THE RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Title : Impact of Social Media on Consumer

Preferences in Fashion Trends

STUDENT NAME: Sundas abid

REGISTRATION
NUMBER:3551FE/BSECO/F19
SECTION: B
COURSE NAME: English-III
DEPARTMENT: Economics
COURSE CODE: GCE202
SUPERVISOR: Mam Aneela Naz

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 23-12-2020

IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA OF CONSUMER PREFERENCE IN FASHION TRENDS |

 IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA OF CONSUMER PREFERENCE IN FASHION TRENDS

TABLE OF CONTENT
Project title: Impact of Social Media on Consumer Preferences in Fashion Trends
CONTENT Pg#
Abstract 02
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 03
1.1 Fashion 03
1.2 Fashion industry 03
1.3 Media 04
1.4 Media in Fashion 04
1.5 Social media 04
1.6 Social media and fashion 04
1.7 Fashion Consciousness 05
1.8 Hypothesis 05

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Background 06
2.2 Social Media Marketing on Customer Relationship and Purchase Intention 06
2.3 Influence of Social Media on Customer Purchase 07
2.4 Four Things that Fashion Brands must do in Social Media 07
2.5 Rise in the Market Share of Social Networking Sites 07
2.6 Different Types of Information Sources 08

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Objectives 09
3.2 Problem Definition 09
3.3 Sampling Design 09
3.4 Research Methodology 09
3.5 Data interpretation 10
3.6 Analysis 1

CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION
4.1 Conclusion 12

ANNEXURE

Appendix 1: Questionnaire
References

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ABSTRACT

The enormous infusion of social media, in terms of bloggers, internet celebrities, and
ecommerce websites, especially targeting the younger generation, influences the way we dress
and what we feel is ‘fashionable’. Fashion and lifestyle bloggers today are highly reputable and
influential individuals and those extremely committed to their craft have, earned industry
recognition. We are constantly being introduced to ‘what is trendy’, on a global scale! Twitter,
Facebook, Instagram, popular Blogs and Pinterest are incessantly demonstrating; exotic travel
destinations, the latest trends, in terms of food, fancy recipes, beauty products and gorgeous
fashion and accessory pieces. People now get their beauty ideas from YouTube tutorials and
other popular websites, where fashionable men and women share their fashion ideas, style tips
and what they are wearing! Online tutorials help the youth population to learn a variety of
styling techniques, like – makeup tricks, nail art, create tricky braids and outfit ideas for a night
out. Social media allows us to become more stylish and enables you to express yourself freely
and to identify your personal style and create an exciting wardrobe. Social Media has made
fashion & lifestyle more accessible and what’s wonderful is that, now all have an opportunity
to be trendy & stylish. Since everyone is going digital today, it allows you to stay connected to
your friends and various celebrities by simply scrolling through your iPhones or Andriod
finding out about all the seasons latest trends with the click of a button, it’s truly.

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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

“Ignoring the Internet is total madness,” said Diane von Furstenberg, who didn’t live
stream her show but did update her Facebook page with backstage photos and
tweeted from the event. “Being active on the Internet is indispensable to growth
and for being relevant. It helps your business to be truly global and truly multi-
generational.”
The reign of traditional media is soon becoming obsolete and is no longer encouraging effective
two-way communication between fashion brands and consumers. The fashion industry has
been known for being extremely exclusive to everyone but the insiders. It was difficult for
every day consumers to understand what really goes on within the fashion industry. Traditional
media further reiterated this exclusivity. Today, focus in the fashion industry has drifted toward
digital media, specifically fashion blogs and social media. Both fashion blogs and social media
have recently made an elitist industry more accessible and relatable to every day consumers.
Fashion bloggers are encouraging a two-way symmetrical approach by opening up
communication between those in the fashion industry and citizens. Fashion blogger are now
using their influence to drive trends, inform the public about the latest fashion news and more.

