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Post-conceptions of the app

So I have now used the app every day for the past 2 weeks. The ‘experiment’ coming to an end feels odd - I won’t have to write this blog everyday or think about fashion! 

To structure this blog post a bit more I have come up with some post-use questions that will help me to structure my answers, otherwise it will be a bit of a mind-splurge on the page.

What is your overall view on the app?

I think the app is fairly useful in helping consumers see how a third-party rates their ethical and sustainable practices. A lot of the time I would only look at a brand’s rating and I wouldn’t read their explanations because they were too wordy. Design-wise, generally the app acts more like a website and it has far too much text on the pages, when images or videos would be more engaging. Overall I will rate the app 2/5*. 

Screenshot 1 & 2: Rating the App on Google Store

Do you think the app is useful in doing what it says it will?

Source 1: https://goodonyou.eco/

It is useful in telling consumers a snippet of information about a brand’s CSR policies related to animals, their people and the environment. I think more information could be communicated through videos and images and the user would likely retain the information better too. I don’t think the app is good at educating consumers with outstanding new knowledge about brands - instead, it gives you a brief overview that is a few sentences copied, pasted and briefly edited for each brand. Potentially because of this - it hasn’t changed my buying behaviour - I haven’t stopped a purchase because the app has told me that brand is poorly rated, and I haven’t bought anything from a brand based on their high rating from the app. 

However I must say that using the app daily has made me more aware of fashion issues, especially fast fashion, and I do think about it more - such as when I see marketing ads for fashion brands. So I suppose the app is useful in repeating to customers that we do have consumer power, and when we buy from these ‘poor’ brands we are inadvertently supporting their bad treatment of animals, people and the environment. 

Regarding sending messages to brands, unfortunately the app doesn’t have many contact details meaning you can’t actually send many brands a message which is disappointing. Also I still haven’t received a response from my message to H&M so the communication doesn’t appear to be two-way. 

How did the app make you feel?

I sometimes felt bored using it - there isn’t much for the user to explore except for the news article section on the homepage. Other than that I presume the app is purposed for pre-sale when you search a brand’s rating before you purchase from the brand. 

The brand ratings didn’t make me feel guilty or sad, however reading why the founders created the app (post Rana Plaza) hit home for me and made it real - out fast fashion decisions have a huge impact and we are blissfully unaware of them in Western society. 

Some brand ratings surprised me, especially if I thought they were going to better than they were - like the ultra high-end fashion brands that were rating awfully. 

Sometimes I felt disappointed when I set out to do a certain task and I couldn’t, such as sending messages to the brand or searching for a brand that hasn’t actually got a rating (therefore it is defaulted to 1/5*). 

Will you use the app now that the study is complete?

I wouldn’t use the app while shopping because it takes too long and it ruins the overall shopping experience - which is ironic because this is partly what the app sets out to do - change your consumption behaviour! As a consumer I want to bury my head in the sand, it is easier this way rather than being educated on the matter (such as a brand’s poor rating) and still choosing to shop their and support them. 

I have also found during this study that my consumption hasn’t changed from the app - I still desire the cheap clothes these brands market to me, however I do feel more ‘responsible’ in my decisions now i.e. not viewing a £3 jumper as a ‘good deal’ - rather I now think of that as rubbish quality, short-lasting and therefore not even worth the change in my pocket. 

What are some strengths of the app?

The app invites the user to welcome new (sustainable) brands into their life and encourages users to shop with them rather than shop with the common-name brands that do bad. This is useful because a user might really like something they see from the ethical brands (like the ethical trainers I enjoy - albeit I saw them first on Meghan Markle...). 

The brand gives a small insight into the sustainable practices a brand follows and communicates to the public. The downside here is that a brand might be following wonderful practices, however if they don’t communicate this efficiently online the app will still rate them badly because they ‘don’t have enough information on their website’. I find this quite annoying from a user-perspective - poor companies get berated for greenwashing but also if they don’t  - they’re damned if they do, damned if they don’t. 

The app tries to empower consumers into speaking to brands and asking them questions - maybe this functionality is better on other brands that I didn’t test out, however for the ones I did it didn’t work well. 

The news article section can be fascinating with articles that you likely wouldn’t find in mainstream news on topics such as fast fashion, plastic consumption, non-ethical fashion practices etc. I do find some of these read-worthy, and I know that if similar articles were on my news apps (BBC News) then I would read it straight away. 

You can get discount offers, however only on a limited number of brands, and brands that I probably wouldn’t buy anything from. 

What are some weaknesses of the app?

On the majority of the pages, from brand ratings to the news articles, there is far too much text and not enough pictures (and on this note sometimes the pictures are too big and take up the whole screen which is a waste of space). This makes it really hard to stay engaged as a user when there is a lot of text on the brand rating pages - you begin to lose interest and you stop reading they ‘why’ behind the brand ratings. Images, animations, diagrams would all help to make the pages more engaging and readable for the user. 

The reasons behind the brand ratings seem to be quite generic - they don’t hyperlink off to news articles about controversies etc. so the user has to put all of their trust in the app to rate the brands correctly. Unfortunately I don’t trust the app to this extent so the ratings are fairly redundant to me. It would also be good if there was a clear threshold that brands have to reach for each star out of five - so many of the brands appear to have ratings of 2 or 3* however I as a consumer would be interested in how far away they are from a rare 4 or even 5*. 

The similar brands the app recommends are a lot pricier than high street labels. I appreciate that they are more expensive because they follow more expensive, better practices, however selling a very simple product for £30 won’t pull consumers away from the £5 deal they could get online at Missguided or ASOS. 

The offers page is limited with only ~6 offers (and normally 2-3 offers are for the same brand...). This is limiting; it kind of promises discounts that you as a consumer probably won’t ever use. 

How could the app be improved? 

It could have more images on the pages and less text - this will keep users engaged.

Also to have a clearer rating system so that consumers know straight away from the rating whether they should shop there or not - what is an acceptable rating from the app to give you the all-clear to shop there? 

Would you recommend the app to your friends? 

No I wouldn’t - the majority of my friends do not care about being a more ethical consumer, especially in the fashion space where there are a lot of positive feelings of shopping, consuming, feeling great in new clothes etc. It is hard to change these consumption behaviors because they feel so good! Therefore I don’t think my friends would get any benefit from the app anyway - they would still shop at these brands with poor ratings, as would I unfortunately. 

I am also more open-minded than a lot of my friends so if it doesn’t change my consumption habits I am pretty sure it wouldn’t change theirs. 

Do you think the app has altered your behaviour as a consumer? 

Not to the extent that I would have hoped the app would. Sure I have bought a resuable cup and haven’t shopped fast fashion brands lately, however I do not think this has been caused by the app, rather a correlation. I probably would have followed the exact same behaviours without the app, and with Black Friday coming up I must admit I will probably make a few purchases, however predominantly for Christmas presents. 

The app has made me more aware of the issues of fast fashion and I now think differently when I see huge ‘SALE’ banners or ‘only £5′ signs in shops and online. 

What was the most useful aspect of the app?

This is a hard question because I didn’t find much of the app useful or particularly eye-opening. I would probably say the ratings because it gives you a small insight into the brand and whether it is ethical or at least trying to be ethical or not. 

What was the least useful aspect of the app? 

The offers page because I believe I wouldn’t ever buy from those brands (not just because they aren’t well-known brands, but also because they weren’t my kind of fashion) and therefore the entire page is redundant to me. 

Where do you see the app in the future? 

Getting more brand ratings for international firms, increasing the ‘similar brands’ section to include more British brands, continuing to create interesting news articles. I don’t think the app will grow in popularity - I can only see this happening if a celebrity endorses it and genuinely convinces her/his following that this is the way forward in deciding where you shop. Maybe a minor influencer like Lucy Watson (from Made in Chelsea) or Deliciously Ella (vegan infuencer and entrepreneur). 

[yasminetoor-blog]

App Usage: Day 14

On my final day of this study I look back to the app’s functionality to ensure that I have tested out all of the features. 

I have checked brand ratings, looked into more ethical brands, found deals however I haven’t told any brands what I think about them. I forgot this was a key feature of the app. Maybe the app could remind users that they can add their own review - such as through a notification on the app after a period of time. I’ll therefore focus on leaving a few reviews for this final app session. 

Screenshot 1: Good On You App Functionality

Source: https://goodonyou.eco/app/

I decide to first leave a review for H&M because I do shop there often. Before I write a review I see that my comments will be sent directly to H&M (I presume their customer service team) and they can reply to my comments via email. I find this quite intrusive, I would prefer if my review got shown on the app so other users can see it - this would also increase the (currently non-existent) community-feel of the app. I don’t feel comfortable sending my thoughts to the brand directly, however for the purpose of this assignment I will do it. As I go back to the app to write my comment I see that 35 users have given H&M positive feedback, 638 have urged H&M to act and 4 people have a question for them. This is interesting - maybe I will ask them a question rather than leave negative feedback for now. I type out and send the following question: 

Screenshots 2 & 3: Sending H&M a Question

I next go to Romwe to leave them a negative review along the lines of “what is your supply chain and manufacturing process - how are your clothes so cheap - who is suffering for this?” however I see that I cannot leave them a review because the app doesn’t have contact details for them. That is a shame. 

