Charity Retail and Sustainable Fashion: Understanding Consumer Resistance to Second-hand Clothing

This study investigates consumer resistance towards sustainable fashion retail, with particular emphasis on second-hand retail formats and, most notably, charity stores. It aims to provide retailer recommendations for engaging mainstream consumers and, in doing so, advancing sustainability within the fashion sector. Employing a mono-method qualitative design, the research draws on consumer interviews conducted across European countries to uncover the sources of resistance that shape consumer attitudes towards charity shops. The findings identify key resistance factors that hinder consumer engagement, from which recommendations emerge to support greater acceptance of second-hand retail and to strengthen the role of charity stores in promoting sustainability. The study makes a theoretical contribution to sustainable retail research by foregrounding the charity shop as an underexplored yet critical retail format for clothing reuse. Although charity retail holds considerable potential to advance sustainability goals, it has to date received limited academic attention. To the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies to explore charity stores explicitly from a consumer perspective, focusing on the mechanisms of resistance that restrict their wider adoption. By identifying barriers to engagement and proposing strategies for overcoming them, the research not only enriches understanding of consumer behaviour in sustainable fashion retail but also highlights avenues for future inquiry that reimagine the role and potential of charity shops in driving sustainable consumption.