Sufficiency and fast fashion: how marketers respond to the call to ‘sell less’

The growth-driven model of the fast fashion industry has intensified environmental and social concerns, prompting calls for sufficiency-oriented marketing. Yet, research remains limited on how marketers navigate such demands within volume-driven organisations. This study examines how marketers engaged in fast fashion practice navigate sufficiency within volume-driven business models. In-depth interviews conducted with 19 marketers reveal a double bind, where supporting sufficiency risks professional credibility, while growth compliance generates moral discomfort. Marketers respond by employing self-protective strategies such as working within the system, consoling the self, outright rejection, and moral and physical distancing to preserve professional and moral identity. The study contributes to the micro-foundations of institutional theory by showing how marketers use moral and identity work to navigate competing demands within South Africa’s socio-economic context.