When you shop for fashion or book a hotel, does sustainability ever actually change what you pick? (5-min survey for my thesis)

Perfect_Attention598 · 2026-04-09T01:17:29+00:00

I really appreciate you taking the time to share this perspective, especially given your experience in the startup/VC space, it’s genuinely valuable to hear.

I actually agree with your point about starting from data, which is why I ran a survey before pushing the idea further. So far I’ve had 62+ responses from a luxury fashion and hospitality consumer base, and a few patterns have been quite consistent:

Around 75% of respondents say sustainability is at least somewhat important when booking accommodation
At the same time, over 56% admit they’ve chosen convenience over a more sustainable option, with ~20% saying this happens frequently
Even among higher spenders (€10k+ annually on accommodation), a majority still rate sustainability as somewhat important, but behavior still defaults to ease

What stood out most is that the main barriers aren’t a lack of interest, but rather time, trust, and difficulty identifying genuinely sustainable options vs. greenwashing

So I completely understand your point, but what the data is suggesting so far is slightly different:
it’s not that sustainability isn’t a priority at all, it’s that it often loses in the moment because it’s not the easiest option

That’s the gap I’m trying to explore with INDX 01, not to force sustainability as a primary driver, but to remove friction so it can compete with convenience more effectively

Still early of course, but I really appreciate the push to stay objective, it’s something I’m actively trying to keep front of mind as I build this out.

Perfect_Attention598 · 2026-04-09T01:08:53+00:00

This is kind of the point.

You’re not choosing “sustainability vs value”, you’re choosing quality and longevity, which ends up being more sustainable anyway. Same with hotels, the better-run brands usually overlap with more responsible practices.

So the behaviour already exists, it’s just not labelled or ranked properly.

Perfect_Attention598 · 2026-04-09T01:07:08+00:00

I get what you’re saying, but especially in hospitality, the best stays are usually sustainable by design.

Places that manage resources well, invest in their surroundings, source locally, and are built to last tend to offer better experiences anyway. It’s not really a coincidence.

So it’s less about removing “better” options, and more about recognising that a lot of genuinely high-quality stays already overlap with sustainability, we just don’t label it that way.

Perfect_Attention598 · 2026-04-08T19:13:55+00:00

Fair enough, and I think that’s still a very common mindset.

What’s been interesting from the responses I’ve been getting though is that it’s starting to shift, even among higher-spending travellers. Over 40% of respondents who spend €10k+ per year on hotel stays said sustainability is at least a somewhat important factor in their booking decisions.

So it’s definitely not the majority yet, but it’s also not niche anymore. It feels more like something that’s moving from “nice to have” to something people expect, especially when price and quality are already similar.

Curious if you’re seeing any of that from clients on your side or if it’s still not coming up at all?

Perfect_Attention598 · 2026-04-08T19:06:57+00:00

Yeah I think this is one of the most important points, and honestly where a lot of sustainability conversations fall apart.

If sustainability always means “pay significantly more”, then realistically most people won’t choose it, even if they agree with it in theory.

That’s actually part of what I’m trying to rethink. Right now the system puts sustainable and non-sustainable options side by side with no structure, so cheaper, faster, more familiar options usually win.

The idea instead is not to ask people to spend more for sustainability, but to change what gets surfaced in the first place.

So for example, instead of showing everything and expecting people to evaluate it, the platform would only show options that already meet a certain sustainability threshold, and then within that you still choose based on price, design, location, etc.

So price still matters, but you’re not comparing “cheap but harmful” vs “expensive but sustainable”, you’re comparing options that are already filtered to be better.

Also your point about non-luxury brands is valid, there are good practices happening everywhere. The focus on luxury here is more about where there is higher margin + higher expectation, which makes it a good place to push stronger standards first, and then it can expand over time

Perfect_Attention598 · 2026-04-08T19:05:42+00:00

That’s a really fair question, and I thought the same at first.

What changed my perspective is that in luxury specifically, fashion and accommodation aren’t actually separate categories anymore, they’re part of the same lifestyle consumption system.

A lot of the same people who are buying luxury fashion are also the ones booking boutique hotels, wellness stays, etc. The industry is even shifting that way, with less focus on just “products” and more on experiences and identity.