Screenshot 4: Romwe Feedback

Next I try M&S because I did a large suit shop from them recently. Again, I see that I can’t leave feedback - this is a shame because I was going to give them positive feedback on their efforts to support the environment (having learnt about them in our Marketing & Society lecture this week). 

Screenshot 5: Marks and Spencer’s Feedback

My next target is Topshop - I am going to ask them why they think it is acceptable to use leather in their clothing. I believe they stock a lot of leather items and wool clothes. Again! There aren’t details to leave any feedback. This is starting to get quite annoying - just as I pluck up the courage to start lobbying these brands I find I can’t ha! 

Screenshot 6: Topshop’s Feedback

Next I try the brand Veja - that sustainable shoe brand that Meghan Markle was seen wearing. I want to leave a positive comment encouraging them to continue their great work making good-looking shoes that are sustainable. AGAIN! No space to leave a review. This is now very infuriating because I am trying to test out a functionality that isn’t available on a lot of the top brands.

Screenshot 6: Veja’s Feedback

I am an inpatient millennial - why isn’t this working. I’m now fed up so I test out another feature on the app... This is my last app usage - I don’t want to end on a negative note! I scroll down the news articles and find one that interests me. 

Screenshots 7, 8, 9 & 10: Single-Use Item News Article

This is an interesting article about how you can curb the use of single-use items when you’re out on the go. It then goes on to say how you could “be a legend” and stop buying products on food supermarkets with lots of packaging - I think this is quite a big ask especially in the UK when this is very hard! And because I am a student on a budget! The end of the article mentions single-use nappies. This catches my eye because I have previously watched YouTube videos on nappies and how you can now purchase reusable sustainable nappies.

Screenshot 11: Mango Island Mamma YouTube Videos on Nappies

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbxfXXR3Fdw&t=271s

Despite (obviously) having no children this topic interests me because of the huge amount of waste nappies cause in the world - something the majority of parents do not think about! The way you can reuse nappies for your child (and subsequent children) resonated with me and maybe if/when I become a parent I will invest in these. 

Again, on the topic of money, these nappies are a lot more expensive than single-use nappies, however they do last longer and therefore they are better value for money in the long run. It just depends on whether consumers can make that first one-off expensive purchase. 

I decide to sign off the app now, having first getting frustrated with it! However this article has settled me a bit haha. I look forward to returning for my final blog post tomorrow for a post-use debrief on what I think of the app from a holistic perspective. 

[yasminetoor-blog]

App Usage: Day 13

With this being my penultimate day of app usage I will have a look around the app and see what interests me. 

To start with I see an article on the homepage that looks interesting - it is about Boohoo and how ethical they are as a brand.

Screenshot 1: Boohoo News Article

The article talks about Boohoo’s very poor rating - such as for the environment, but the explanation talks about Boohoo not publishing enough information for the app to give them a higher rating. I touched on this yesterday - that it seems harsh to give these brands poor ratings because they haven’t explicitly talked about their sustainable practices (which could even lead to some customers accusing them of greenwashing). Again, I think the app could give them an N/A rating or some description about how they’ve tried to get in touch with Boohoo so they can give a comment about their practices. It talks about Boohoo using wool and leather, however they don’t use fur which is deemed a positive by the app. I find this topic quite interesting - why is fur worse than leather? Because leopards and cheetahs are deemed beautiful and majestic, whereas cows are just cows. This is similar to society thinking it is acceptable to eat cows, pigs and sheep, whereas eating a dog or cat is absolutely frowned upon - “ew that is disgusting!”. It seems odd that the app doesn’t touch on this, however I appreciate that to appeal to mass consumers they must tone down their views slightly. 

At the bottom of the article they give some similar brand alternatives that are sustainable. I have said this before, but I think the app should link the consumer off to the brand’s website so the user can make up their made about whether they would buy from this new brand. Instead I search up the suggested brands online. 

Screenshot 2: Boohoo Alternatives

It is interesting to see the different price points, despite the app stating that the brands are similar and an alternative to Boohoo. The simple black cami dress is £36 on Know The Origin (which does seem expensive!) especially compared to the price of £5 on Boohoo (and this isn’t even in the sale). This aspect would really put me off Know The Origin - even for very simple designs the clothes are extremely expensive. Most consumers wouldn’t be happy with paying £31 more, even if it is for a very good cause - the truth is that people do not care enough to lose that much money when they could be paying pennies for the same item. 

Screenshots 3 & 4: Know The Origin Brand Versus Boohoo

The next alternative brand is called Meemoza. On Meemoza I have found a turtle dress so I search for a similar item on Boohoo. The prices are clear, the dress at Meemoza is $134 (~£100) compared to £10-£15 on Boohoo. Again the price difference is huge, and realistically people just do not pay these prices.

Screenshots 5 & 6: Meemoza Brand Versus Boohoo

I appreciate that the alternative brands offer similar style clothes to Boohoo, however they are not equivalent on price which, for me, is the real decision-maker. I just wouldn’t spend that much on a very simple fashion item, even if it does do good. I think these sustainable brands are more likely to be successful if they sell to brands themselves, like M&S or Next - where they can set the correct price for their target audience. 

The subject of Boohoo makes me wonder what ratings the app has for up-and-coming brands that mainly sell online, such as Pretty Little Thing, Nasty Gal and Misguided, and also some very new ‘fast-fashion’ brands like Romwe and Shein that use a lot of social media marketing. 

Screenshot 7: Google Results for Cheap Fashion Female

I have seen previous YouTube videos on these brands because their prices are so low they do seem “too good to be true” - their business model appears to focus on suppliers and manufacturers who then ship them around the global customers. This can lead to huge waiting times to receive your purchase, and also odd sizing because the clothes are made in places like China where the women sizes are far smaller than in the UK or US. 

Screenshot 8: Romwe Brand Reviews on YouTube

To my surprise the app does have a rating for Pretty Little Thing. It isn’t terribly positive which is what I would expect. Again, some of their low ratings is because the brand hasn’t put any information out there about their practices. Similar to most brands, their animal rating is “it’s a start” because they don’t use fur, down, angora or exotic animals, however they do still use leather and wool. Maybe these materials will change if the public opinion of leather and wool changes - I don’t expect this will happen for a while because these materials are seen as “higher quality”. 

Screenshot 9: Pretty Little Thing Rating 

Interestingly the app doesn’t recommend any similar brands - maybe this is because the rating is new. Or it could be that there aren’t any incredibly cheap, incredibly fashionable sustainable brands. 

Screenshot 10: Similar Brands to Pretty Little Thing 

The app’s rating for Nasty Gal is very limited because the brand doesn’t have sufficient relevant information - again, should the app even feature the brand if the information is so few and far between? Interestingly the page doesn’t even have Nastygal’s logo of banner. 

Screenshot 11: Nastygal’s Rating

Missguided, Romwe and Shein also has the same situation with a lack of information. 

Screenshot 12, 13 & 14: Missguided, Romwe and Shein’s Rating

The lack of sustainable information on these brand’s websites doesn’t surprise me however I think the app could change the way they communicate this to the user - such as not having a page for them, or giving them a N/A rating. I appreciate that the brand’s probably don’t put out any sustainable information because they don’t want to publicise their poor practices, however this also means the app isn’t judging them fairly because the brand hasn’t given them anything to work with. The app could always reach out to them for comment and write on their brand page “we don’t have sufficient relevant information etc. We have reached out to them for comment and we will update this page upon their response”.

This app use has been interesting because it shows how these very new fast-fashion brands aren’t represented positively on the app based on their lack of communication to customers about their practices. Realistically the 16-30 year-old females buying these clothes probably don’t give a second thought to the impact of their £5 dress, they only think about the value for money aspect and the quality of their clothes. The impact their clothes has on the animals, environment and people won’t cross their minds. I know this because a year ago it probably wouldn’t cross mine either! 

[yasminetoor-blog]

App Usage: Day 12

Today I am going shopping with the app and my aim is to check the app’s review of the brands that I am shopping from. It will be interesting to see whether I first remember to check the app, and also what I do with the information from the app - will it change my shopping behaviour in real time? 

The first shop I go into is Topshop - I think I might have checked their rating before (or maybe that was Topman?). But it is interesting that I can’t remember its rating. From the ratings I have already looked at all I can remember is that M&S were rated highly, Gucci were rated very poorly (or at least one of the super premium brands) and that Adidas are good and Nike are bad. It it interesting to reflect on why I can’t remember the ratings and also how effective the app is if the user must use it every time they shop (which isn’t very practical - and it does ruin the shopping experience). 

Screenshot 1: Topshop’s Rating 

They get a rating of 3/5* with all 3 ratings being fairly average - their labour the worst factor. The environment section mainly talks about them creating short-lived fast fashion products which I also agree with as a consumer, however the prices seem pretty high for fast fashion items e.g. £50 jumpers, £20 t-shirts, especially when compared to say ASOS or H&M’s prices which are much lower. I read that they have limited employee standards along their supply chain and their animal rating is low because of the materials they still use including leather and wool. I do not normally shop from Topshop because as I have said, I find it to be quite expensive for the quality of the products it sells - which could relate to the poor labour conditions they support. If they had better employee rights in their factories, the clothes could potentially be made at a higher quality, similar to M&S’ high quality? I don’t end up buying anything from Topshop which isn’y out of the ordinary for me - I can’t remember when I last bought something from there anyway. 

