NEC and Meiji University Jointly Research the Effect of Enhancing Fashion Sustainability - 'Sustained Comfort' is an Effective Concept to Shift Consumer Perception of Fashion from 'Consumable' Back to 'Semi-Durable'
NEC and Meiji University published joint research revealing that consumers view fashion as 'consumables'. They found that promoting 'sustained comfort' is a more effective concept to encourage sustainable choices than simply appealing to environmental protection.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 6, 2026 at 23:00
- 🔍 Collected: April 6, 2026 at 14:30
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 21, 2026 at 01:09 (346h 38m after Collected)
NEC Corporation (hereinafter NEC) conducts activities targeting products and spaces (such as environmental products) where social value is required, unravelling the inherent context to create opportunities for them to be chosen by consumers. Focusing on data utilization and value verification methods, NEC has been sorting out issues rooted in clients' actual business sites and conducting hypothesis testing. Together with Associate Professor Takumi Kato of the School of Commerce at Meiji University, NEC has been advancing research on verification and validity from an academic perspective.
This time, we focused on the gap between the inherent value of fashion and consumer perception. Through surveys, a tendency was observed where fashion is perceived as a 'consumable'. To balance economic growth and environmental consideration, it was found crucial to reconstruct its value as a 'semi-durable good'. In this verification, we examined the impact that product designs and concepts enhancing sustainability have on consumer psychology.
While the rise of fast fashion has brought immense convenience to consumers, it has raised concerns about environmental degradation. Analyzing the factors of fashion loyalty revealed that while comfort, design, and cheapness are prioritized, durability is not. In other words, consumers tend to perceive fashion as a 'consumable'.
To achieve both economic growth and environmental conservation, value creation that pulls fashion back to being a semi-durable good is required. Traditional sustainability has appealed to the protection of the environment and human rights, but as this is a social value, individual consumers find it hard to feel the value. Therefore, to convert this into consumer value, this research proposed 'sustained comfort'. Verification results showed that this concept was significantly more attractive than traditional sustainability or fast fashion. For the spread of ethical consumption, it is desirable not to directly appeal for environmental consideration or waste reduction, but to promote products where comfort, such as texture—the source of consumer value—is sustained, positioning it so that this ultimately contributes to waste reduction.
This achievement, as a joint research by NEC and Meiji University's School of Commerce Associate Professor Takumi Kato, has been accepted by the 2026 International Conference on Management, Tourism and Technologies and will be published in Business and Economics (Springer).
Source: Kato, T., Hattori, A., Tamura, C., Kajihara, F., Takatsuka, K., Chiba, Y. (2026). The new sustainability concept in the fashion industry: Reinventing the sustainability in the fast fashion era. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics. Springer.
## Key Points of This Research
- Consumers show a tendency to value awareness of corporate social responsibility, but do not actually translate it into purchasing behavior. This trend is observed in many industries and is common in the fashion industry as well. Fast fashion, which provides abundant choices at a low price, has grown rapidly. On the other hand, the spread of cheap fast fashion has produced mass consumption and mass disposal, raising concerns about the worsening of environmental problems.
- As shown in Figure 1, in Study 1, based on the results of an online survey targeting 600 Japanese women, the factors of fashion loyalty were analyzed using covariance structure analysis. As a result, comfort...
This time, we focused on the gap between the inherent value of fashion and consumer perception. Through surveys, a tendency was observed where fashion is perceived as a 'consumable'. To balance economic growth and environmental consideration, it was found crucial to reconstruct its value as a 'semi-durable good'. In this verification, we examined the impact that product designs and concepts enhancing sustainability have on consumer psychology.
While the rise of fast fashion has brought immense convenience to consumers, it has raised concerns about environmental degradation. Analyzing the factors of fashion loyalty revealed that while comfort, design, and cheapness are prioritized, durability is not. In other words, consumers tend to perceive fashion as a 'consumable'.
To achieve both economic growth and environmental conservation, value creation that pulls fashion back to being a semi-durable good is required. Traditional sustainability has appealed to the protection of the environment and human rights, but as this is a social value, individual consumers find it hard to feel the value. Therefore, to convert this into consumer value, this research proposed 'sustained comfort'. Verification results showed that this concept was significantly more attractive than traditional sustainability or fast fashion. For the spread of ethical consumption, it is desirable not to directly appeal for environmental consideration or waste reduction, but to promote products where comfort, such as texture—the source of consumer value—is sustained, positioning it so that this ultimately contributes to waste reduction.
This achievement, as a joint research by NEC and Meiji University's School of Commerce Associate Professor Takumi Kato, has been accepted by the 2026 International Conference on Management, Tourism and Technologies and will be published in Business and Economics (Springer).
Source: Kato, T., Hattori, A., Tamura, C., Kajihara, F., Takatsuka, K., Chiba, Y. (2026). The new sustainability concept in the fashion industry: Reinventing the sustainability in the fast fashion era. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics. Springer.
## Key Points of This Research
- Consumers show a tendency to value awareness of corporate social responsibility, but do not actually translate it into purchasing behavior. This trend is observed in many industries and is common in the fashion industry as well. Fast fashion, which provides abundant choices at a low price, has grown rapidly. On the other hand, the spread of cheap fast fashion has produced mass consumption and mass disposal, raising concerns about the worsening of environmental problems.
- As shown in Figure 1, in Study 1, based on the results of an online survey targeting 600 Japanese women, the factors of fashion loyalty were analyzed using covariance structure analysis. As a result, comfort...