Their Spending is Speaking Out
Their spending is speaking out
by Yvonne Du
“Every click to checkout is a vote.” -- LiYan (A TikTok fashion blogger)
As the world's leading consumers, women play a dual role in the fashion chain: as a “target audience” for marketing and as “decision makers” who can change the rules of the industry. When “what to buy” is no longer just a personal aesthetic choice but an expression of stance and value, the power of female consumers has been redefined.
From “being shaped” to “shaping”
In traditional advertising, female consumers have long been guided and shaped by unrealistic beauty standards and short-lived fashion trends. Fast fashion brands such as SHEIN, ZARA, and H&M have precisely grasped this mentality and continue to attract women's attention through the high frequency of new arrivals, creative designs in line with aesthetic trends, and affordable prices, creating a constant demand for fashion updates. Women are often subjected to messaging that insinuates “the more you buy, the closer you get to beauty,” and gradually lose themselves in this cycle.
But this situation is quietly changing. Social media is no longer just a tool for brands to spread marketing messages and create body anxiety, but has gradually evolved into a platform for consumers to express their true thoughts and question harmful actions and rhetoric from large businesses. “Unrealistic standards for the female body” are gradually being replaced by “women's clothing trolls”: topics such as ill-fitting cuts, rough quality, and stereotypical aesthetics are popping up all over the place. More and more women are utilizing social media to fight back against consumerism and show how they are reducing their closets with the “30-wear rule.” Women are no longer satisfied with being passive recipients of fashion, but are actively involved in redefining product quality, design concepts, and brand values through tweets, discussions, recommendations, and even boycotts. They are promoting a more conscious and value-oriented consumer culture through “share” and “appeal” about the comfort of clothing, environmental protection concepts, and consumer attitudes. Personally, I participated in a clothing recycling and swap party organized by a women's group in my community, which provided a channel for unused clothing to move around and reduce landfill waste.
This shift marks the awakening of women's roles—they are not just objects to be shaped by the consumer market, but a new generation of leaders who are shaping the market.
Purchasing power is power of voice
According to The Boston Consulting Group's (BCG) 2023 Global Consumer Report, women make almost 75% of household spending decisions, and are particularly influential in the scale of spending on apparel, skincare and lifestyle products. Women are not just consumers, they are trend-setters.
Brands are already responding to this phenomenon: Lululemon's “Like New” second-hand recycling program is an eco-friendly quest based on several rounds of female consumer surveys, and the opening of UNIQLO's Repair Studio in Shanghai is a distinct response to a large number of female consumers calling for the reduction of waste.
When the women's community is making a concerted effort to buy less, buy better, and buy eco-friendly, brands are forced to take the initiative to upgrade materials, increase transparency, and release recycling programs to maintain their loyalty. This is not only a shift in marketing strategy, but also a reflection of the power of women's voice!
From impulsive ordering to responsible shopping, female consumers are turning “buying” into “changing.” When purchasing power and values become one, the fashion industry will truly move towards sustainability. Before you check out next time, remember: the choices you make are the world you want to see.