1.1 Fashion

Fashion is a popular style or practice, especially in clothing, footwear, accessories, makeup,

body piercing, or furniture. Fashion is a distinctive and often habitual trend in the style in which
a person dresses. It is the prevailing styles in behaviour and the newest creations of textile
designers.[1] Because the more technical term costume is regularly linked to the term "fashion",
the use of the former has been relegated to special senses like fancy dress or masquerade wear,
while "fashion" generally means clothing, including the study of it.

1.2 Fashion Industry

Fashion Industry is the result of modern times. Until then, most clothing were custom made,
either home made for individuals or from dressmakers and tailors. By the beginning of the 20th
century—with the rise of new technologies such as the sewing machine, the rise of global
capitalism and the development of the factory system of production, and the proliferation of
retail outlets such as department stores—clothing had increasingly come to be mass-produced
in standard sizes and sold at fixed prices.
Although the fashion industry developed first in Europe and America, as of 2014, it is an
international and highly globalized industry, with clothing often designed in one country,
manufactured in another, and sold world-wide. The clothing industry accounts for a significant
share of world economic output. The fashion industry consists of four levels:

1. the production of raw materials, principally fibres and textiles but also leather and fur
2. the production of fashion goods by designers, manufacturers, contractors, and others
3. retail sales

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4. various forms of advertising and promotion

1.3 Media

Media is a collective outlet that are used to store and deliver information. To understand what
exactly the media is, it is first important to define the term “media.” Even more specifically,
we want to know about the mass media. Although many different meanings and interpretations
may exist for the term “mass media,” for our framework we can say that the mass media is a
group that constructs messages with embedded values, and that disseminates those messages
to a specific portion of the public in order to achieve a specific goal.

1.4 Media in Fashion

The media plays a significant role when it comes to fashion. For instance, an important part of
fashion is fashion journalism. Editorial critique, guidelines, and commentary can be found on
television and in magazines, newspapers, fashion websites, Social network, and fashion blogs.
In recent years, fashion blogging and YouTube videos have become a major outlet for
spreading trends and fashion tips. Through these media outlets readers and viewers all over the
world can learn about fashion, making it very accessible. The involvement of media with the
fashion industry became even more influential with the involvement of various fashion designs
in the 20th century.

1.5 Social Media

Social media refers to a combination of three elements: content, user communities and Web 2.0
technologies. Social media denotes to the means of communications among people in which
they create, share, and exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks
(Halonen & Heinonen, 2008). According to
Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein, who define social media as "a group of Internet-based
applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that
allow the creation and exchange of usergenerated content” Furthermore, social media depends
on mobile and web-based technologies to create highly interactive platforms through which
individuals and communities share, co-create, discuss, and modify user-generated content.

1.6 Social Media and Fashion

“Style doesn’t have to just come from Vogue anymore,” said Apu Gupta, CEO of Curalate.
“The democratization of style is being played out on the social web and there is profound
acknowledgement that bloggers and tastemakers actually know what they’re doing and can
influence consumers’ decisions. By incorporating others into the mix, brands can also make
everything feel a lot more authentic.” Fashion brands in the recent times, connect with their
target market through social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
According to Macala Wright Lee, CEO of Fashionably Marketing Me, “Until recently, the
fashion industry has been fashionably late to the social media party, refusing to adopt it at all,
or merely adopting one-way communication via social networks and RSS feeds for sales and
promotions.” Many brands initially believed social networking would weaken the relationship
with consumers, but for most it has turned into a “genuine interaction between brand and

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client.” These brands use social media as a contemporary platform to connect with younger
demographics.