Next up is Boux Avenue which I am attracted to because I can see from their window display that they have a sale on. I don’t particularly need to buy any new underwear, but I look just in case I can find something cheap. Reflecting on this now, it evidences how materialistic I am - looking to buy new things that I know I do not need. I suppose this stems from the excitement and pleasure you get from buying something, like when I go shopping with my family and they use phrases like “you haven’t done very well today” when you haven’t bought anything for yourself. Unfortunately buying fashion items feels good - especially when you “get a good deal” or you buy something so cheap - “you can’t go wrong at that price”. 

Screenshot 2: Boux Avenue’s Rating

Wow, so their rating is even worse than Gucci’s/Prada’s having the lowest rating of 1/5*. I read they have given Boux this rating because they “provide insufficient relevant information” on the three matters - labour, animals and the environment. I can also see at the bottom of their page they do not have any similar brands - which I haven’t seen before. It appears that the app doesn’t have any information on Boux, however in this case I would expect them to not display a page for them, or at least provide a N/A rating. 

Screenshot 3: Boux Avenue’s Similar Brands

Anyone who knows the brand know it is underwear / lingerie, and I have even seen a sustainable underwear brand on the Good On You app before therefore this should be linked in the ‘similar brands’ section. Because it isn’t linked it makes me think that the creators haven’t actually looked into the Boux brand, which again feels unfair that they have given it such a poor rating when in fact it should be N/A. 

Next up is H&M. I would expect them to have a very poor rating because of their contribution to fast fashion, for example I saw these two adverts on my social media feeds - advertising very cheap fashion goods: 

Screenshot 4 & 5: H&M Social Media Advertising

However on checking the app in-store I can see that they have quite a good rating (at least better than I would expect) at 3/5*. The explanation as to why H&M has been given this rating is quite long, therefore I skim read it and find that although they are a fast fashion brand they are trying to help the environment through initiatives and renewable energy. They pay the living wage to workers and they use animal materials, however they do seem to source this responsibly. 

Screenshot 6: H&M’s Rating

I feel a bit conflicted with the app - I briefly know the impact of fast fashion on the environment and I would expect H&M contributes to this, however the rating of 3/5* on the app seems pretty good to me. It makes me question at what star rating do they expect you to buy from the brand, and which ratings are too low and therefore you shouldn't buy from. Because at this star rating I would buy from H&M - maybe 2/5* should be the cut off point? But even with this view, I know that H&M contributes hugely to fast fashion - most of my wardrobe is full of their clothes which I rarely wear - and when I have had enough of them I will chuck them in a charity bag and not think about it again. 

I appreciate that H&M has some positive aspects, like their ‘conscious’ range - however as a consumer I do question what this actually entails, it seems a bit like greenwashing to me. 

I don’t actually buy anything from H&M - but that isn’t due to the app or sustainability... they didn’t have the size I need in a belt. 

Next up is Primark, however when I try to find the rating on the app it won’t load because there isn’t any 4G in the area. This shows a limit to the app - if a consumer is in need of the app and there isn’t a connection it means you can’t access the rating. I appreciate this is a problem with many apps, however with the issue of fast fashion (where most people don’t care anyway) something as small as no wifi could cause people to shrug their shoulders and say ‘i tried but i couldn’t because of this excuse’. 

I look at the rating after browsing in store. As with H&M, I would expect Primark’s rating to be extremely poor, especially because of their huge involvement in the Rana Plaza collapse. 

Screenshot 7: Primark’s Rating

Similarly to by thoughts about H&M, their rating is actually quite positive at 3/5*. Their rating explanation section is shorter so I give it a read. Their environmental impact is high because of them selling fast fashion, its labour is alright however they do not disclose whether they pay the living wage or not, and their animal rating is because it uses leather and wool. This makes me think - maybe the app could have a ‘history’ section for each brand with relevant information in, because for Primark this could include details of the Rana Plaza collapse, and for Nike this could contain information about their worker’s rights. This would give consumers a more rounded view of the firm, rather than their education only being based on labour, animals and the land. It would also show how far the firm has come, how they are at least trying to improve. 

I do not purchase anything from Primark. I might normally feel a pang of guilt buying from Primark because of their negative past, however the app actually makes me feel better about buying from them because their rating is pretty good. I’m not sure whether this is a good thing or a bad thing - the app is pretty much giving me a green pass to shop there even though I’m sure their practices are very poor. Hmm - it is quite interesting. I’m sure other consumers would use this kind of rating as a green pass too - similar to when you buy the cheapest bananas in store even if they are Fairtrade. It makes you feel better about buying the poorest quality ones because it is doing good to people somewhere in the world - when in fact it probably isn’t all that good, however the good rating / Fairtrade brand gives you the green light to continue purchasing. It reduces the guilt the consumer might feel. 

Next I visit Jolly’s - the app doesn’t have a rating for Jolly’s (which doesn’t surprise me) so I type in House of Fraser instead. 

Screenshot 8: No Rating for Jolly’s

I am surprised that they don’t have a rating for House of Fraser either! I would have expected them to have this rating because of its size in the UK - it is viewed as one of the largest department stores alongside Selfridges. I am a bit dissapointed that they don’t have this rating, maybe it is because they are a department store and they sell multiple brands. I’ll try Selfridges to see if they have a rating... 

Screenshot 9: No Rating for House of Fraser

They don’t have a rating either. It would have been good if the creators wrote a piece about how they do not rate this because it is multi-branded and to instead search the individual brands on the app. This would give the consumer another action on the app, rather than giving them a green pass to shop there because they don’t have a rating for them. 

Screenshot 10: No Rating for Selfridges

After my fairly poor shopping experience (and by poor I mean I didn’t purchase anything, so in fact that isn’t poor at all - it is great... or at least I keep telling myself that!) I decide to go home. I haven’t bought anything but the app use has been interesting - some of the stores which I thought would have the worst ratings actually have fairly good ratings which is surprising. I also am conflicted about the app giving me a green light to shop somewhere when I personally view them as poorly impacting the environment etc. 

The app didn’t ruin my shopping experience, however it was a long process of looking at the rating in each shop, and it wasn’t good when I couldn’t access the app because of poor 4G coverage (which isn’t uncommon in Bath!). Some of the rating explanations were far too long which meant I just didn’t read them - when you’re shopping with friends you don’t exactly want to be stood looking at your phone all day! It would be better if there was a rating on brands in-store or something, similar to the Food Standards Agency health and safety rating you see in restaurants - a quick reminder of whether you should or shouldn’t buy from them. I wonder whether this sort of rating will come in the near future... 

[yasminetoor-blog]

App Usage: Day 11

As I have said in previous posts I seem to be more aware of consumption-related issues in the public eye, including the news. This is an article I saw today on the BBC News app - normally I would scroll past this sort of article however today is caught my eye. The issue of sustainable consumption is moving towards the conscious part of my brain and I now realise the extent to the issue, especially with it being in the public eye lately.

Screenshot 1: BBC News Article 

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46070037

Reflecting on this project so far, I am noticing that I am more aware of these issues which is positive because it evidences the app having an impact on me - even if that doesn’t reach my consumption choices (yet!). 

As I open the app a news article catches my eye - November’s Best Newly Rated Brands. 

Screenshot 2: Best New Brands News Article 

I like how the article gives a description of the types of fashion each ‘new’ brand sells because it lets the user decide whether or not that is a brand they would buy from. 

Screenshot 3: Best New Brands News Article

Previously in my app usage I have found that Good On You pushes or guilt trips you into buying or not buying from a brand based on their sustainable/ethical choices and it rarely mentions the fashion side of things. Whereas in our extremely vanity-driven and self-conscious society the reality is consumers are buying fashion items based on how they look, how they make them feel and how it makes others perceive them. I think the app could do more to describe the types of apparel each brands sells and how successful they are. Despite Gucci’s very poor rating they are still deemed as a successful and sought-after brand, and that is something the app doesn’t touch on - it just dismisses them because of their unsustainable practices. However I also appreciate that the app can’t be a jack or all trades - looking at it from the creator’s point of view i appreciate it is hard to satisfy all users! I do stand by the app lacking details on the fashion, and only focusing on the green aspects. Although it would be fantastic if everyone purchased based on solid values like sustainability, it isn’t the reality - therefore it might help the app reach more users if they tapped into the fashionistas as well - not just sustainable consumers who are probably already doing a lot to help the environment e.g. eating a pescetarian diet in my case. 

Clicking on one of the brands featured in the article, I think it would be useful if the app gave the brand’s website so users can see for themselves what sort of clothes they sell. I appreciate this would be taking users off the Good On You app, however it would make the user experience more robust, rather than simply telling the user where the nearest shop is.

Screenshot 4: Vegan Resort Wear’s Rating

As I return back to the home screen another new article catches my eye - Join the Fight to End Modern Slavery. This is a very hard-hitting title, hence why I am interested! Obviously I have read about modern slavery and seen it on the news, however I am not aware how the fashion industry impacts this. I have a read of the article. 

