Provisional Title The impact of fashion blogging on purchase behaviour Research Rationale: The rationale for this research

comes from the findings of secondary research and personal experience as a blog writer and reader. This has indicated that there are different kinds of blog, which have the ability to effect purchase behaviour in different ways. These blogs can be defined very generally in two sections based on their authorship and/or funding. The first of these will be known as independent and this refers to blogs that are written by writers who have no affiliation to a brand or retailer. Many of these are, at least initially, set up not for profit. The second type of blog will be referred to as branded these are not only blogs, which have been created by a brand or retailer to extend their online presence but also blogs which are sponsored or endorsed. Personal experience suggests that there are different ways in which blog readers react to different sites and types of post. This is particularly true of blogs which aim to create purchase intention, blog readers are often conscious of being sold something. They feel that reading independent blogs influences rather than sells directly. It will, in the future, be important for retailers to embrace social media as a marketing tool. Richard Sedley argues that web users are becoming skeptical1 of the messages of online advertisers. This means that consumers are looking to peers for recommendations and so to the use of customer testimonial. It is suggested that part of the reason readers are willing to accept the opinion of blog writers is because of the likeness they feel to them2 to an extent of taking their views as that of their peers.

Company/Sector Overview:

1 Sedley, R. (2010) Social Media Marketing in Digital marketing best practice : fundamentals of strategy and practice Henry Stewart Talks LTD, London
2Ting,

Hui-Ying and Keng, Ching-Jui The acceptance of blogs: using a customer experiential value perspective in Internet Research Vol. 19 No. 5, 2009 pp. 479-495

Fashion retailers, journalists and marketers are working to build a strong online presence. The fashion consumer is gerneally a consumer of images and products as an image (Rickman and Cosenza, 2009) and so is susceptible to the visual offerings of blogs. This is, also, a reaction to the growing number of consumers buying fashion goods online, over the past five years the market has grown by 152% (Mintel, 2010). The fact that renowned luxury brand Burberry now dedicates 60% of its marketing budget to online media shows the perceived importance of a strong online presence3. While Burberry are ahead of many other luxury brands in terms of online presence and are unique in dedicating over half of their budget to social media. The brand attributed their recorded profits to the dedication of budgets to online marketing. The dissertation will focus on some different types of written and photo blogs with different characteristics. These will be: Burberry: A brand run online presence, including the artofthetrench.co.uk. Possibly the most advanced of the luxury brands in their use of social media and the first to create their own blog. Vogue.co.uk blog: A blog written by fashion writers/designers/industry experts. The site is not promoting just one brand but also not fully independent. Despite their online presence considered as being notoriously slow, by other blog writers, Vogue are pushing to improve this; their online fashion week4 is a prime example of this. LOOKBOOK.nu: A platform for the sharing of looks with people across the world. Content is provided by members across the world with strict rules about brand placement. Losing popularity now, however still good at creating purchase intention. Unlike many blogs the site has paid adverting slots throughout. SuzieBubble: A blog written entirely independently by single writer Susanna Lau. The site features two or three advertising slots that do not necessarily relate to posts. Sponsored posts are clearly labelled as such. Research Aim:

3 http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/sectors/retail/burberry-dedicates-60-of-marketing- spend-to-digital/3029739.article [Accessed 3rd January 2012] 4 www.vogue.co.uk/online-fashion-week/2011/friday-9th-december [Accessed 8th December 2011] 2

The aim of this research is to investigate the success of different types of fashion blog as marketing tools, moving towards being able to define the most successful attributes of different types of blog. In knowing which style of blog, in terms of such elements as authorship, advertising and layout, is most successful in creating purchase intention it would be possible to build a blog tailored to these requirements to maximise online sales. Research Objectives: Define conclusively the characteristics of independent and corporate blogs To look at previous research and see why people read fashion blogs Interview people within the industry to see what they perceive the benefits of blogging to be To find out through surveys the attitudes of blog readers

Research Questions: What are the different characteristics that differentiate types of blog? Why do people read fashion blogs? What are the benefits of blogging to fashion marketers? How do readers feel about different types of blog?