Of all social networks, designers favoured Instagram the most because of consumers’ overall
activity on the network. Analysis from Forrester Research confirms that overall engagement
on Instagram is significantly higher than other social sites — even Facebook. Through a study
of more than three million user interactions with more than 2,500 brand posts across seven
social networks, Forrester Research discovered that top brands’ Instagram posts generated an
engagement rate of 4.21%. Facebook and Twitter only garnered engagement rates of .07% and
.03%, respectively. “If your brand is looking for social engagement — and if you’re not finding
it on Facebook, Twitter, or other social networks,” said Forrester analyst Nate Elliott, “you
should start using Instagram today.” During most recent Fashion Week, overall engagement
and participation on Instagram increased significantly between the fall/winter 2014 and
spring/summer 2015 shows, according to research from Curalate. Total number of images
shared on Instagram increased more than 25% from 92,334 to 115,912. Most surprisingly, total
engagement — which includes image “likes” and comments — swelled by 101%, from 5.4
million to 10.8 million. “These results prove to brands that Instagram isn’t just a novelty
anymore,” Gupta said. “You have to figure out how, as a brand, Instagram plays a role in how
you tell your story.”

1.7 Fashion Consciousness

Fashion consciousness is the knowledge about the latest fashion, knowledge about what is in
the trend and following the fashion. A person who is fashion conscious knows the details of
the trends, its evolution and changes himself/herself as the fashion dissolves.

2.8 HYPOTHESIS

Hypothesis 1. Social media marketing will have a significant positive influence on customer
relationships (i.e., intimacy and trust).
Hypothesis 2. Social media marketing will have a significant positive influence on purchase
intention.
Hypothesis 3. Customer relationships (i.e., intimacy and trust) will have a significant positive
influence on purchase intention.

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CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 BACK GROUNG
Human beings are social and nowadays, consumers are participating in variety of activities,
from consuming content to sharing knowledge, experiences, opinions, and involved in
discussion with other consumers online (Heinonen, 2011). Today, with the growth of Internet,
online social networks have become important communication channels and also virtual
communities have emerged. Online world has become a new kind of social communication,
connecting people to variety of online communities has been growing during past decade.
Groups that may never meet in the physical world but nevertheless they are able to affect
behaviour including purchasing decisions (Evans, Jamal & Foxall, 2009). Internet is a social
place which created new forum for consumers. Virtual communities, blog, and online social
networking sites provide a platform to influence consumers’ purchase decisions (OTX
research, 2008).

2.2 Social Media Marketing on Customer Relationship and Purchase Intention

Fashion brands’ Social media marketing is a significantly effective marketing medium. Fashion
brands’ social media comprise five properties:

1. Entertainment
2. Customization
3. Interaction
4. Word of mouth
5. Trend

Customer Relationship

Intimacy

H1 Trust

Social Media
Marketing
H3

H2 Purchase
Intention

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2.3 Influence of Social Media on Customer Purchase:

According to the annual Deloitte Back-to-School survey, which was released in 2013, 36% of
consumers plan to do back-to-school shopping online in 2013. This is up significantly from
their 2012 study, when it was just 20% going online. Online sources were also the top choice
for parents to learn about back-to-school items. 55% of parents said they would most likely
hear about items they intended to purchase from online sources, such as retailer websites and
blogs, compared to one-third who said the same in 2012.

In the study, 21% of respondents plan to use social media sites in their back-toschool shopping.
The study shows that one of the driving forces to social media are search for promotions and
reviews. Deloitte reports that among those planning to use social media for back-to-school
shopping, 83% will visit social media sites to find out about promotions, and 67% will go there
to read reviews/recommendations. As noted in this year’s Youth and Media report, more than
4 in 10 (42%) social networking teens follow companies or brands on social media sites. Social-
savvy youth will be looking for their favourite retailers to cut through the clutter with creative
approaches for savings and product information for their fashion needs.

2.4 Four Things that Fashion Brands must do in Social Media:

1) Know who your influencer are and what they are saying on fashion blog and message
boards, and engage in the conversation.
2) Turn on Facebook both for marketing and social intelligence.
3) Invest in Pinterest because it punches above its weight.
4) Understand the nuances of how the different social channels are used in your fashion
category.

