When Money Gets Tight: How Turkish Gen Z Changes Their Fashion Shopping Habits and Adapts to Involuntary Anti-Consumerism

Argun, Hilal and Baxter, Katherine Jane and Ni, Anna Kyawt and Poo, Mark Ching-Pong (2025) When Money Gets Tight: How Turkish Gen Z Changes Their Fashion Shopping Habits and Adapts to Involuntary Anti-Consumerism. Businesses, 5. ISSN 2673-7116

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Abstract

This study explores how Turkish Generation Z adapts their fashion consumption behaviours in response to economic crises, particularly focusing on involuntary anti-consumerism. Through a qualitative methodology using semi-structured interviews and purposive sampling, the research captures the coping strategies and emotional experiences of young consumers in Türkiye. A thematic analysis of fifteen interviews reveals an original “8Rs” framework—Reject, Restrict/Reduce, Reuse/Reclaim, Re-find, Reconsider, Re-framing Discounts, Re-direction of Resources, and Emotional Responses—that illustrates both behavioural and psychological adjustments under financial strain. Notably, the study introduces two novel concepts: “recession rush,” a calculated urgency to purchase before price hikes, and “re-direction of resources,” the reallocation of budget from other categories toward fashion purchases. By focusing on a geographically underrepresented context and a pivotal consumer segment, this research contributes new insights to the literature on anti-consumption, economic adaptation, and youth identity expression in crisis economies.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information and Comments:	© 2025 by the authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Keywords:	anti-consumption; Gen Z; Fashion consumption; economic crisis; alternative shopping methods; Türkiye
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of Business, Law and Criminology > Liverpool Hope Business School
SWORD Depositor:	RISE Symplectic
Depositing User:	RISE Symplectic
Date Deposited:	17 Dec 2025 16:11
Last Modified:	17 Dec 2025 16:11
URI:	https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/4816

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