Fashion bloggers: communication tools for the fashion industry

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate fashion blogs’ influence on Spanish Millennials’ buying behaviour. Design/methodology/approach – This research is quantitative in nature, utilising a mono method consisting of structured self-administered questionnaires. Data were exported to IBM...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Esteban Santos, Laura, García-Medina, Irene, Drylie Carey, Lindsey, Bellido-Pérez, Elena
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2018
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Sevilla (US)
Repositorio:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
OAI Identifier:oai:idus.us.es:11441/167331
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/11441/167331
https://doi.org/10.1108/JFMM-10-2017-0101
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Fashion
Communication
Millennials
Spain
Blog
Fashion blogger
Influencers
Buying behaviour
Descripción
Sumario:Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate fashion blogs’ influence on Spanish Millennials’ buying behaviour. Design/methodology/approach – This research is quantitative in nature, utilising a mono method consisting of structured self-administered questionnaires. Data were exported to IBM SPSS Statistics, where different types of analyses were combined - such as frequencies, means, hypothesis testing analyses, Principal Components Analysis (PCA) or K-means cluster. Findings – Findings show that the most important motivations to follow a fashion blog are entertainment and information seeking. Besides, consumers’ attitudes seem to be influenced by how consumers assess credibility, which is determined by trustworthiness, para-social interaction (PSI), expertise and message credibility. Finally, after showing covert and overt marketing posts, both trustworthiness and PSI were lower than before, identifying PSI as a possible moderator in these cases. Research limitations/implications – The main limitation of this study is the sample size, which does not make it possible to generalise conclusions. Practical implications – From this research, it can be said that, due to the importance of establishing a strong relationship with the public, bloggers should try to connect with readers on an emotional level, and brands need to select bloggers very carefully. Originality/value – This paper reveals Millennials’ attitudes whilst they are visiting a fashion blog and the influence that these attitudes can exercise on their purchase intention.