Smart Virtual Wardrobe Apps: Their Potential to Promote Sustainable Clothing Consumption Behavior

This study investigates how users’ experiences with smart virtual wardrobe applications may contribute to sustainable clothing consumption by exploring potential shifts in attitudes and behaviors across the acquisition, use, and disposal phases. The study employed a qualitative research design including pre-interviews, an eight-week app usage period, and post-interviews. The findings were analyzed using a consumer-centered clothing consumption framework informed by prior literature. Participants reported potential shifts across multiple consumption phases, including improved wardrobe utilization, greater attentiveness to garment lifespan, more deliberate purchase decisions, increased openness to alternative consumption, and heightened environmental awareness. The findings suggest that some app features may support changes beyond the phase of clothing consumption they were intended to support, highlighting the importance of understanding sustainable clothing consumption holistically across all phases. The study provides insights into how smart virtual wardrobe apps may promote more sustainable consumption and offers a foundation for future empirical research.