individual assignment

The Social Media Behaviors of Female Fashion Leaders

Alkharashi, N., Burns, R., Kensra, D., Naz, F.

California State University, Northridge

Fashion, SNS, Behavior

Research Description:

It has often been observed that fashion designers use traditional modes, such as the red carpet, ramp walks and celebrity endorsed promotional campaigns, to attract the potential fashion customers. However, today numerous new and fresh fashion graduates have jumped into this industry, to give tight competition to the old and well-established ones. In this hyper-competitive environment, fashion leaders are moving forward and looking beyond the traditional modes of marketing to sustain, maintain and expand their market share. Nowadays, an extensively adopted marketing mode, by the global corporate sector, is social media.

Research Goals:

The proposed research will explore the relationship between fashion leaders and the usage of social media by them. The goals of the research are as follows:

To explore literature on the proposed relationship

1.      To explore the proposed relationship through quantitative methods and tests.

2.      To identify the factors that either force or hinder the fashion leaders to use or decline social media.

3.      To make suggestions to the new players in the fashion industry, on the basis of research findings.

Research questions:

Is there any relationship between fashion leaders and usage of social media?

Significance of the study:

Social media has been widely adopted as the channel for real-time interaction with the customers and to get them engaged with the company. From a small retailing store to the high-profile company, every business has jumped into the world of social media to get closer to its customers and to better understand their demands. Fashion industry is highly sensitive to the newly prevailing trends and ever changing customer needs and wants. Fashion leaders need to identify, explore and meet the needs of their customers. Social media may be the potential tool, of fashion leaders, for real-time communication with the customers. This study is important as it will explain whether new and upcoming fashion companies should adopt social media as their marketing and customer communication tool, to get similar success as of fashion leaders or not? The study will also highlight hidden cons in the social media usage by the fashion industry, to give practical suggestions to the fashion companies’ managers and marketers.

Research Variables

Independent Variables-

Conceptual Definitions

Opinion Leaders are individuals who informally influence the attitudes of others in an intended direction (Reynolds and Wells, 1977). Fashion opinion leaders are influential in persuading others to adopt fashions (Weisfield-Spolter & Thakkar, 2011). They have a high level of fashion involvement, a perceived knowledge about fashion, and spend a significant amount of time on fashion related behaviors-time spent shopping for clothing and spending for clothing (Goldsmith, Flynn & Moore, 1996)

Self-Image/Self Concept refers to the perceptions an attitudes people have of themselves as objects (Solomon, 1994). The structure of self-concept has several dimensions including the actual self, the ideal self and the social self (Sirgy, 1982). For the purposes of our study we will be focusing on the actual self.

Operational Definitions

Female Fashion Opinion Leaders will essentially be self-identified. Their social networking profiles will indicate a high level of interest in fashion. A large portion of the the social networking groups they belong to as well as the pages they follow will be fashion driven. Additionally, the content they post will also be fashion related.

Self/Image Self Concept for the purposes of our study will be defined based on the adjectives individuals use to describe themselves. A self-concept scale such as Malhotra’s (1981) self-concept scale can be used to measure this variable.

Dependent Variable –

Conceptual Definitions

Social Networking Sites typically allow users and subscribers to post to created profiles and create personal networks for the exchanging of information with other uses (Weaver and Morrison, 2008).

Operational Definitions

Social Networking Site usage refers to activity on several social networking sites including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Activity can be measured by the time spent on these sites, the content posted on these sites, and the members in your network.

H1- Fashion Leaders have a greater use of social networking sites than later adopters.

H2- There is a positive relationship between fashion leadership and self-image.

H3-There is a positive relationship between social media usage and self-image

Research Model

Annotated References

1. Mohr, I. (2013). The impact of social media on the fashion industry. The Journal of Applied Business and Economics, 15(2), 17-22.

The focus of the study is to examine the relationship between social media and fashion as it relates to fashion week; specifically examining how fashion professionals use media during their evaluation of fashion during fashion week. A survey questionnaire was answered by the 74 participants and a sample T-Test was performed which analyzed the influence of media on fashion week. The results of this study showed a strong positive, significant effect of fashion related media in intensifying fashion week attendees views about fashion.

Our team can use this research in the literature review portion of our own research. Its results help to support our own hypothesis as it focuses on fashion professionals who can also be considered fashion leaders. This study only looks at social media in the context of usage before and after fashion week however; our goal will be to expand on this research.

2. Kunz, M. B., Hackworth, B., Osborne, P., & High, J. D. (2011). Fans, friends, and followers: Social media in the retailers' marketing mix. The Journal of Applied Business and Economics, 12(3), 61-68.