Screenshot 5: Modern Slavery News Article

In the first paragraph I can see a formatting mistaking where they haven’t hyperlinked the entire word meaning that the ‘f’ of ‘foundation’ isn’t hyperlinked. Although it is a simple error (and I appreciate I am a perfectionist!) these things can stand out to consumers and it could lead to users believing the app isn’t 100% professional or accurate. 

I learn that slavery nowadays is less about owning another human being, and more about controlling others. It now makes sense to me - I understand that people are being forced to manufacture our (or should I say my!) clothes. I have read stories in the past of workers in Dubai who get their passports taken off them so that they are forced into building the latest sky scrapers etc. Unfortunately, I am sure this is similar for the garment industry. Further down the article I read how Australia have changed some of their laws to try and conquer this - it is a shame they don’t have a more international outlook. When they only talk about Australia it does put me off as a British consumer - however if they didn’t mention a specific country I probably wouldn’t think twice. Maybe they could appeal to a wider audience if they had a holistic view. However if the majority of the app’s users are in Australia I can understand why they have this approach. 

Oops - I spoke to soon! As I scroll down I can see they have sections about UK and Us legislation... silly me! Sorry Good On You app creators, I eat my words!

At the end of the article I can see the shameless plug for the app... even though I am reading the article on the app! These sorts of marketing plugs are quite cheap and tacky - maybe they should focus on increasing the value and interest of their current users rather than always looking for new users. 

I feel like I have been fairly critical of the app tonight - I’m not too sure why. Maybe it is because it is a Friday night at 9pm and I am writing a blog post rather than relaxing haha! But in truth I am enjoying this assignment, I like reflecting on my thoughts and it is somewhat therapeutic writing down how I think and feel. I also am enjoying my process of learning - like the way I am paying more attention to sustainability topics in the news and popular media. I am aware my app usage time is coming to an end - this weekend I am going shopping so I will take the app with me and will make a conscious effort to use it to test out the brands that I am looking at - it should be interesting! 

[yasminetoor-blog]

App Usage: Day 10

Continuing on from yesterday’s blog post I search up some of the Inditex brands. 

Source 1, 2 & 3:  Pull & Bear, Zara and Massimo Dutti’s Ratings

All three brands have very similar ratings that are all fairly negative. I am a bit surprised that Massimo Dutti’s rating isn’t higher - my thinking behind this is that it is a more expensive brand, therefore the materials and supply chain will be premium. However this is probably a skewed perspective - in reality clothes are marked up to make the brand appear more premium, when in fact the clothes are likely the same you see in low-cost stores but with a different brand inside - thus the higher price. It does seem a shame to me. I also feel a slight conflict internally - I would purchase more experience clothes because of the premium branding, however I doubt I would buy more expensive clothes because they have been sourced sustainably - this is a strange decision. Rationally, I know that I should be able to justify paying more for ‘better’ clothes, however the brand side of me wants to be seen - I want to identify with high-end brands and I want to communicate this to others. With the sustainable brands most people (including myself) haven’t heard of them and they wouldn’t recognize them, so as a consumer I don’t see why I would purchase them when I can buy a branded item for the same price. It is a serious shame, and I wonder when (or if) this mindset will change in me or in others.

Surely it can change - brands like LUSH have shown this. How you can have an entire business model centred around sustainability and doing good, and the products are still fantastic and people want to purchase them. This is what the fashion industry needs, however the market is far more saturated than the bath/shower market and this is what must make it hard for the sustainable, eco-brands to stand out above the likes of Zara, New Look, Topshop, H&M, Debenhams etc. 

Maybe the best way for these brands to be seen is to use influencers that promote their products in an authentic way. For example, I actually really like the eco-trainers Meghan Markle was wearing - but is that because she was wearing it or is it because I like the design/branding? Probably a bit of both, so I presume this is what brands should do to appeal to consumers like myself. 

This has me thinking - I haven’t tested out many brands that I don’t purchase, such as the mega-expensive brands: 

Source 4: Gucci’s Rating

Not surprisingly, their animal rating is low because of their use of exotic animal print etc. however their labour and environment ratings are much higher than I would expect. 

Source 5: Dolce and Gabbana’s Rating 

Wow - I don’t think I have seen a rating this negative so far. They are rated ‘very poor’ on all three criteria. This makes me want to read on to find out why - I can see that the negative ratings are due to their lack of communication about what they are doing as a brand to support the environment/labour/animals, and they have communicated poorly! From reading the app, the brand doesn’t appear to commit to helping any eco-related topics hence their poor rating. As a consumer (albeit not consuming this brand because it it far too expensive!) I would expect that a brand selling such luxury and expensive items would have the capacity to support these causes. 

All throughout the past two app uses I have found that I haven’t read the explanations behind the ratings (except for D&G because it was so shocking). I am thinking about why this it - why do I care about their rating but not about why? Why is M&S good, why is Gucci bad? I suppose in part it is because I don’t really care because I can’t change it. I can’t change that Gucci uses animal print, I can’t change that Arcadia Group has a poor impact on the environment. I suppose when I see the rating that is all that matters to me as a consumer - are they good or bad, okay tick to them, cross to them. If the rating explanations were easier to read (such as taking out the ‘certificate’ and ‘standards’ jargon) it would make me want to read it to find out why that brand is good or bad. Or even better, if they had videos or links to news report - or even links to where they found this on the brand’s website - that would make the consumer’s journey on the app more interesting and rich in content that isn’t overly boring. 

[yasminetoor-blog]

App Usage: Day 9

An ITV news article came up today with a focus on fast fashion and how this is impacting the environment. It is extremely fitting to the “Good On You” app and I immediately made note of it and searched the article up online.

Screenshot 1: ITV News Article on Fast Fashion

Source 1: https://www.itv.com/news/2018-10-31/britains-love-of-fast-fashion-is-harming-marine-life/

Some aspects of the article really struck me, I particularly like this statement: 

“Marine Biologist Richard Thompson told ITV News: "If you're talking about a dress at a price point of £5 it almost makes it a single use item, just the same as a single use coffee cup."Something that we’re using for a very short period, potentially, and yet it has a lot persistence as waste.“

And again here:

“The shadow environment secretary Mary Creagh told ITV News: “What we heard from the experts that gave evidence to us in our enquiry is that, frankly, if your dress costs a little bit more than a cup of coffee you're going to treat it in the same disposable way.”

This theme is very compelling and it definitely resides with me - I know that when I buy an expensive fashion item I take better care of it than cheaper items because it has more worth. It makes me appreciate the higher cost of sustainable fashion, rather than the very cheap items you can now buy in stores like H&M and ASOS: 

Screenshot 2 & 3: Dress Prices on H&M and ASOS

Interestingly on Screenshot 2 you can see that H&M’s ‘conscious’ range is reduced heavily alongside their normal ranges. H&M pledge that the eco-range uses sustainable materials (source 2), however if they are selling it so cheaply surely it adds to the cycle of consumption - similar to the argument portrayed by ITV. 

Source 2: https://www.standard.co.uk/fashion/news/buy-hm-conscious-exclusive-collection-first-look-a3767546.html

I find it interesting that I am now actively engaged in the fast fashion topic - even if this is due to an academic assignment. I am now more engaged when I see news article like the ones above, and it does make me question my consumption from the brands that I usually purchase from - including H&M and ASOS. 

Contrastingly, even though I am now more aware of the arguments against fast fashion, it doesn’t seem to be changing my fashion consumption. For example, I am in need of a new suit for interviews etc. so on the weekend I bought a range of suits to try on from Marks and Spencer online. I didn’t check their rating on the app and I don’t know how they are rated sustainable - however I still made the purchase without a second thought. This shows me that even though I am now aware of the issues, I am not consciously changing my fashion consumption based on this information. 

Now looking on the app, I am pleased to see that Marks and Spencer are rated highly by them - this instantly makes me feel better, kind of like a “phew” feeling. 

Screenshot 4: Marks and Spencer's Rating

Reflecting on my feelings, I believe I felt a “phew” feeling rather than a “yay I am a responsible consumer” feeling because I may view this blog as a sort of monitor of how I am consuming and I feel guilty that the app isn’t changing my behaviours to be more responsible. It is similar to how I feel about eating a pescetarian diet rather than a full vegetarian or vegan diet - I know the issues with farming animals and consuming dairy, however I have made the decision to still consume these products - but WHY? It is a sort-of inner debate between knowing the wider issues and not being ignorant to them - I would quite like to change my consumption to not eat dairy and fish and to purchase sustainable fashion pieces, however it is hard to face this reality. Especially with the fashion idea - I almost feel (or I use the excuse) that I have too many clothes to start purchasing sustainable fashion - I presume others feel this way hence the rise in popularity of minimalism and getting rid of clothes/products you don’t need. 

With Marks and Spencer’s rating being so high it does make me realise that not all sustainable brands are expensive and niche. This lessens the pressure / barriers I perceive to consuming responsibly - I need to remind myself that normal, everyday brands can be sustainable too e.g. M&S and Adidas. 

With this in mind, I search the app for some more everyday brands to see how they are rated. Here I do a quick-fire search - I am not interested in why they are rated high/low, I just want to see whether they are deemed good or bad. 