2.5 Rise in the Market Share of Social Networking Sites:

Research study found out that online social networks impact every step of consumers’
purchasing decision process to different extent regarding food retailer shops. The reasons are
mainly because Facebook’s features bring convenience to people, consumers spend more time
on it, and Facebook’s features allow consumers to interact with supermarkets and other
consumers and see comments from other consumers on supermarkets’ Face book pages. The
market share of different online social networking websites have been grown, for instance,
Face book grew by 0.22 percent from November 2011 to October 2011. YouTube has the
strongest growth among online social networking site with a 0.67 percent from November 2011
to October 2011. These measurements showed the membership of online social networks
websites have been grown (Hitwise, 2011) There are different social network groups that
possess the power to influence consumers’ purchase decision (Evans, et al, 2009):

1. Primary groups: are characterized by the size and the close relationship with—in
individuals (e.g. family members, close friends)

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2. Secondary groups: are made up of more than one primary Groups (e.g. Wider Social
system within organizations or university)
3. Informal groups: are made up of individuals with common interests or cultures.
4. Formal groups: are organized with a more rigid structures.
5. Virtual groups (communities): online social networks, blogs.
2.6 Different Types of Information Sources:

There are two types of information sources;

Internal information search.
External information search.

Internal search involves the consumers’ memory about the products, and external search
includes word of mouth, stores visit, trial and online social networking and social media
(Kardes, et al, 2011). An informal means of communication (such as communication with
friends, family members and co-workers), much of what you discuss is related to products and
information about different products or services. Once you ask your coworkers where they
bought their dress or recommend new restaurant to your friends, you are involving in Word-
Of-Mouth (WOM) communication (Solomon, et al, 2010). Many choices of consumers are
made within different social groups and even once consumers decide on their own, Word-Of-
Mouth from other people can influence them (East, et al, 2008). Word-Of-Mouth in traditional
communication theory considers as possessing powerful Influence on consumers’ purchasing
decision behaviour in every steps especially information Search, evaluation of alternative, and
product choice (Silverman, G, 2001).Word-Of-Mouth is also can be described as an
engagement of consumers in positive or negative communication or an outcome of satisfaction
or dissatisfaction experiences. WOM is person-to-person communication, regarding to brands,
products, services, companies, and organizations that have an impact on consumers’ purchase
decision (Evans, et al, 2009).

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Chapter III
Research Methodology

3.1 Research Objectives

The study designed is analytical and exploratory in nature. There will be a further scope for an
extensive research over this project. The project will help understand the impact of social media
on Indian consumers. It will also help us understand how advancements in the field of
communication devices like computers, cell phones and tablets impact the consumer buying
behaviour.

3.2 Problem Definition

The purpose of this study is to have a better understanding of how social media has had an
impact on fashion consciousness of the consumer including characteristics and influencing
factors of change in fashion trends. It proves to be a helpful source for understanding the
importance of social media and marketing strategies put in use on it. It also emphasizes on the
importance of the trend that has emerged with its boom. It helped a great deal to understand the
changing fashion consciousness of the consumer and how readily people adopt a change that
goes viral. It particularly focuses on how social media has come to impact the fashion trends
and consumer mindfulness about a fashion trend.
This report intends to study the growing influence of social media on fashion consciousness
and the user and the factors involved for this change.

3.3 Sampling Design

Sample Universe: - The sample universe includes the general public.

Sample Size: -The sample size of the participants was of 30 people.

3.4 Research Methodology

The type of research will be both exploratory as well as Descriptive. Multiple Choice will be
used as a basis of Questions. I have taken different factors by studying the existing models of
consumer attitudes that play an important role in
purchasing fashion apparels and using internet for information and shopping purpose.

