Abstract
Fast fashion accounts for continuous labor exploitation and 8-10% of global carbon emissions, perpetuating environmental degradation. Yet consumer awareness alone often fails to drive sustainable behavior. This systematic literature review aimed to understand how psychological and communication elements can be used to design an intervention capable of changing consumption behavior. Following PRISMA 2020 methodology, 103 peer-reviewed studies were analyzed from 1,384 papers retrieved across six academic databases. Three thematic strands emerged: sustainable consumer behavior and decision-making, visual and aesthetic influence on awareness, and artificial intelligence in engagement contexts. Findings reveal that consciousness alone is insufficient; interventions are suggested to combine construal level theory, emotional commitment through loss-framed messaging, and visually rich communication for effectively reducing psychological distance and fostering empathy toward sustainability issues. The review identifies significant potential in incorporating AI-generated art that could provide dynamic and contextually relevant experiences to encourage reflection and promote more sustainable consumption patterns.
Keywords
Visual Art, Generative Artificial Intelligence, Sustainable Consumer Behavior, Fast Fashion
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1444
Citation
Biolchini, A. (2026) Bridging Awareness and Action: Visual Communication Strategies for Sustainable Consumption in Fast Fashion, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1444
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
Bridging Awareness and Action: Visual Communication Strategies for Sustainable Consumption in Fast Fashion
Fast fashion accounts for continuous labor exploitation and 8-10% of global carbon emissions, perpetuating environmental degradation. Yet consumer awareness alone often fails to drive sustainable behavior. This systematic literature review aimed to understand how psychological and communication elements can be used to design an intervention capable of changing consumption behavior. Following PRISMA 2020 methodology, 103 peer-reviewed studies were analyzed from 1,384 papers retrieved across six academic databases. Three thematic strands emerged: sustainable consumer behavior and decision-making, visual and aesthetic influence on awareness, and artificial intelligence in engagement contexts. Findings reveal that consciousness alone is insufficient; interventions are suggested to combine construal level theory, emotional commitment through loss-framed messaging, and visually rich communication for effectively reducing psychological distance and fostering empathy toward sustainability issues. The review identifies significant potential in incorporating AI-generated art that could provide dynamic and contextually relevant experiences to encourage reflection and promote more sustainable consumption patterns.