The emphasis of the study was the use and adaptation of Social Media Marketing (SMM) by top retailers and how it would be helpful for them to increase their business through social media. Social media usage increased tremendously with in last years, almost 85% of users want that companies interact with them through it. Study showed that marketing is irrelevant for 60% of US customers because they want to be a community for the company. The population of social media included Facebook, kaboodle, MySpace, Twitter and YouTube. Data collection for the study was based on the usage rate of social media from 25-55 years old consumers who searched companies before making decisions. Data analyzed by Team of fellows of the Society for New Communication Research. The result showed that companies have to focus on identifying those variables, which convert casual relationship into loyalty. Companies must remember the fact that social media is an open platform for the world to see the responses or experiences from the customers, either they were good or bad.

Our group can use this research for not only literature review, but we can also use some of the data collection tools used as they are closely related to data will need to collect. Some of the same surveys and scales used may be relevant to or own research.

3. Weisfeld-Spolter, S., & Thakkar, M. (2011). Is a designer only as good as a star who wears her clothes? Examining the roles of celebrities as opinion leaders for the diffusion of fashion in the US teen market. Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, 15(2), 133-144.

The focus of this research is to examine the role of celebrity influence on diffusing fashion amongst teenagers in the United States. The research looks at celebrities as fashion opinion leaders who influence teens to and try and adopt new fashion styles. For their study, the researchers conducted a personal survey with 50 teenagers ages 14-17 (30 female and 20 male) in the New York area. The surveys, which gaged their opinion on the matter of celebrities and fashion, asked opened ended questions. The questions focused on their thoughts on fashion, which celebrities they liked, and other related questions. A content analysis was the done on the data. The results found various themes regarding teenager’s feelings about celebrities as opinion leaders in the fashion market. Specifically, the results indicated that the teenagers felt celebrities were indeed fashion leaders, innovative in their purchases and had fashion knowledge/fashion interest. The results also indicated that majority of the celebrities associated being opinion leaders were in their 20’s and 30’s and lastly seeing the celebrities outside of paid advertisements was a more effective influence. This research could be used to help us define a fashion leader, and also gives insight on the best techniques to identify fashion leaders for our own research. Our literature review will discuss the influence of fashion leaders with the hopes of proving how this affects fashion leader influence on social media.

4. Akrimi, Y., & Khemakhem, R. (2012). What Drive Consumers to Spread the Word in Social Media? The Journal of Marketing Research Studies, 1-14.

The focus of this study was to determine the motives behind the spread of eWOM (Electronic Word of Mouth) on Social Media Channels. The study surveyed 150 women who use social networks, ranging in age from 18-35 years old with a focus on women who were members of groups or pages of Facebook pages specializing in fashion. The majority of the respondents were students and the questionnaire was administered online and face-to-face. A 5 point Likert scale was used and Nefzi’s four-item intention of recommendation measure was used. The scale developed by Okazaki was adopted to measure attitude toward recommendation. The measures of interpersonal connectivity, product involvement, intrinsic motivation, self-esteem, and social influence were adopted from the works of Okazaki, Debraix, and Fuller.

The results showed self-esteem positively influences the attitude toward recommendation. There were no significant links between social influence, the implication and the connectivity on one hand and the attitude toward recommendation on the other. The methodology used to explore motivations can be helpful in our research. It will also be helpful in our literature review.

5. Phau, I. , & Lo, C. (2004). Profiling fashion innovators. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, 8(4), 399-411.

The purpose of the study was to examine the impact of fashion innovators on Internet buying decisions. Data was collected through a questionnaire, 225 (95%) of them used for testing the findings. A T-test was used to fine the self-concept differences amongst innovators non-innovators and result showed that the innovators had unique self-image. Bivariate correlation was used to check the relationship between fashion innovativeness through buying impulsiveness and DSI scale. Result showed that impulsiveness was related to fashion innovativeness. Out of the 225 participants, only 3% were innovators and 13% were early adopters. 70% of the non-innovators didn’t want to purchase online. Finding showed that fashion innovators were generally exhibit impulsive behavior. Fashion innovators had no interest to buy fashion items online. It also showed that there was no difference in the behaviors of both innovators and non-innovators regarding the online purchasing of items. This Study will be helpful as it looks at online behaviors of fashion innovators and also defines self-concept differences of fashion innovators (fashion leaders) and fashion non-innovators. It is similar to our study, so we may be able to use similar data collection and research methodology as well as review their study in on literature review.

6. Ross, C. , Orr, R. , Orr, E. , Sisic, M. , Arseneault, J. , et al. (2009). Personality and motivations associated with facebook use. Computers in Human Behavior, 25(2), 578-586.

The focus of the study is to examine the relationship between Facebook usage and Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality. A sample of 97 students of university in Southwestern Ontario was used in which 15 were males and 82 were females. This population was chosen through the university’s psychology participation pool that was necessary to qualify for the participation. The 97 participants answered an online 28-items survey questionnaire and students also completed the CMC Competency questionnaire and NEO-PI-R questionnaire, which used in majority of personality and clinical research. One-way frequency tables for the variables in the data set were used to understand the relationship between FFM of personality and the Facebook use.

