Generation Y females online: insights from brand narratives

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand the relationships Generation Y females have with fashion brands online. Specifically, it examines the role of the internet and social networks in these relationships.Design/methodology/approachNarrative interviews were employed to gather data from Generation Y women. Analysis was conducted using inductive thematic analysis.FindingsTwo main themes emerged from the data: the importance of social media and the influence of the internet. Findings suggest social networks have a significant influence on the dynamics of brand consumption and inform our understanding of females' online shopping behaviours.Research limitations/implicationsA qualitative methodology was utilised to elicit insights from consumers. This allowed participants to express their thoughts in their own words, which provided rich data for analysis.Practical implicationsWe provide guidance for marketing managers seeking to harness social networks to market brands. Findings illustrate the role of social networks in driving brand consumption among Generation Y women, and highlight the criticality of the social network as a source of information and reassurance for brand choices. Further, we identify concerns about online shopping, and provide suggestions for online retailers seeking to augment consumers' shopping experiences.Originality/valueThis study offers insights into Generation Y females' use of the internet and social networks for brand consumption. To date such research has been mainly quantitative. Further, Generation Y has been neglected in the marketing literature. This paper addresses these gaps and illustrates the significant impact social media has on the behaviour of female consumers.

Influence of social media marketing communications on young consumers’ attitudes

“…Bannister et al (2013) and Ruane and Wallace (2013) also revealed that males exhibited less favorable attitudes than women regarding social media marketing communications, which is consistent with the results of this investigation for Generation Z. Hence, organizations should take advantage of the fact that female adolescents also participate in a greater quantity of social media activities and are more probable to have favorable affective attitudes toward SNA (Walter, 2014).…”

The influence of Facebook advertising on cognitive attitudes amid Generation Y

“…The findings also substantiate that Facebook advertising yields similar cognitive attitudes compared to Internet advertising in developed countries [10,65,70]. Additionally, it can be theorized that the results of this study were similar to the outcomes of other SNS investigations, which have been conducted in developed countries, thus confirming corresponding cognitive attitudes between emerging nations (such as SA) and first world nations [31,38,39,50,66]. Bolton et al [8] hypothesized that globalization could result in a rise of homogeneousness owing to the Generation Y cohort's SNS usage, but the veracity of this postulation was in doubt because of the relatively poor information technology access, resources and infrastructure that is evident in emerging countries such as SA.…”

“…Bolton et al [8] hypothesized that globalization could result in a rise of homogeneousness owing to the Generation Y cohort's SNS usage, but the veracity of this postulation was in doubt because of the relatively poor information technology access, resources and infrastructure that is evident in emerging countries such as SA. Several of the aforementioned inquiries that were implemented in the US and Europe similarly examined Generation Y [31,38,50], thereby demonstrating that South African Generation Y cohort members have similar cognitive attitudes to their international counterparts, which confirms Bolton et al's [8] supposition to be accurate. Thus, this study has made significant additions to advance cohort, attitudinal and SNA research in a developing country.…”

“…Research on SNA is still in its exploratory stage, especially in developing countries such as SA. A majority of studies that have investigated various aspects of SNA have been conducted in Europe and the United States (US) [3,4,30,31,38,39,50,66], while the fastest growing SNS audiences are in emerging regions such as Africa, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, where SNS use may differ significantly [22]. Consequently, this study aims to provide insights into Facebook advertising's impact from a SA perspective, where a quarter of the population can be categorized into Generation Y cohort [58].…”

Women in business and social media: Implications for female entrepreneurship in emerging countries

“…As a result, companies have the opportunity to change and promote innovation, gathering information from social networking and virtual communities and creating value for customers (Dahl et al, 2011;Mount and Martinez, 2014;Moncrief et al, 2015;Palacios-Marqués, 2015); 2. Bearing in mind that there is a young generation which is digital born and very social-networking-active, managers are aware that the use of social media is vital to communicate with the younger consumers (Bolton et al, 2013;Ruane and Wallace, 2013). Finally, form the study literature review, it is important to underline that the adoption, use and implications of social networking tools depend on contingent factors that characterise the firm context (Jiang et al, 2014).…”