Literature Review: It is possible to consider blogging, at least in the independent sense as word of mouth (Kotler et al, 2009) in terms of the way in which it influences purchase behavior. The notion of eWOM (Electronic word of mouth) ranges from social media such as facebook to testemonials left on shopping sites. eWOM is going to be a prominenent new form of advertising but one which needs to be tested and researched in order to maximize the benefits for purchase behavior (Burns, et al 2011). This raises the contradiction in styles of blogs and questions whether or not a branded blog can ever have the same kind of influence if eWOM is generated by consumers or potential customers. Ching-Jui Keng and Hui-Ying Ting suggest that there is an affinity which readers feel with bloggers, making them more likely to trust their opinion. In terms of fashion; bloggers can

be contrasted with the editors of fashion magazines. In some cases bloggers are people that have a rapport with their readers and in all cases fashion editors are seen as inaccessible to the average reader. This research argues that the importance of exchange behavior in blogs5(p3) should not be underestimated. Therefore the option for feedback is important. Sales of fashion items online have increased more over the past five years than any other range, dvds, books and music inclusive. Over the same period of time the market has seen a growth of 152% (Mintel, 2010)6. Sales are expected to continue to grow in the future and harnessing the potential of social media seems to be the key to this success. The same research, suggested that innovation is the key and retailers and brands need to maximise online sales by selling clothes via social networking sites and using Facebook and Twitter to interact with consumers. Blogs can be seen as an extension of both of these and one, which can be more easily controlled by opinion leaders. I intend to look at the ways in which retailers can maximise their sales through the use of blogs. There is little research on why people read fashion blogs however, research carried out by an independent geographic and political development blog offers some insights. The 1500+ respondents noted the top three reasons for reading blogs were: Reading impartial analysis of current trends Following new trends Learning from others experience

The final of these is particularly important when considering the impact of blogging on purchase intention. Mintel research found that many online shoppers were put off buying online by issues such as sizing which could be something learned from others experience7. This kind of two-way communication could be vitally important in improving online services and reaching a wider audience. Furthermore Mintel found that 47% of surveyed customers still prefer to visit an actual store for their clothes and highlights the importance of retailers selling on a multi-channel

5 Ting, Hui-Ying and Keng, Ching-Jui The acceptance of blogs 6 Online Fashion Clicks With Brits as Market Increases 152% Over Past Five Years Mintel, April 2011. 7 Fashion Clicks With Brits, April 2011, Mintel 4

basis (2011)8. It is important to note that while blogging is an online tool, any purchase intention which a site or article may create is not necessarily exclusive to online buying and could easily be extended to in store sales. To be in-style means that some reference group positively evaluates the combination9 or choice of clothing. This deduction exemplifies the way in which photo based blogs such as Lookbook.nu and Burberrys Art of the Trench operate. Imitation of the looks seen on other members could be seen as a way of creating purchase intention. In a talk given by Richard Sedley10 it is noted that 78% of web users trust recommendations of other web users more than advertising11. This is important in that online consumers are wary of using online stores because a lack of experience of knowledge and so 57% of customers look for feedback and reviews (Mintel, 2010). A testimonial such as a blog can be used to reduce this for an online retailer. Considering blog writers as opinion leaders within a two step flow model (Lazarsfeld and Katz, 1955) simplifies the effect, which bloggers have on their readers.

Figure 1(Katz

and Lazarsfeld, 1955)

8 Fashion Online, UK, Mintel, March 2011. 9 The changing digital dynamics of multichannel marketing, The feasibility of the weblog: text mining
10 Sedley, R (2010) Social Media Marketing 11 ibid

approach for fast fashion trending Rickman, Tracy Anna and Cosenza, Robert M. in Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management. Vol. 11 No. 4, 2007 pp. 604-621

Sedley noted that 80% of people who read reviews are directly influenced by them12 it is possible that the trust in an independent voice (rather than that of a companys advertising voice) is an important factor in this. The way in which a blog message is formulated is two step. Traditionally, fashion opinion leaders were editors who worked with brands to promote specific messages now blog writers with a large following are becoming as powerful as fashion editors because they are broad and accessible opinion leaders. Marian Frances Wolbers, in her book Uncovering Fashion13 that in years past there was a long wait to see what was new in the world of Fashion(p122) and that reaction is faster than ever. This means that fashion conscious shoppers are looking to blogs for inspiration. Blog writers interpret a brand message and publish it to their audience. They become the second tier [figure 1] adding personal influence to the message before it reaches its audience. This can be positive or negative, but the authority attributed to an opinion leader can make add value to a message. This research will follow an exploratory research design due to the flexibility of methods and the requirement to gain insignt and develop ideas (P60) (Laccobucci and Churchill, 2010) The lack of research in to the potential for, specifically, fashion blogs to be harnessed as a marketing tool. The study of fashion is relatively new (Barnes and LeaGreenwood, 2010) an inductive approach will be taken. As blogging has such a wide potential audience, which little is known about it will be important to carry out both qualitative and quantitative research in the form of a questionnaire and interviews. There will be a questionnaire delivered to 250 participants (Birn, 2000) from the target population highlighted above. Due to the fact that there is relatively little research on blog readership qualitative research will be vital to form the basis of the dissertation. It would also not be representative to comment on a media, which is so vast as online blogging, on the basis of interviews, which due to time constraints would not allow such a wide segment to be accessed. Qualitative and quantitative research will allow a greater understanding of a target population, which thus far little is known about.