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3.5 Data interpretation

Age

4 and
2%
3 -4 below
2% 2%

2 -3
9%

below 20- 30- 4 and

Gender

48%
52%

male female

Occupation

61

0 6

17

64

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Others Business Employee Housemaker Student

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3.6 Analysis:

The first three questions are about the demographics of the respondent.
Age: It is safe to say that the Social Media targets the youth of the country. Also, the most
dynamic trend setter in the fashion segment would be the youth ranging from the college
students to the recently made employees. Thus, in order to get the right set of information, my
target audience of survey was between the age group of 20 to 30, 94% of the respondents were
between 20 to 30 years. But, just to have a little understanding about the other age groups, I
have included 3 respondents of the other groups.

Gender: It would not be right to say that only female population of the country are active in
Social Media and follow the fashion trends. With the rise in the population of metro-sexual,
men indulge in following fashion with same interest, if not more, as that of women. Hence it is
very important to involve both the segments of the population in my research to get a centred
result. My survey was filled by 52% female and 48% male respondents.
Occupation: According to the survey, 41% of the respondents are students and 40% are
employees. As discussed earlier, the prime target for any Social Media Site and Fashion Brand
company would ideally be among these two categories. Apart from these two categories, 11%
of the business class people engage themselves with the fashion blogs and look over these sites
to get information.

CHAPTER IV
CONCLUSION
4.1 CONCLUSION:
Young consumers are in an increasing demand for trustworthy information regarding fashion
trends, therefore, social media can be a useful tool for finding information due to its
capability of instant interaction between users and brands. Fashion brands’ presence on
Social Networking Sites give the impression that they are closer to their audience. This
impression is derived from the interaction between consumers and brands that social media
provide. Contrary to traditional media where consumers have a third party opinion that they
do not know if they can trust and are only fed information by the brand, social media gave
consumers a chance to be influenced by other consumers’ shared opinions, people that they
might trust more because of their online influence. For instance, a lot of designers share their
views and personal preferences that are followed by thousands or millions of people. These
designers are opinion leaders that are often used by brands. Fashion brands could take
advantage of this phenomenon and make use of social media to exert more influence on the
formation young consumers’ opinion. The role of social media in the process of purchase is
in its preliminary phase with it being costly informational. Dependency of consumers on
social media to know about latest fashion is high. Findings show that Social Media affects
both the Consumer Buying Behaviour and Fashion Consciousness of Consumer. So it is
revealed that Social media has little bit influence on Consumer Purchase Behaviour as well as
Fashion Consciousness of Consumer.

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ANNEXURE
APENDIX I
QUESTIONARE
Name

Age

o Less than 20 o 20 - 30 o 30 - 40
o 40 and above

Gender

o Male

o Female

Occupation

o Student o Businessman o House Maker o Employee o

Other:

Do you use social media?

o Yes

o No

Which sites do you use?

o Facebook

o Instagram
o Pinterest
o Twitter
o Other:
Doyou follow fashion brands on social networking sites?

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o Yes

o No

Have you noticed fashion apparel advertisement on social media?

o Yes

o No

How do you observe the latest fashion trends?

o Social Networking Sites o Print Media o
Television Ads o Looking at what others are wearing

How much do you agree that social media helps in acquiring

information about fashion trends?

o Strongly agree o Agree o Neutral o Disagree

o Strongly disagree

Doyou follow fashion related blogs?

o Yes

o No

o Sometimes

How often do you buy products that you see on these sites?

o Always o Sometimes o Rarely

o Never

Do reviews and ratings affect your buying

decisions?

o Yes

o No

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Do you copy fashion from social media?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Never Mostly

References

http://www.retailtouchpoints.com/features/trend-watch/has-social-media-
helpeddemocratize-the-fashion-industry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fashion#Fashion_industry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_%28communication%29
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/media.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media_in_the_fashion_industry
http://www2.vtt.fi/inf/pdf/tiedotteet/2008/T2454.pdf
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/fashion.html
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/social_media.html

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