Impact of social media on the growth of the fashion industry in Dissertation

Impact of social media on the growth of the fashion industry in Nigeria - Dissertation Example This group of consumers prefers to use Facebook only (55%), and only 27% have Twitter account, while 18% of respondents use both social media tools. The results demonstrated that the local fashion brands have not as strong and effective marketing strategies in terms of social media usage. Also, the research has shown that 41% of respondents do always review social media pages of fashion brands for discounts, while 23% of respondents prefer to read reviews before shopping for clothes online or even before going to the fashion store. However, according to the study carried out by the researcher where he has been analyzing the level of activity of Nigerian and UK-based Nigerian fashion brands at social networking platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, it has been found out that the majority of 45 Nigerian fashion brands did not use full potential of the social media opportunities. The research has also shown that some of the Nigerian fashion brands in addition to Facebook and Twitter d o use other social media platforms to interact with their customers, followers, fans and subscribers. These sources included fashion brands blogs, Tumblr, Youtube, Pininterest, Instagram, Ijaw girl, and even LinkdIn. Based on the result of the findings, it was recommended that the Nigerian fashion brands and retailers ought to adopt experience of international fashion brands and focus their digital marketing strategy on the following key social media areas: personalized shopping experience, user-generated content, strategic use of discounts, focus on niche communities, and interaction through mobile applications. Key words: Social media, fashion industry, consumer behaviour, Nigeria Introduction â€Å"Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months† – this ironic and brave definition of fashion belongs to famous Oscar Wild. If seriously, Feldenkreis et al (2005) describe the basics of the fashion business as a set of activities, i ncluding: design and creation of a line; sampling process with drawing the design, picking materials, designing graphics, embroidery and other components if needed; preparation of the blueprint of the garment from size to all measurements; and demonstration of it to the fashion industry. Usually, this process takes one year after which new fashion models would be available for retail (Feldenkreis et al. 2005). However, with the increasing use of social media globally this process goes through the various changes and provides both fashion producers/distributors and fashion consumers with new opportunities. Various social networks, blogging, video blogging, podcasting - all are the social media tools used to empower and enable conversations digitally (Brogan, 2010). More detailed description of what the social media was described by Poynter (2010, p. 182), who listed such examples of it: blogging, micro-blogging (e.g. Twitter), social networking (e.g. Facebook, Mixi, Cyworld), Wikis ( e.g. Wickipedia, the collaborative encyclopedia), social bookmarking (e.g. Delicious and Digg), photosharing (e.g. Flickr), voice networking (e.g. Skype), video sharing (e.g. YouTube), music