12 Sedley, R (2010) Social Media Marketing 13 Wolbers, Marian Frances. Uncovering Fashion: Fashion Communications across the
media. FAIRCHILD (7 Jan 2009)

The interviews will be carried out in two sections, firstly one on one interviews with fashion marketers who work maintaining social media and blogs for brands and with writers and contributors of independent blogs and secondly with blog readers. A minimum of ten members of each group will be interview in depth. This will be done in two stages, the professionals or writers will be interviewed first and their perceptions regarding the effect of blogs will be used to create hypothesis, which will be tested through the questionnaire. Once the questionnaire has been completed the results will be compared with those from the first interviews and the results from both of these will form the basis of the interview questions.

Sample: In reality the target population extends to anybody who reads fashion blogs, however as suggested by Tracy Anna Rickman and Robert M. Cosenza14, fashion weblogs are read, and indeed written, by wide ranging demographics of both men and women. Therefore the sample population will be narrowed by findings on buying behaviour from secondary research so as to relate this to purchase intention. The focus will be on female fashion, as according this is a larger market than male fashion (Mintel, Online Fashion, 2011). The target must account for disposable income and so socio-econmic groups A, B and C1 will be targeted. In terms of age group, Rickman and Cosenza found that 49% of readers are aged 22-30. Considering this in line with previously mentioned research from the blog findwhatworks which found that 52% of respondents were aged between 20-29, The age for my sample will be 22-30 years of age.

Interviews: With regard to the interview aspect of my research I intend to use purposive sampling. This will allow me to specifically target people who are working in the industry, maintaining branded blogs and also those who write successful independent blogs. The aim of interviewing people who are already heavily involved with the writing or

14 The changing digital dynamics of multichannel marketing

Rickman, Tracy Anna and Cosenza, Robert M. 2007

production of blogs is to understand how and why they feel blogging is an important marketing tool and how it is used to engage customers. I am also going to interview some people who currently use blogs as a tool for advertising or brand awareness. I intend to speak with both independent writers and fashion marketers to see how they use social media and blogging and why. It is difficult to justify whether or not these are blog experts but they are definitely experienced in using them as a tool and would have opinions as to what has previously been successful. It will be important to also carry out one-on-one, cognative interviews with the same sample used to undertake my survey. These will allow expansion and confirmation on known issues (Malhotra, 2007) This is to help gain a deeper understanding of why people read blogs and what their expectations are as readers. This will follow my questionnaires as it will be an opportunity to further explore the responses which my questionnaires. Knowing and understanding these fundamental pieces of information will help to understand how best blogs may be utilised as a marketing tool.

Survey: A survey will be created online, as the subject of my research is online blogging it is useful to use the same medium (Malhotra, 2007) that I plan to use snowball sampling, as this word of mouth cascade is a similar way to how blogs gain momentum. This will be used for my survey to provide a spectrum of results, which I can consider through interviews and secondary study. The questionnaire will be posted online and will be completed by 250 respondents. This number is manageable (see limitations) and is within the perameters used in most commercial market research of 200, 250, 500, 800, 1000 or 2000 (Birn, 2000). I will carry out a survey aimed at my target sample. This will be posted online, as online feedback is at the centre of my topic. This method is easier to monitor and is fast and simple for respondents. The aim is to find out who reads fashion blogs and how they perceive them. Some question examples could be: Do you prefer to read blogs by independent writers? How do you feel about blogs you know to be written by brands?

How often do you buy something you have seen on a blog post?

Analysis: Coding will be used to analyse interviews to find common themes between the responses of participants. The results will be recoded to compare the responses of both the readers and writers interviewed. All of the interviews will be recorded and some notes will be taken during so that these can be compared with the findings from secondary research. Following their completion the questionnaires will be subject to SPSS analysis. Limitations: The first limitation of this work will come from the unknowable nature of my target sample. It is considered that the term blog or weblog was coined in 1997 and so is a relatively new media (Barger, 1997). It is estimated that, as of 1st January 2012, there are over 180 million blogs in existence with more than 83,000 of which had been created within the last 24 hours15. Given the vast number and rapid expansion, keeping track of blogs in terms of writers or ownership is nearly impossible. To narrow this to fashion blogs would not make this number any more manageable. It will be important to understand and fully define the target sample before any conclusions can be made about their reaction to different styles of fashion blog. External factors, above the point of readership, will have to be imposed on my sample, which makes random sampling impossible. While, blogs have the capacity and potential to reach a worldwide audience it is not viable to sample such a broad spectrum. While the aim of the research is to assess the merits of different blogging styles as marketing tools it will be important to define a sample which are most receptive to blogging and who are online shoppers. Research carried out by findwhatworks.blog (2011) suggested that the United States and England were the regions with the highest blog readership. Accessibility will be a limiting factor, as the blog readers, which are targetable for interview, are based in the UK and reading London based blogs.