The results of this study showed a solid optimistic, significant effect of FFM of students in using the Facebook. The influence of the FFM of personality recognized was vital and imperative in evaluating the ways of using of Facebook.

In the conclusion of this study, it showed that FFM approach helped to understand the personality of students in the way they use Facebook.

This study may be helpful for literature review as it examines Facebook usage and personality. As our research has expanded to consider self-concept, we may be able to use some of the personality measures from this study.

7. Goldsmith, R., Flynn, L., & Moore, M. (1996). The Self-Concept Of Fashion Leaders. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 14(4), 242-248.

The focus of this study was to understand and distinguish the characteristics of Fashion Leadership by analyzing their self-concept. A sample of 100 men and 276 women of two different universities in southeast US were used. Questionnaire included demographic, self-concept, fashion leadership, fashion opinion leadership, fashion involvement and self-perceived fashion knowledge. Questionnaire was divided into two parts as fashion leadership and later adopter to analyze their differences. The result showed that 15% of the participants are designated as fashion leader. There was a significant but week correlation between fashion leadership and 4 other self-concepts, which suggested that fashion leadership, also saw themselves as more delicate, pleasant, emotional and liberal. The specific self-concept items contained in Malhotra’s scale also limited the findings.

This research would be very helpful in our research project as we can use similar instrumentation and further expand on the self-concept of fashion leadership.

8. Summers, J. (1970). The Identity of Women's Clothing Fashion Opinion Leaders. Journal of Marketing Research, 7(2), 178-185.

The focus of this study is to analyze the characteristics of women’s clothing fashion opinion leaders. A random sample of 1000 homemakers was used. Personal interview questionnaire and 4 self-administered questionnaires were used. 28% of the respondents were classified as opinion leaders. The results showed that opinion leaders were found to be younger, more educated, have higher incomes and higher occupational status in terns of demographics. Involvement in women’s clothing represented the highest of the five variable sets in determining fashion leadership.

The study is valuable for our research project as a literature review as it also focus on the social media characteristics of fashion opinion leaders and help us to identify leaders in our own study.

9. Kong, X. Song, Z. Wang. Y. (2011). Understanding the link between consumer decision-making style and online apparel purchasing. The Journal of Software, 6(10). doi:10.4304/jsw.6.10.2068-2075

The focus of the study was to examine the relationship between decision-making and online purchasing of apparel; purposely examined how different decision styles effect on buying decisions differently. A Sample of 245 customers was used to get the outcomes and they are university students and working people. 2 types of survey questionnaire answered by the participants. The results showed that there was a significant and solid progressive effect of consumer decision-making style on the online purchasing of apparel. 25% of the consumer made decision on the basis of quality, 44% showed their concerns related to price. Result showed that discounts and sale ads, detailed advertisement or online communication would be helpful to increase the online buying by the customers.

The study is good for literature review in our research group project because social media and online buying behavior is also included in our goal to analyze.

10. Ur Rahman, S., Saleem, S., Akhtar, S., Ali, T., & Khan, M. A. (2014). Consumers' adoption of apparel fashion: The role of innovativeness, involvement, and social values. International Journal of Marketing Studies, 6(3), 49-64. DOI: 10.5539/ijms.v6n3p49

The focus of this study was to examine the role of innovativeness, involvement and social values on adopting the apparel fashion. A sample of 332 students and working professional was used to complete the questionnaire that was based on fashion as well as demographic information. 94% of the respondent aged between 18-25years. Result showed that there was no significant effect of fashion or consumer innovativeness in adopting a new fashion in Pakistan but fashion innovators like players; film actor or model had great influence on fashion followers to adopt new fashionable clothes.

This study would be helpful in our research project because social media has no boundaries. Cross cultural examine of the east and west will be a good thing to identify the differences between the fashion innovators and fashion followers.

11. Richard Michon, Hong Yu Donna Smith, Jean (2007) "The shopping experience of female fashion leaders", International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 35 Iss: 6, pp.488 – 501

The focus of the study was to discover the way the surrounding to the shopping mall effects on hedonic functional experience and also analyzes the fashion leaders behavioral approach in addition to the followers. A sample of 300 respondents was used to investigate the feeling regarding fashion, current moods, value of buying and how their approach behavior relates to the shopping mall. It clearly showed by the study that there was a direct influence of the environment to the leaders’ of fashion hedonic experience in addition to the approach behavior and fashion followers shopping experience could be driven from their moods.

The study was very helpful because the investigations made by research related to the integrated shopping experience of fashion shoppers in a shopping mall.

Partially Mediated

Self-Image

H3

H2

H1

Social Media Usage

Fashion Leadership