Fashion bloggers vs. young women: an overlapped relationship controlled by electronic word of mouth

Adel, Noha

doi:10.21608/jkom.2023.304793

Fashion bloggers vs. young women: an overlapped relationship controlled by electronic word of mouth

Author

Noha Adel

Faculty of Mass Communication, Menoufia University, Egypt

10.21608/jkom.2023.304793

Abstract

Social media has given rise to fashion blogging that has become popular in marketing. Fashion bloggers, who have developed a strong online presence, have become of interest to many brands and companies (e.g., Nike, Adidas, Calvin Klein, and Burberry), which seek unconventional promotion of their products. One of the target audiences of fashion bloggers is young women, especially those interested in, or even obsessed with, fashion. Based on the electronic word of mouth (e-WOM), this paper investigates how young women respond to fashion bloggers’ opinions about, and appearance while using, products. The empirical data were collected through 15 focus groups (including 75 participants) conducted on Egyptian young women (aged between 18–35 years), who follow fashion bloggers’ pages on social media websites, such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. The analysis showed four main categories of influences of fashion bloggers, who underpin a magical role in attracting young women: (1) the lack of self confidence among young women; (2) the increase of young women’s fashion learning and imitation of bloggers’ styles; (3) the growth of purchase intention as a result of liking products and desiring to appear feminine; and (4) the emergence of new standards of beauty and femininity among.

Keywords

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