15 http://www.blogpulse.com/ [accessed January 1st 2012] 9

Accessibility to survey participants could be limiting as online surveys often have a low response rate (Malhotra, 2007). While quantitative studies are, on occasion based on 20,000 or more informants the sample does not necessarily need to be this large (Birn, 2000). This could be limiting and effect results, as it is a small sample of a large target population. Timescale: Interviews will be carried out with targeted writers and editors of fashion by 1st March 2012. The results of which will be reviewed and analysed through coding. This will then be used to create an online survey delivered to the target segment by 7th March 2012. Secondary research will continue whilst the survey is completed by 250 participants. The aim is to have this completed by 31st May 2012. The next step will be to analyse the results using SPSS and use these findings to identify themes to further investigate with interviews with members of the target population. All qualitative and quantitative research will be completed by the 1st July 2012 at which point conclusions will be drawn. The entire dissertation is to be completed by September 2012 for submission.

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References: Birn, R., (2000), The Handbook of International Market Research Techniques, Second edition, Kogan Page Jack Grieve, Douglas Biber, Eric Friginal and Tatiana Nekrasova: Variation Among Blogs: A Multi-dimensional Analysis in Genres on the Web: Text, Speech and Language Technology, 2011, Volume 42, Part 5,pp. 303-322, Bruce, M., Daly, L. (2006), "Buyer behaviour for fast fashion", Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 10 No.3, pp.329-44. Diamond, Jay. Fashion Advertising and Promotion, Fairchild Books; Rev Ed edition (1 Nov 1998) http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/beauty/news-features/TMG7037668/Britains-bestfashion-bloggers.html http://www.mintel.com/press-centre/press-releases/695/online-fashion-clickswith-brits-as-market-increases-152-over-past-five-years Ko, Hsiu-Chia; Yin, Chun-Po; Feng-Yang Kuo. Exploring individual communication power in the blogosphere (via emerald) Kotler, Philip. Kevin Keller, Dr Mairead Brady, Malcolm Goodman and Torben Hansen, Marketing Management, Prentice Hall; 1 edition (9 April 2009) Lacobucci, Dawn and Churchill, Gilbert A.: Marketing Research: Methodological Foundations, Tenth Edition, Cengage Learning, 2010. Lazarsfeld, Paul and Katz, Elihu: Personal Influence, 1955, Free Press Leung, Linda: Digital Experience Design: Ideas, Industry, Interaction. Intellect Books, 2008. Liz Barnes, Gaynor Lea-Greenwood, (2010) "Fast fashion in the retail store environment", International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 38 Iss: 10, pp.760 772 Liz Barnes, Gaynor Lea-Greenwood, (2010) "Fast fashion in the retail store environment", International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 38 Iss: 10, pp.760 772

Malhotra, Naresh K. (2010), Marketing Research: An Applied Orientation, 3rd edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education.
Rickman, Tracy Anna and Cosenza, Robert M. The changing digital dynamics of multichannel marketing, The feasibility of the weblog: text mining approach for fast fashion trending in Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management. Vol. 11 No. 4, 2007 pp. 604-621 Ries, A.L. (2002), The Fall of Advertising & the Rise of PR, Harper Collins Sedley, R. (2010) Social Media Marketing in Digital marketing best practice : fundamentals of strategy and practice Henry Stewart Talks LTD, London [Available online: http://0hstalks.com.emu.londonmet.ac.uk/main/browse_talk_view.php?t=1652&s=1652& s_id=456&c=250] Werle, Simone: Style Diaries: World Fashion from Berlin to Tokyo. Prestel Verlag, 2010 Ting, Hui-Ying and Keng, Ching-Jui The acceptance of blogs: using a customer experiential value perspective (via emerald) Wolbers, Marian Frances. Uncovering Fashion: Fashion Communications across the media. FAIRCHILD (7 Jan 2009) Kotler, Philip., Keller, Kevin Lane., Goodman, Malcolm. And Torben, Hansen. Marketing Management, Pearson Education Limited (2011)

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Online Resources:

www.blogpulse.com www.burberry.com www.findwhatworks.wordpress.com www.Lookbook.nu www.marketingweek.co.uk www.suziebubble.typepad.com www.Vogue.co.uk

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