Exploring thrifting practices among Generation Z in greater Jakarta: a perspective on social practices and environmental communication

Abstract

Generation Z in Greater Jakarta engages with thrifting as an everyday communicative practice through which ideas about sustainability are understood and expressed. This study examines this practice through Social Practice Theory, Sustainable Consumption Theory, Media Ecology Theory, and Attribution Theory. Using a qualitative interpretivist design and reflexive thematic analysis, the study draws on in depth interviews with seven purposively selected participants. Their accounts indicate that thrifting is associated with affordability, product quality, identity expression, environmental awareness, and engagement with digital media. Participants also recognized the environmental benefits of secondhand clothing while considering broader consequences of imported thrift products, including transportation emissions, implications for local textile industries, and global waste circulation. Instagram and TikTok emerged as communicative spaces where sustainable fashion became more visible through algorithmic exposure, peer interaction, and user generated content. Across these accounts, sustainability was not understood solely as an environmental concern. It was connected to economic value, cultural identity, environmental responsibility, and experiences with digital media in everyday thrifting practices. The study contributes to environmental communication scholarship by showing how meanings of sustainable fashion are shaped through the intersection of consumption, communication, and digital media in a Global South context.