Promoting clothing repair with in-person workshops: A quasi-experimental field study

Repair can help extend clothing lifecycles. However, this behavior is infrequent in high-income countries, especially among younger adults who often lack practical repair skills. In this quasi-experiment, we tested whether a group workshop could motivate repair and reduce consumption in young adults. Participants were assigned to a skills workshop (n = 62) or a control group (n = 51) who only received a persuasive message about clothing repair. The workshop strongly increased self-efficacy both immediately after the workshop and four weeks later. Although the workshop did not impact environmental attitudes or emotions associated with repair, workshop participants reported moderately higher intentions to repair their clothes and identified more with others who did (but these effects were not durable). The workshop did not increase the number of self-reported repairs nor reduce purchases four weeks later. There was some evidence for lower disposals at follow-up (but the effect was uncertain). A single workshop may thus spark motivation but not materialize in behavior changes four weeks later. This study highlights the importance of hands-on practice for boosting self-efficacy and demonstrates how quasi-experimental designs with follow-up surveys can contribute to understanding the potential of behavioral interventions.