Szejda, 2023
- Leather is a co-product not a by product and is bad for the environment
- Material innovation inititative
- Silk
Executive Summary
Purpose. The purpose of this survey study was to assess the potential for consumer adoption of next-gen materials in the U.S.
Methods
We obtained a large sample representative of the U.S. population in terms of age, gender, race/ethnicity, income, and geographic region (N = 1,012). In the survey, participants first provided their demographic information and current shopping habits, then viewed photos and information about next-gen materials, and lastly answered questions about how they thought they would shop in the future.
Findings.
A majority of participants were open to purchasing next-gen materials, including 51% who are somewhat or moderately likely to purchase and 41% who were highly likely to purchase (very or extremely likely). This latter group, who we defined as potential early adopters, were all willing to pay at least the same price for next-gen materials in comparison to conventional materials, and 63% were willing to pay more. In a shopping scenario, 60% of the full sample selected a
next-gen leather item over a conventional item. Purchase Interest was broad in terms of material type (next-gen leather, wool, silk, down, fur) and product categories (clothing, accessories, bags, footwear, bedding, home furnishings, and
automotive interiors). Top motivations for purchasing included quality, sustainability, cost, and animal welfare. In terms of interest in technologies, familiar production methods (such as processing from recycled textiles) were the most appealing. The potential market shares for each next-gen material type ranged from 55-62%. We defined potential market share as the average percentage of next-gen products participants would purchase over the course of a year, among those who would purchase within each respective material subcategory.
Implications.
We found broad U.S. consumer interest in purchasing fashion accessories and apparel, home furnishings, and automotive interiors made with next-gen materials. About ⅓ of the participants reported a high likelihood of purchasing at a higher price point. If next-gen materials become widely available and affordable options within the U.S. market, we expect next-gen materials to become widely adopted by consumers.