Source 5: New Look’s Rating 

They are rated poorly, especially on their environmental impact. This doesn’t surprise me because they always have a very large range of products that changes every month or so within a season. Previously I might have deemed this good - “the store is up to date with the latest fashions!”. However I am now empathetic to the implications of this quick fashion, so my view has changed to - “you and your big firm should be working harder to do better for the animals and environment”, especially because of their high bargaining power and size. 

Next up is Mango. 

Source 6: Mango’s Rating

Again they are not good enough, however this time due to their labour and environment practices. 

Next up I try some of the larger groups, e.g. Arcadia who owns  Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Miss Selfridge, Topman, Topshop, Wallis and Spanish Inditex who own  Zara, Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, Zara Home and Uterqüe. My thinking is that these larger groups surely (!) have better practices - they have the economies of scale and bargaining power to be better - let’s have a look. 

Source 7, 8 & 9: Dorothy Perkins’, Topman and Wallis’ Ratings

Despite Wallis and Dorothy Perkins having similar ratings (as I would expect), Topman’s is better due to their lesser environmental impact - maybe this is because they produce and sell fewer clothes? More holistically, I believe the group could be doing much more - especially if brands like M&S can do it, why can’t they? I presume they will only change when their target audiences stop shopping there, however this likely won’t be for a few years time because of the lack of awareness about the impacts of fast fashion... And because people don’t want to change a behavior that they love to do - shop. 

I decide to look into the Spanish Inditex Group tomorrow because I have had quite a lot of app time this evening. 

[yasminetoor-blog]

App Usage: Day 8

Yesterday I received another email from the “Good On You” app telling me I can search the app via category if I am in the market for a certain item e.g. shoes, underwear etc. And then below are some guides I can use to help my decision making for the brands I buy from. 

Screenshot 1: Good On You Email Communications

When I click on the first guide it takes me to an external web page on the Good On You webpage which I haven’t interacted with yet. 

Screenshot 2: Good On You Guide on their Website

This webpage is a lot easier to read than the app because of the headers in a large font, images throughout the article and easy-to-read text. For example, I like how in the ‘Underwear’ section it tells me that I can opt to buy sustainable underwear brands when my current ones need replacing - rather than encouraging the users to buy new brands right away. The tone is also encouraging by saying that a small change like underwear has a large impact over time - I find this motivational rather than making a big change that can be daunting (as some descriptions on the app have made me feel).

Screenshot 3: Good On You Guide on their Website (Underwear Section) 

Scrolling down the website, it gives me about 10 different brand choices for underwear alone, which is quite a lot of choice and also makes the article incredibly long because I presume they will give me this many choices for the other fashion sections as well. 

Next is the stockings and socks section which I scroll past fairly quickly because it looks very similar to the Underwear section. 

Screenshot 4: Good On You Guide on their Website (Stockings Section)

I quite like the Pyjamas section because the images vary a lot, rather than the images of Underwear looking very similar and same-y. 

Screenshot 5: Good On You Guide on their Website (Pyjamas Section)

I decide to scroll to the end of the website because I am quite branded-out by now, and I see that the article was written in 2016. This seems fairly outdated - especially to be advertising this link on customer-emails that they are sending to users 2 years later... do they not have anything more recent to advertise? Also at the end is a link to download the app. 

Screenshot 6: Good On You Guide on their Website 

While I’m on the website I have a scroll around and find you can search for brand ratings online as well as on the app. This is useful, however it makes me question why I had to sign up and register for the app if I can do it all online without giving away any of my details. 

Screenshot 7: Search Function on the Good On You Website

The website home page is similar to the app pages and introduction. When I scroll down I can see some reviews and I find the Independent UK’s review particularly interesting. Because the app is Australian and heavily features Australian brands I am pleasantly surprised that the UK press firm finds the app to be good through the (very generic) statement “Tells you how ethical fashion brands really are” - this is neither positive nor negative. 

Screenshot 8: Testimonials on the Good On You Website

Next I search the ‘About Us’ section of the website. It has similar information to the app, however it is more detailed in the history of the app. The motivation to start the app after the Rana Plaza collapse hits a chord with me - I remember seeing this over the news when it happened, and it truly is awful the extent to which out consumerism impacts people across the globe. 

It makes me realise that my actions as a consumer has huge consequences - it is incredibly easy to buy the latest, cheap trends - why not, it is good value for money. However it isn’t value for money - people are dying for this consumption craze, the environment is drying up and animals are suffering every time you buy leather. It is actually quite shocking to me - similar to to the feeling I had when I first watched the ‘vegan-maker’ documentary Earthlings which explores how humans are exploiting nature, animals and other earthlings for our own gains. It made me question my entire consumption - I questioned so much about my life, how could my parents let me eat meat / wear animals when they are killed and tortured so horrendously? It is a really hard reality to face, similar to how this ‘Our Story’ section makes me feel. It is hard waking up to the negative consequences of actions we make daily. But the feeling also makes me want to watch Earthlings again to remind me of the extraordinary impact humans have had on the globe. 

Screenshot 9: About Us on the Good On You Website

I read how the app launched in Europe in June 2018, however this surprises me because I would have expected there to be more British brands on it - surely there are British-founded sustainable fashion firms? Also, the amount of users the app astonishes me - 10,000 when they first launched, and now over 175,00 people. It encourages me to continue using the app even after this experiment - the amount of people on this moment makes me want to join it and be part of it too!

Screenshot 10: About Us on the Good On You Website

Further down they discuss how the app relates to the UN Sustainable Development Goals which is fascinating because we have discussed these in our lectures with Pierre. It states that everything the app is related to the goal 12 - “ensure sustainable production and consumption patterns”. Their work is also influenced by 5, 13 14 and 15. In my further research I definitely want to learn more about these UN goals. 

Screenshot 11: About Us on the Good On You Website

Further down the webpage discusses the founders and they seem to be very well qualified which increases my judgement of the app’s accuracy and validity. 

Screenshot 12: About Us on the Good On You Website

I can also see the app discuss community, and it encourages users to follow them on social media. This is something I will look at tomorrow or the day after to see how the app is integrated into social media, and what the purpose of their social media is. 

Screenshot 13: About Us on the Good On You Website

I appreciate this app usage hasn’t actually been on the app, rather on their website, however I am justifying this usage because the app encouraged me to explore the website by sending me a personalized email with website hyperlinks embedded. This use has also given me a wider insight behind the history of the app and its purpose which will enhance my app use going forward because I now empathises with the app’s origins, notably after the Rana Plaza collapse. 

[yasminetoor-blog]

App Usage: Day 7

I start this blog post with an interesting statement: Is my consumer decision-making changing? After yesterday’s blog post I went shopping in town and decided to purchase a re-usable hot drinks cup/flask. This isn’t out of the ordinary, however the brand that I chose is. I bought a cup from the brand rCUP who manufacture these reusable cups from 40% recycled paper cups: 

Image 1: rCUP Purchase

Image 2: rCUP Packaging 

I bought this product because I liked the design of it, with a 360-degree drinking mechanism, rather than the specified drinking area in the majority of keep-cups. However this statement makes me think back to my explanation of why I want to buy the Jega trainers that Meghan Markle has. Here I also put my desire to purchase down to the design of the product, however was there an underlying, unconscious desire to purchase because of the ethical and sustainable story behind it? I am still not sure, but I am very much enjoying this product and would highly recommend it to friends and family. 

Interestingly, I first saw the rCUP in Waitrose next to where you can make your free hot drink. This affiliation with a huge brand like Waitrose will likely enhance their brand awareness and sales - similar to the influence Meghan Markle is having wearing other sustainable fashion brands. 

Okay, now back to the app. Today I decide to explore the Offers tab because I haven’t looked into this yet. 

Screenshot 1: Offers Tab

I decide to try and use this page as organically as possible, so I scroll down the list and only select the brands that interest me / products that I’m in the market for. I like the look of the HARA bras, and upon clicking the link I receive this notification: 

Screenshot  2: HARA Offer

When I ‘copy and continue’ it takes me off the app and onto the Hara website where I can browse the range. I presume that upon confirming your order the coupon will be applied, and the ‘Good On You’ creators tracks how many purchases they make through their app. The HARA website is quite boring and doesn’t spike my interest so I return back to the app. 

Screenshot 3: HARA Website

Next I try the TAMGA coupon (there seems to be a similar theme occurring with their brand names...) and get sent to their website too. 

Screenshot  4 & 5: TAMGA Offer and Website

This website is nice looking, however there isn’t an option to shop in Sterling currency which puts me off - if I did purchase something I am sure the shipping costs would be extortionate. This goes back to the issue of the site being Australian rather than an international site. 

After testing out the offers page twice I haven’t had much success. I’ll pop back in a few days and see if the offers have changed at all - maybe there will be one for the Jega trainer brand I want to buy from... 

[yasminetoor-blog]

App Usage: Day 6

So the app appears to be following me everywhere online! I keep receiving sustainable  brand/product advertisements from my cookies, such as this sustainable shoe brand. 

Screenshot 1: Flamingoslife Ad on my Instagram

I decide to search for this brand on the app. The brand has strong animal and labour ratings, however the environmental rating isn’t very positive, marking as “not good enough”. 

