail third places for educating children about sustainability and evaluate whether sustainability awareness can be optimised through third places and improve children’s attitude towards it. Research was undertaken through secondary sources and a qualitative research design using focus groups. Thematic coding analysis was conducted. Children tend to have a high level of awareness of the concept of sustainability and express positive attitudes and intentions towards it, yet these are not translated into sustainable shopping behaviours. Interviewees showed very little consciousness of the concept of third places, despite still exhibiting positive reactions towards educational third places. A Theoretical Model is proposed: Children’s sustainability awareness stages infused by educational third places. This paper makes a valuable contribution towards supplying the shortfall in existing literature on young consumers’ attitudes and intentions towards fashion sustainability and third places. It provides preliminary empirical insight into the appropriate forms, functions and features of third places to be implemented by childrenswear retailers within their retail environments in order to effectuate sustainability education.