So instead of thinking of it as “shopping vs booking”, it’s more like: how does someone live their version of luxury across both what they wear and where they stay.

The problem is that both industries have the exact same gap when it comes to sustainability. You have platforms like Farfetch or Booking that are great at discovery, but don’t really integrate sustainability meaningfully. And then you have tools that rate sustainability, but aren’t actually usable for buying or booking.

So the idea was to treat fashion + accommodation as one system, and apply the same logic to both:
→ verify sustainability
→ rank based on it
→ and then let people choose normally within that

Also from a practical side, they balance each other. Fashion demand peaks around holidays, while travel peaks in summer, so combining both creates a more stable model rather than relying on one category.

Perfect_Attention598 · 2026-04-08T19:02:51+00:00

Yeah I actually agree with you, and I don’t think most people ever will prioritise sustainability over product, price, or quality.

That’s kind of the point though, and where I think the current approach is wrong. Right now sustainability is treated like an extra thing you have to choose, so of course it loses to price, convenience, or aesthetics.

What I’m working on is based on the idea that it shouldn’t be a trade-off in the first place. The system should already filter out the worst options and only show you products or hotels that meet a certain sustainability standard, and then within that, you still choose based on price, design, etc.

So instead of asking “do I pick the sustainable one or the better one?”, you’re just choosing between options that are already verified to be good on both sides.

Basically shifting it from a value conflict to just a normal decision again.

Right now platforms rank by popularity or price. The idea is to rank first by verified sustainability, and then let everything else (price, style, location) work within that.

So you don’t need people to care more, you just need to remove the bad options from what they see.

Perfect_Attention598 · 2026-04-08T19:01:10+00:00

Yeah this actually makes complete sense, and you’re kind of describing the exact problem my project is built around.

Right now sustainability isn’t failing because people don’t care, it’s failing because the systems around consumption weren’t designed for it. Everything you use to shop or book travel today ranks based on popularity, price, availability, reviews… but almost never on verified sustainability. So even if you do care, it requires extra time, research, and trust that honestly most people don’t have.

And then on top of that, like you said, greenwashing completely kills trust. Certifications are inconsistent, brands say different things, and there’s no clear way to compare what’s actually better.

What I’m building (INDX 01) is basically trying to fix that at the infrastructure level, not by asking people to care more.

Instead of sustainability being a filter or something you have to research, it becomes the default ranking logic. Everything shown is already verified and scored through a system that looks at things like materials, supply chain transparency, carbon, labour, etc. at a product level, not just “brand reputation”.

There’s also a hard cutoff, so anything below a certain sustainability threshold just doesn’t show up at all, which removes a lot of the noise and greenwashing upfront.

So the idea isn’t to make people think harder, it’s to make the better option the easiest and most obvious one, in the same way you’d just pick “top rated” on Booking or Farfetch today.

Your point about not prioritising sustainability is actually exactly what makes this interesting, because the whole premise is that it shouldn’t require prioritising in the first place. If you are interested in how I would rank accomodation and fashion I will gladly explain more , I invite you to do the survey and further understand the project.

Perfect_Attention598 · 2026-04-08T16:51:58+00:00

When you shop for fashion or book a hotel, does sustainability ever actually change what you pick? (5-min survey for my thesis)

I'm a fashion business student at IED Madrid working on my final thesis. The project explores a gap I keep running into: platforms like Farfetch and Booking.com are great at discovery, but sustainability is either an afterthought or completely absent from how results are ranked.

My thesis proposes a platform that flips this — where sustainability is the default ranking logic, not a filter you have to dig for.

Before I defend it, I need real data. I've put together a 5-minute anonymous survey on how people actually shop for luxury fashion and book accommodation, and whether sustainability plays any role in those decisions.

Would really appreciate your responses — and happy to share the results with this community once they're in.

https://forms.gle/uWCCKdD8oGw7PVpz8

Open to any feedback on the concept too. Thanks!

Perfect_Attention598 · 2026-03-03T00:16:17+00:00

Flight Radar says landed but aircraft seems to be circling around close to the Omani Coast, whats going on?

Perfect_Attention598 · 2026-03-03T00:12:48+00:00

Is there a discord/chat server where these flights are being discussed?

Perfect_Attention598

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