Screenshot 2: Flamingoslife Rating

It seems quite harsh being rated a 3/5 when the brand clearly has good intentions and strong sustainability values. Also, the explanations behind this rating is very vague and I actually feel sorry for the brand having a fairly poor rating - as a consumer I can see they are trying and I don’t think they should be penalised for having “no evidence of reducing its carbon and other green house gas emissions” - maybe they do this, they just don’t publicly shout about it? 

Screenshot 3: Explanations Behind the Ratings

I am pleasantly surprised by the number of brands the app has ratings on - even this brand that I have never heard of or interacted with! So far I haven’t seen a brand that the app doesn’t have a page for which is great for the user journey. 

Last usage I found it interesting that a brand as large as Adidas had a positive rating from the app (explained in the Meghan Markle news article where they praised Prince Harry for wearing Adidas trainers). Looking at the Adidas page they are rated 4/5* and as “good”. 

Screenshot  4: Adidas’ Rating

They appear to be strong in each of the categories and as I read down I can see they have made public commitments to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions, all suppliers are at the acceptable Supplier Code of Conduct level and that they unfortunately do use wool and leather materials, however they don’t use exotic animal materials. I am conscious that I have read this page in more depth than I have previous brands that I have looked at - this could be because I am surprised a brand as large as Adidas has such as strong rating, especially compared to the negative press competitor Nike received after their sweatshop scandal becoming public knowledge. 

Predictably, next I decide to search for Nike’s rating. My first thought is a clear and loud “greenwashing!” due to Nike’s logo image and banner image shouting “EQUALITY.” to the user. Why did they (or the app creators) choose this as their logo - this isn’t their usual logo or sports imagery. Next I can see their rating, unsurprisingly, is poor at 2/5*. 

Screenshot  5: Nike’s Rating

I read that Nike has made a commitment to reduce their gas emissions, however they haven’t committed to removing hazardous chemicals and bi-products in their manufacturing process, and they have received criticism from the Greenpeace Detox Catwalk (whoever they are...?). Alike Adidas, Nike received strong supplier code ratings however they do not pay the living wage to employees. Regarding animals, they have the same explanation as Adidas. Rather oddly I have spotted an error - Nike and Adidas have the same animal rating explanation, however their overall animal rating differs, with Adidas being scored as “it’s a start” whereas Nike’s is “not good enough”. This confuses me - surely if they have the same explanations of using wool and leather, but not using exotic animals, they should have the same rating? The only difference I can see is that Adidas “uses down feather without specifying sources” - surely their use of the feather is negative? This could potentially be an error on the creator’s part, or there is another factor for their different ratings. If the latter is true, I would expect this to be explained to the user rather than having the same explanation as Nike. 

Screenshot  6: Comparing Adidas’ (top) and Nike’s (bottom) Animal Rating 

This app usage has been interested - I have explored the impact my app usage has had on my cookies, and it has risen questions about the accuracy of the ratings. I am still pleasantly surprised by Adidas’ strong rating, and Nike’s rating is some-what predictable based on the negative press they receive. 

[yasminetoor-blog]

App Usage: Day 5

Interestingly I have been thinking more about my fashion use and how much I, as a consumer, contribute to the problem. I have been in town today and walking through all of the shops makes me aware of the extent firms want us to part with our money and buy their products - adding to the consumption cycle. I presume the app has had this effect on me because I didn’t think about the issue too much prior.

Today I’ll look into the news section of the app which I haven’t explored yet. 

The first article is about Meghan Markle’s fashion choices during her and Prince Harry’s trip to Australia and New Zealand. The article discusses the sustainable fashion choices Meghan is opting for, and interestingly this caught my attention as well. 

Screenshot 1: News Article on Meghan Markle

On one trip I liked the look of a pair of trainers she was wearing, and after searching the web I found the sneaker brand is a sustainable, vegan brand: 

Screenshot 2: Meghan Markle wearing Veja Trainers

Source: https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/style/celebrity-fashion/meghan-wears-trainers-first-time-13457811

Trainers: http://www.veja-store.com/en/esplar/2026-esplar-leather-white-black.html

I do plan to purchase these trainers for two reasons: I like the look of them and I deem them as fashionable because Meghan is wearing them (similar to the impact other influencers have on consumers). However the brands sustainable, reusable and vegan values also resides nicely with my own values. 

Reading further down the article I like how the article has images of the fashion items they are discussing, e.g. a dress Meghan wore from a brand called Reformation. The images make the article more engaging and I would recommend the app adds images to their brand pages as well. 

Screenshot 3: Images of outfits in the News Article

The article tells me that the Reformation brand uses sustainable materials in their clothes, including recycling linen. The dress in question is now on backorder online which presents the influence someone like Meghan Markle can have on brand awareness and sales. The app also provides a hyperlink to the brand where I can explore further. 

Screenshot 4: Reformation’s Rating

As I continue to scroll down I can see other fashion brands Meghan has been wearing and a description of how sustainable the brand is. 

Further down I can see the trainers I liked the look of and the brand Veja. Looking at the brand’s rating I can see it is very good, especially for their labour practices. What attracts me to this brand, as I’ve said, is the look and design of the trainers, therefore it is a shame that some images aren’t displayed on the brand’s page. Again, I would recommend the app creators add this to the pages to make them more engaging. 

Screenshot 5: Veja’s Rating

At the end of the news article it encourages users to comment their thoughts below however I don’t see any functionality to view or leave a comment. 

Screenshot 6: Comments Below Article

This goes back to what I thought when I tried to create my profile - the app appears to encourage a community-like setting where users can discuss their opinions, however there isn’t actually any functionality to do this. Maybe users can do this on the iOS Apple app, and the functionality will be updated on the Android app in the future? I am not sure, but I do think it is a shame that I can’t chat with others, especially on this news article which is interesting because I had interacted with Meghan’s Veja trainers prior to reading this. 

Next I look at the second new article about fast fashion and reasons to ditch it. 

Screenshot 7: Reasons to Ditch Fast Fashion Article

My initial thoughts are positive. As I have said I have previously watched the Netflix documentary “The True Cost” about the impacts of fast fashion so this article is quite relevant to me. Interestingly, today I went shopping and I had picked up a jumper in M&S that was on sale. I quite liked the jumper and it looked nice, however while I was waiting in line to purchase it I questioned why I was buying it - was it because it was cheap? was it because I really wanted it? would I actually wear it often? would I miss it or regret it if I didn’t buy it? And I thought - no. I wouldn’t regret not buying it, I probably wouldn’t wear it often and yes I probably was buying it because I deemed it ‘cheap’ enough. So I left the queue and I didn’t purchase the jumper. Did I make this decision because I have been interacting with ‘Good On You’? Or (more likely) because I have been thinking about my fashion consumption on a daily basis for a few days now. Reflecting on this event is interesting, especially in light of the app usage. 

Reading the news article it discusses how fast fashion is boring, distracting and crushes creativity. I don’t read each section in depth, rather I scroll down it, look at the pictures and read the titles. Is there a better way the app could communicate with its users - like a video news report rather than article? Or a video with information below, similar to the BBC News app. Reading the entire article is a bit boring, but that may be because I am not 100% interested in the subject (where as with the previous Meghan Markle article I was interested, thus I read it fully). 

I think in future app uses I will look through the article list and read the ones that interest me most.

More holistically, I am enjoying this process of reflecting on my app use and the impact this (or other factors) have had on my behaviour, notably my purchase decisions. I will be interested in analysing whether it was the app that impacted these decisions or whether it was having an awareness of the overall impacts of consuming unnecessary fashion items. 

[yasminetoor-blog]

App Usage: Day 4

Having the used the app for a few days now I have noticed some interesting impacts this has had on my cookies! I have noticed an increase in the number of ‘eco’ brand advertising I see on my social media / internet feeds including a company called Ecosia which is a search engine that uses the revenue they receive from advertising to plant trees. This is interesting because it shows how the sustainable message can be pushed to consumers if your data shows they are already flirting with the idea of becoming more sustainable. I suppose this could either put some consumers off because it is very extrovert, however others it may spur them on to be even more sustainable. 

With the Ecosia example I didn’t download the search engine, however I did question - Why? Why didn’t I - it is a free browser that pulls up the same search results as Google, however it does good; it plants trees. Why wouldn’t I want to support something as simple and free as this? Potentially due to laziness or a protest against ‘going green’ - I am not sure. 

Screenshot 1: Ecosia

Okay back to the app - I think today I will focus on searching for a few more brands and tomorrow I can look into the news items on the homepage. I choose the brand FatFace because it typically markets itself as a brand in nature - for people who want to get outdoors in simple branded clothes. Their result isn’t good, and is actually worse than ASOS (despite ASOS being multi-branded and a more complex operation). The first statement “FatFace has not set specific targets to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions” is quite hard-hitting. As a consumer I (wrongly) though most firms had set these kind of targets, especially for greenhouse gas emissions - isn’t that old news now? Shouldn’t firms be focusing on the more widely reported issues such as plastic and water usage - I definitely would if I was their Marketing Manager. 

