Social comparison in fashion blogging: “creative self” as the new genre in fashion communication

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to draw on an inductive approach in exploring how the post-90s generation relates themselves with the others when browsing fashion images on social media. More specifically, this work explores how young fashion readers perceive the phenomenon of bloggers' self-modeling as a means of self-expression.Design/methodology/approachEight focus groups were conducted for 64 Hong Kong young fashion readers. Respondents were asked about their opinion on the fashion blogs, their preference toward bloggers' self-modeling phenomenon, and how they compare themselves with the self-modeling fashion bloggers.FindingsResults indicate that a tendency of social comparison occurred as readers indicated preference toward fashion bloggers who perform as self-modeling image producers, this supports the notion of social comparison that human nature tends to compare with others similar to themselves. This finding also suggests the critical awareness of young fashion readers, in which an ideal beauty is perceived as a successful result from a calculated visual creation, namely “the creative self”.Research limitations/implicationsThis study focus on a Hong Kong setting with Instagram as the key communication platform; future research would be benefited from a wider scope of study from an international perspective.Practical implicationsThis paper provides practical insight for fashion brands' strategic planners on how the fashion blogging works as a new genre of fashion communication. By understanding the fashion readers' preference, strategic planners could develop appropriate marketing communication strategy in response to the new trend of readers engaging in visual creative production for fashion.Originality/valueThis study reveals a new perspective in interpreting social comparison behavior for the fashion readers in the digital culture, whereas the targeted comparison attribute changed from ideal beauty to the creative self. This finding contributes to the discourse of academic theories in social media, social comparison and fashion communication.

Peran Sosial Media dalam Perkembangan Pemasaran Digital : A Systematic Literature Review

“…Dalam pemasaran di dunia mode atau fashion, media sosial Instagram juga berperan dalam memahami digital komunikasi visual dimana komunikasi tradisional mengandalkan media cetak untuk menyampaikan berita fashion satu arah dan tentang produk, tren, dan gaya. Dengan adanya media sosial, salah satunya Instagram, perencana strategis merek fashion perlu mengembangkan strategi berkomunikasi dalam budaya digital [14], salah satunya melalui fashion blogger di Instagram. Penelitian yang dilakukan oleh Athena Choi [14] di Hongkong menjelaskan teori tentang bagaimana sistem komunikasi fashion bekerja di era digital.…”

Systematic Literature Review: Peran Media Sosial Instagram Terhadap Perkembangan Digital Marketing

“…Dalam pemasaran di dunia mode atau fashion, media sosial Instagram juga berperan dalam memahami digital komunikasi visual dimana komunikasi tradisional mengandalkan media cetak untuk menyampaikan berita fashion satu arah dan tentang produk, tren, dan gaya. Dengan adanya media sosial, salah satunya Instagram, perencana strategis merek fashion perlu mengembangkan strategi berkomunikasi dalam budaya digital (Choi, 2020), salah satunya melalui fashion blogger di Instagram. Penelitian yang dilakukan oleh Athena Choi (Choi, 2020) di Hongkong menjelaskan teori tentang bagaimana sistem komunikasi fashion bekerja di era digital.…”

“…Dengan adanya media sosial, salah satunya Instagram, perencana strategis merek fashion perlu mengembangkan strategi berkomunikasi dalam budaya digital (Choi, 2020), salah satunya melalui fashion blogger di Instagram. Penelitian yang dilakukan oleh Athena Choi (Choi, 2020) di Hongkong menjelaskan teori tentang bagaimana sistem komunikasi fashion bekerja di era digital. Adanya perbandingan sosial diantara pengguna Instagram menjadi pendorong utama para pecinta fashion muda terus-menerus mencari inspirasi dari para fashion blogger yang banyak ditemukan di Instagram.…”

Fashion bloggers' discourse on brands under corporate crisis: a netnographic research in Portugal

“…Electronic word-of-mouth derived from fashion bloggers-generated content has become highly important for fashion marketing (Kulmala et al , 2013) due to these influencers' high credibility (Pihl and Sandström, 2013) and their impact on attitudes and purchase intentions (Esteban-Santos et al , 2018). Fashion bloggers’ opinions to consumers are massively followed via the power of social comparison and fashion leadership (Bertrandias and Goldsmith, 2006; Choi, 2020), either through posts or other readers' comments (Kulmala et al , 2013). Fashion bloggers provide a deep knowledge about that specific product area and become a source of inspiration for consumers by helping them to make fashion purchase decisions (Quelhas-Brito et al , 2020).…”