Can Digital Technologies Increase Consumer Acceptance of Circular Business Models? The Case of Second Hand Fashion

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The aim of the research is to identify the main functional barriers to a greater consumer engagement in fashion reuse business models and evaluate possible digital solutions to overcome these barriers in the online environment. This paper answers the following 2 research questions:

• What are the barriers to greater consumer engagement in second-hand fashion (SHF)?
• How can digital technologies be used to overcome the barriers to greater consumer engagement in second-hand fashion?

Thus, it has the following research objectives:

• Identify the key consumer barriers associated with SHF;
• Identify business models that facilitate fashion reuse;
• Assess the use of digital technologies within identified business models;
• Assess how these digital technologies address consumer barriers and enable a greater engagement in SHF.

A mixed-methods approach including a review of 40 organisations operating second hand fashion models, a consumer survey of over 1,200 respondents and in-depth interviews with 10 organisations operating second hand fashion models is adopted to reveal a) the barriers to consumer acceptance of re-use models in the fashion industry and b) how digital technologies can overcome these barriers.

The paper idea is valid and added knowledge to the literature. The results is good. The paper is related to the journal scope.

The limitation of the paper lies in paper structures and its presentation as it has to be improved.

• You have to delete the subheading '1.1 research aim, questions and objectives' title.
• The research methodology, results and recommended model solutions have to be briefly explained in the end of the introduction section.
• The table 1 and 2 quality is poor.
• The result section has to be improved. You have to link the results with recommended solutions.
• The conclusion section are missing.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

Many thanks for your constructive and valuable comments which have helped us to improve the manuscript. Please find the responses to your comments and detail of the modifications made in the attached document.

Best wishes,

Fiona Charnley

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

This paper adopts a mixed-methods approach to identify the barriers to consumer acceptance of re-use models in the second hand fashion industry and how digital technologies can overcome these barriers.

The authors collected both primary and secondary data from 40 organizations operating second hand fashion models, conducting a consumer survey of over 1,200 respondents and in-depth interviews with 10 organizations operating second hand fashion models.

The paper is well written and structured, and I found it very interesting and nice to read. I have no concerns about the mixed methodology, how data collection and analysis were conducted.

However, I think the authors should better discuss the following aspects:

• Supporting theories. Especially the already consolidated theories in the purchasing behavior and consumer behavior area
• Results. I feel/see that all the analysis were completely driven/biased by the perspectives identified by the literature review. It can be acceptable if properly justified and if the review of the literature is conducted in a systematic way. (10.1016/j.spc.2021.12.015  -  10.1002/bse.2466 - 10.1108/MBE-11-2019-0105)
• discussion of the results. Crossings between demographic and behavioral variables that could enrich results and discussion.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

Many thanks for your constructive and valuable comments which have helped us to improve the manuscript. Please find the responses to your comments and detail of the modifications made in the attached document.

Best wishes,

Fiona Charnley

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Dear authors,

 

An interesting topic, good research, but there are some issues that must be improved. First, the methodology section needs a lot of supplementary details, related to the research tools: which was the structure of the questionnaire applied online, which was the structure of the interviews, when was the study conducted, how were the respondents chosen etc..

The results should comprise some tables or charts regarding the data obtained in order to be easier to understand the issue.

Good luck 

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

Many thanks for your constructive and valuable comments which have helped us to improve the manuscript. Please find the responses to your comments and detail of the modifications made in the attached document.

Best wishes,

Fiona Charnley

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 3 Report

Dear authors, 

I now consider that your paper is much more complex