Screenshot 2: FatFace Rating

The next more detailed section seems confusing. The first statement relates to FatFace ‘not being good enough’ however the next sentence is about how they are part of a Cotton Initiative - isn’t that good news? To make the user journey friendlier I would recommend the app changes this section to include headings such as “not good enough” where they relay all of the negatives, but also a section on “what they are doing” which includes the positives they are working on. This would make it easier for users to weigh up and evaluate the options themselves - if a consumer is very passionate about animal welfare this would weigh heavier for them than a firm not having greenhouse gas emission targets. Without this, the app doesn’t let the user make their own decision, rather it spews out facts (?) and statements about why you shouldn’t buy from this brand. 

Also, in the animal section the app rates FatFace as “not good enough”, despite then going on to say that they don’t use fur, down, exotic animal sin or angora - surely that is a positive? As a consumer using the app, again, it feels confusing because of the mixed messages. 

Screenshot 3: FatFace Rating Explanations

The Similar Brands section at the bottom recommends ‘bleed’ again and two other brands I haven’t heard of. If I click on the full list of ‘similar brands’ about 20-25 options appear in a list - it will be interesting to see whether this same list is used for all of the ‘not good enough’ brands I search for... 

Screenshots 4 & 5: Similar Brands to FatFace

Next I try Tommy Hilfiger - this is a medium-highly priced high-street brand. Again, they get a ‘not good enough’ rating, especially because of their environmental practices. The explanation behind the rating is much more detailed than FatFace, however the length of the text is fairly daunting and it isn’t easy to read without images to support. 

Screenshot 6: Tommy Hilfiger Ratings

This time the Similar Brands recommended are different and appear to be more high-end which would reflect the Tommy Hilfiger price-point. The first recommendation looks quite nice - “Bon Label” however there aren’t any images of their clothes on the app, something I have noticed during previous uses. The three models I can see in the banner image look good with the clothes, however to explore the brand further I would have to exit the app. 

Screenshots 7 & 8: Bon Label Ratings

The brand is Australian, due to the app being Australian. I presume that buying from this brand would be fairly expensive, especially the shipping costs. Unfortunately on this page there isn’t the “find your nearest store” option, which I have seen on other pages of the app - this would have come in handy right now.

Screenshot 9: Bon Label Rating Explanations

If budget wasn’t a problem I would suggest the app creators have a ‘region’ setting as you register with the app so that users can see region-specific branded information, rather than just Australian brands. This is of course based on my assumptions that I wouldn’t be able to easily purchase the Australian brands - maybe this is something I can explore during future uses. 

[yasminetoor-blog]

App Usage: Day 3

It is now my third day of app usage. I have found an email “Good On You” sent me after I registered with the app on Day 1. The content of the email is minimal, however the wording the company use stands out to me, for example their slogan “Trusted ethical ratings in the palm of your hand” and also the sentence “you’re now taking action to lower the impact of fashion on people, the environment and animals!”. Both of these wordings makes me feel empowered as a consumer to make the right decision and it gives me the accountability - I need to make responsible choices otherwise I may harm the people, environment and animals. This definitely plays on my emotions, especially since I used to be a vegetarian for ethical reasons and I am now a pescetarian. 

The start of the email also mentions “joining the community” which reminds me of my thought process yesterday when I couldn’t change my profile picture. If it is a community I want to connect with people, however this is hard to do as a faceless avatar profile. This is something the creators could improve! 

Screenshot 1: Email 

Next I visit the app and I start searching for brands’ ethical ratings - something I haven’t done yet. I type in the brand I most commonly interact with to purchase fashion items - ASOS. Upon typing in the name I am sent a notification to turn on my location settings to find my nearest retailer that sells ASOS. I find this quite annoying (similar to when websites ask you to accept their cookies as soon as you visit their site!) so I press ‘Don’t Allow’. 

Screenshot 2: Location Notification

I can see straight away ASOS scores 3/5 starts meaning “it’s a start”. Their Labour rating is high, their Environment rating fairly low and their Animal rating is fairly high. Below the ratings are descriptions on why ASOS was scored this way. The writing is quite lengthy for an app - the creators could have designed the pages similar to the design of news apps that also have a lot of writing, such as using a larger font and breaking up the text with images to keep the reader engaged. 

Screenshots 3 & 4: ASOS Page

I also think the explanations behind the ratings should be in the same order as the ratings i.e. labour, environment and animals (whereas the descriptions are in the order environment, labour, animals). 

Screenshot 5: ASOS Page

Their environment rating could be improved, especially if ASOS start disclosing their water usage - I know this is a huge problem in the fashion industry having seen an advert for Stacey Dooley’s documentary about the fashion industry that aired a few weeks ago on BBC. Maybe I will watch this now. 

I am glad to read that ASOS tracks its supply chain and can report on the start of each of its products - this might be significant to me because of previous news stories such as Nike’s expensive trainers originating in Asian sweatshops.

Regarding the animal rating, the app rates firms on the materials they use such as reprimanding ASOS for using cashmere / leather. Being clued up on animal welfare / veganism topics I appreciate the issue with using animals for clothing, however rating firms based on this criteria might alienate the general public who view wearing leather / wool as a social norm that is completely acceptable. What might be more impactful is if the app shows the consequences of using this material e.g. cows or sheep being reproduced for their skin, animals being killed for their materials, playing off the idea that animals shouldn’t be killed fr this purpose (like Elephants / Rhinos being killed for their ivory). 

I like how at the bottom of the app you can see when the post was last updated as this shows the information is up-to-date and valid.  And at the bottom of the page the app provides me with some similar brands that have better ethical ratings, for example in this case it is ‘bleed’, ‘Kuyichi’ and ‘ReCreate’. Similar to my preconceptions blog post, I haven’t heard of any of these brands therefore it doesn’t spike my interest, however for the purpose of exploring the blog I will look into these brands further.

Screenshot 6: Other Brands 

Clicking on the first recommended brand, the app tells me that ‘bleed’ is a vegan brand for sportswear and streetwear. I don’t read why they have got the strong ratings that they have (again, it is hard to read lots of information on this app) however I notice that the page doesn’t include images of the clothes or website screenshots. This seems odd to me - does the app seriously want users to buy brands based off of their ethical ratings rather than what the clothes actually look like? I think this is a huge flaw of the app - especially because images of models wearing the ‘bleed’ brand would be engaging for users. 

Screenshot 7: Bleed Page

The second recommended brand is much the same, however it uses organic denim and there isn’t any mention of veganism. Again, I quickly scroll down the page because of the amount of text on it.

Screenshot 8: Kuyichi Page

After only looking at these two other brands I can analyse my thoughts further. As soon as I see the ‘good’ brands’ page I feel turned off and disengaged. Yes “Good On You” - I can see these brands are better than my favoured ASOS. The other brands are vegan / organic etc. however this already conjurs up ideas in my mind that I won’t be able to afford these items. Also the lack of photos is a huge turn off - do truly ethical consumers actually buy brands because of their values rather than because of the products they are supplying? Even as I type this I know the answer is yes - everyday consumers buy into brands such as Apple because of their values and marketing, rather than because of the products they sell. 

I feel quite conflicted - although I know the app is trying to help me consume more ethically I feel there are huge flaws in the app, such as the amount of text on each page, the lack of engaging content, lack of images of videos. I leave the app feeling a bit annoyed - the idea behind it is fantastic as is a cause that is important to me. I am very open minded about ethics / the power of the consumer however the app isn’t doing much for me yet. 

I’ll see what my experience is like tomorrow. 

[yasminetoor-blog]

App Usage: Day 2

It is now my second day using the app and my aim is to create my profile. As soon as I open the app I am met with an offer to rate the app and recommend it to other users - I think this is quite premature considering I have only used the app once, so I decide to close the notification and rate the app after the full 14 days of usage. 

Screenshot 1: Rate the App to Help Other Users

I go to the settings tab that I explored yesterday and see how I can change my profile picture. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be any functionality to change my picture which I find disappointing. Even if the purpose of the app isn’t to interact with other users it disappoints me because I suppose this is my norm - social media. Meeting and viewing other people’s profiles is something I have grown up with on Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook and now Instagram, however it doesn’t appear I can do this on “Good On You”. 

Screenshot 2: Settings Page 

After this I can see the other tabs on this page let me explore the “About Us” section. I do not normally read these types of pages on apps, however as part of this research I will. From initial glance I can see the page is quite long, which puts me off. 

Screenshot 2: About Us Section

After reading a few lines I can see the app originated in Australia / New Zealand which is likely the reason why I hadn’t heard of the brands that I saw yesterday on the Offers tab. 

I read that the brand ratings are based on ‘principles’ and ‘independent data sources’ which sounds quite obscure to me. I click to read more about how they rate brands and focus on the ‘Information sources’ section because of my thoughts on the accuracy of the ratings. The app tells me the sources they use include Fair Trade, OEKO-TEX STeP and the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS). The only organisaiton I have heard of is of course Fair Trade because of their high-profile work especially in the food industry with bananas. I wonder whether I should research the other two organisations to find out more... Maybe in a future app usage session?

Screenshot 3: About Us Section

After reading this it is clear to me the “Good On You” app aims to act as a certified rating system for brands on their ethical behaviour, similar to how you can rate food as Fair Trade. I quite like the idea of supporting this rating system - it reminds me of the F-rating system that films use to determine the level of female representation of characters/film makers. This rating system was actually created locally at the Bath Film Festival in 2014 and it is now used as widely as on iMDB. I wonder whether this is the objective of the “Good On You” creators. 

Next the app tells me what the ratings mean. I feel like I have read a lot already and I don’t feel that motivated to read this however I do for the purpose of research. After looking at these ratings I think the app creators should have made this clear during the welcome pages so that users are fully aware on what the app ratings mean. 

Screenshot 4: About Us Section

Going back to the ‘About Us’ page (Screenshot 4) I can see the offers for the brands are selected only the brands rated 4 or 5 on the app however it then states that less than 30% of all brands have that rating which tells the user that the offers will be few and far between! 

Next the app tells me what they want their impact to be, however by this point I am quite de-motivated because this length of reading on an app isn’t normal for me. Maybe the creators could put all of this information in a short video that engages more? 

Screenshot 5: About Us Section

Quickly scrolling down to the ‘Who are we’ section I can see that the app was created from crowdfunding in Australia in 2015 and New Zealand in 2016. And the ‘SustainableProjects” company also funded parts of the app. I will look into this organisation during future app sessions.

Despite finding all of this reading quite dull, my thought processes of looking into these ethical organisations further represents the questions the app is causing in me. I am questioning how I can shop more ethically, and whether or not this app can help me to do this. I will explore further tomorrow!

[yasminetoor-blog]

App Usage: Day 1

I have now downloaded the app and upon opening it I am asked to sign in or register to the app. I have seen this within apps before and I must admit it does put me off - why do they need me to register, why do they need my details, why can’t I just test the app as a ‘guest’? This also frustrates me because I know (from previous app use) that it is quickest to ‘Sign Up with Facebook” however I do not want to give them my name, profile picture and details... so I will start typing in my details! 

Screenshot 1: App Registration Immediately After Download

Ah ha - just as I go to touch the “sign Up” button I see another option - “Why Register?”. I am intrigued as to why I should register so I explore this button further. 

Screenshot 2: Why Register as a User

I can now see what the app offers, however it doesn’t explain why I need to register. But I guess that is my next step anyway... 

That was quicker than expected - it looks like my frustration was uncalled for and I feel a bit guilty for it (especially because I know the app ‘does good’). The app now provides the user with some welcome screens.

Screenshot 3: Registration Page

The welcome screens explain what the app does for the user - it immediately strikes me that one of these screenshots could be on the screenshot area of the App Store page because this succinctly explains to the customer the purpose of “Good On You”. 

Screenshots 4-9: Welcome Pages

On the homepage I can research the ethical ratings of a brand or a category of clothing. 

Screenshot 10: Homepage After Signing In

Below this I can browse through some ethical news stories. I can see already the news posts aren’t posted on a daily basis, however this might be normal for a niche sector such as ethical fashion. 

Screenshot 11: Ethical News on Homepage

If I scroll down to the end of the news stories I can see the first new post was 2 years ago (thought: was this when the app launched?) and the following post is 2 months ago - does this mean the app re-launched 2 months ago? Where are all the other news posts from the last 2 years? These are my initial thoughts. 

Screenshot 12: News Feed from 2 Years Ago

On the tab bar at the bottom the second button allows me to search - the exact same function as the home page... This makes me think that the app has a lack of functionality, and that the creators are trying to ‘beef up’ the app with re-used functions. 

Screenshot 13: Search Function

The favourites tab allows me to browse my favourite ethical brands - I will add some brands to this at a later use. If I favourite a brand it tells me that I will receive special offers and rating updates - the special offers interests me (typical student!) however I do not care much about the ethical ratings at the moment. This surprises me because I am actually an ethically-aware consumer e.g. don’t support animal tested products, eat a pescetarian diet, have a strong interest in diet/health/veganism/exploitation having watched several documentaries such as Blackfish, Earthlings, The True Cost etc. The True Cost film is highly related to the “Good On You” app because it explores the manufacturing journey our clothes pass through in order to satisfy our consumerist needs! Analysing my thinking through this blog is making me question why I don’t care more about how ethical fashion brands are - hopefully “Good On You” can assist with this because I do want to be as ethical a consumer as possible. 

Screenshot 14: Favourites Tab

The next tab presents the user with special offers for some ethical brands. This is interesting, however I have never heard of any of these brands - they do not appear to be mainstream. Again, this makes me question my consumerist ‘slave-to-the-system’ mindset - why do unknown brands disinterest me?  Why is that the first thing I notice? I know that if the special offers were for ASOS or M&S it would catch my attention... 

Screenshot 15: Offers Tab

The final tab allows me to review my settings and even create an account. Maybe I will explore my profile during the next use of the app. 

Screenshot 16: Settings Tab

After exploring this app for the first time I am not terribly excited about it, however reflecting my thoughts and feelings through this diary does interest me. Just from this short 10-minute usage session I have explored my thoughts on why sustainable fashion / ethical brands don’t interest me fully (despite my perception that I am quite an ethical consumer). Secondly, I have explored my thoughts on why unknown fashion brands disinterest me. 

I look forward to exploring my thoughts and feelings more tomorrow, through the use of the “Good On You” app. 

[yasminetoor-blog]

Preconceptions of the app

Prior to downloading the app I didn’t have any knowledge of it except for the descriptions on the app store page: 

From first glace I understand that the app is focused on fashion, due to the title “Good On You - Ethical Fashion”, however I am unsure what the app can do for me. The app logo is a mysterious animated image that reflects the letter “G” on a tilt therefore this doesn’t give me any explanation as to what the app function is either. 

The high star rating of 4.4/5 stars makes me feel confident that the app will be interesting and useful, however the number of reviewers is only 570 people leads me to believe the app hasn’t had its ‘big break’ or hit, similar to viral apps such as “Flappy Birds”. I am now trying to recall a fashion app that has gone viral (as it seems invalid to compare a game with an apparel app) however I can only think of retail app stores such as ASOS or H&M’s app. Maybe this sector is harder to appeal to people?

Screenshot 1: Good On You App

The screenshots of the app look professional - especially the clean layout and the images of fashionista females. 

Screenshot 2: App Screenshot on the App Store Page

After looking at the screenshots more closely I can see that the app lets users search for a brand or product, and the app then returns a search list of ratings for these brands. I do not know the criteria they are being rated on however as the column does not have a title - are they ‘good’ for the latest fashion trends? Are they ‘great’ for comfort of casual shoes... I still don’t know. 

Screenshot 3: App Screenshot on the App Store Page

The third screenshot appears to be of a user profile (which I presume I will also make). It looks like you can become ‘better’ by using ‘Your Voice’ and rating companies as good and bad and contributing to the app in this way. This poses the question - does the app contribute to these ratings to or is it just user-generated content? 

Screenshot 4: App Screenshot on the App Store Page

The penultimate screenshot shows how users can set their preferences to recommend the brands that are best suited to you. I can now see there is a theme of Corporate Social Responsibility with preference ratings such as “Environment”, “Labour Rights” and “Animal Protection”. It is now clear to me that the firms are being rated on these CSR topics (and not for their fashion trends/comfort as a thought a second ago). 

Screenshot 5: App Screenshot on the App Store Page

After looking closer at the screenshots I can see Screenshot 2 does actually have information about ethical clothing with a ‘news alert’ posted 2 days ago with the topic being ethical denim ‘looks’. I must have missed this while scrolling. 

The final screenshot shows me that I can leave feedback for brands - either praising them for their good efforts or lobbying them to change their ways. I wonder whether the firms actually monitor these feedback comments? If not.. is there any point? I can also see at the bottom of the app there is a home screen, a search screen, a like screen (maybe?) and a profile screen.

Screenshot 6: App Screenshot on the App Store Page

Below the screenshots I can see the description of the app (see Screenshot 1) ; “Good On You puts trusted ethical ratings in the palm of your hand”. This confirms my thoughts that the app is about rating firms on their ethical standards and communicating this to the consumer. If I ‘read more’ of the description it takes me to a much longer description that I don’t think I’ve read for any of the apps I have downloaded. I am briefly flicking through the description however I do not read it because I deem in unnecessary because I understand the gist of the app. I can see the app has received positive feedback from previous users.

Screenshot 7&8: Screenshot of Comments from Previous Users

The initial comments seem quite varied with the first user rating it 4*, the second 5* and the third 2*. By this point I am keen to download the app and see what all the fuss is about! 

At the bottom of the app store I can see related apps that again seem to have a CSR theme - “Wish”, “BigDish”, “Ecosia Browser” however the similar apps are specific to fashion: “Mytheresa”, “Farfetch” and “Fashion Days”. Maybe I will try oneof these apps in the future to see how Goon On You compares. 

Screenshot 9: Screenshot of Comments from Previous Users

Finally, it is time to download the app. It has felt like a long process analysing my thoughts as I flicked through the app page, especially looking at information that I usually wouldn’t (such as reading the product description”. I do however usually look at the app screenshots and some customer reviews to ensure I am downloading the correct app. If the app cost money I would probably spend more time researching the app prior to downloading it (because it is a higher involvement purchase). 

I look forward to using the app because I am interested as to its capabilities - I haven’t used an app like this before (even though I downloaded a food sustainability app OLIO after seeing it showcased on TV). If this app is useful to me I might look into other CSR apps I can support.