Ivan Coste-Manière

Can fashion blogs function as a marketing tool to influence consumer behavior? Evidence from Norway

Through the introduction of Web 2.0, the blogging phenomenon has become an important marketing channel, as it has enabled a new way of communicating and sharing information through its user-generated content. Today the largest segment of the blogosphere consists of fashion blogs, i.e. blogs that focus on fashion brands, fashion products, street style, and personal style. In recent years companies have begun to realize the benefits of using blogs as a marketing tool, as they are a targeted and inexpensive way to get publicity and reach potential consumers. This research aims to study whether fashion blogs can function as a marketing tool to influence consumer behavior, limited to the Norwegian fashion blog arena. The study is based on an exploitative research design as there is little existing research on the subject. We have chosen to explore the subject from three different perspectives: those of the readers, the fashion blogs, and the companies involved in fashion blog marketing. In detail, the study looks at the influential power of fashion blogs in context with their strength as a communication tool for marketing products and brands. The results of the study clearly indicate that blog advertisements provide companies with a unique opportunity for market communication, whereby aspects related to credibility and influence can be viewed as incomparable to those involved in traditional advertisement. Through the study one can conclude that fashion blogs can indeed affect consumer behavior, as they have a unique ability to create a strong relationship between the blog and its readers, resulting in the advertisement being viewed in a personal and non-intrusive way.

Luxury strategy in action

The evolution of the luxury market: stairway to heaven? Luxury Business: Multinational Organizations and Global Specializations Finance Survival Guide: Value Creation and Pina Coladas The PIER framework of Luxury Innovation Retailing in the luxury industry Internet, Social Media and Luxury Strategy Branding Principles in the Luxury Industry Brand Extensions in the Luxury Industry Sustainable Development in the Luxury Industry: Beyond the Apparent Oxymoron

Brand Building: Luxury Leather Goods Brands Anatomized

Abstract Brand building is central to achieving differentiation in most economic sectors. This is paramount for luxury goods where customers buy a symbol as much as a product. The brand and its image are key factors for competitive advantage and brand building is a central competence for luxury goods companies. This study aims to explore brand building of traditional luxury leather goods brands. A multiple case study of Delvaux, Bottega Veneta, Hermès and Loewe allows us to replicate and extend Fionda and Moore’s (2009) findings about luxury fashion brands. Results show that the nine dimensions identified by these authors also apply to these brands. Moreover, five additional sub-dimensions are uncovered-website, e-shop, link with art, customization and workshop-and these should be taken into account in the brand building process. These exploratory results provide insights to managers for their on-going efforts to keep their brands competitive.

Asymmetry in Multi-Cultural Luxury Communication: A Comparative Analysis on Luxury Brand Communication in India and China

Abstract A luxury brand strongly differentiates itself from the universe of classic consumption goods, resulting in a different way of communication than just “making sales”. A basic idea starts from making people dream and aspire. In luxury one applies the communication strategy in order to create a dream and to recharge a brand’s value, not just in order to sell (Kapferer and Bastien, 2009). Through previous researches in the past, scholars have identified a number of concepts which influence consumer’s purchase intention, perceived values and attitudes towards luxury brands.Those findings contribute to understanding in general about individuals’ motives and pattern of luxury consumption. Whereas, most of the studies were conducted in developed nations regardless of emerging markets like China. (Wiedmann et al., 2007; Wang et al., 2010, 2011). The luxury and fashion brands are focusing on the penetration in the emerging markets and are creating a large consumer base with dependence on communication strategy but in the long term this has a negative affect since it should be critical for them to understand what consumer values trigger the purchase of their brands and why? Theoretical backdrop in the past has neither been much established between the asymmetry of brand communication in the developed and developing countries nor between the cognitive responses of consumers and the brand identity. As such, developing a deeper understanding about the influence of implemented strategies upon brand identities in consumer buying patterns is relevant key in determining how such practices can confer and be followed in developed and developing economies. Giving a competitive advantage on all adopting firms or the ones that intend to embed and capitalize on their business practices. This research is focused on the asymmetry in multicultural luxury communication but it is centralized around the comparative analysis of luxury communication between India and China with a minor focus on France. France for long has been considered the origin of luxury and fashion industry and it sets as a suitable example for this research. France is a significant market for luxury brands and is prevalent since years due to the heritage and exclusive artisan values imparted in the brand image targeted at the consumers who are more like connoisseurs and are aware of the product they are considering luxury. Ethical and moral considerations impact the purchase of luxury products. Communication can be portraying bling bling in some cultures and in some it could be under the jurisdiction of censorship. Sometimes, it’s a trend which is followed by the “peer feedback” or the “word of mouth”. But sometimes there are the direct communicative tools used by the brands through magazines, billboard, internet and social media that have a strong impact on the mindset. The objectives of this research were achieved through adoption of two perspectives simultaneously – of the communication strategies adopted by the luxury brands and of the customer. Countries are compared by various dimensional scales and culture can be quantified but also it could be correlated with different aspects of consumption. This research has tried to answer the questions like -how do luxury brands influence the luxury consumers based on multicultural paradigms? What are the major consumer motivations in India, China and France for buying a luxury product? Which brands are perceived as luxury, where and why? What are the converging and diverging factors that determine the modes of communication implemented? The multifaceted dimensions and concepts involved in cross-cultural communication like cognitive response theory, mimetic desire, celebrity influences on potential consumers of the luxury and fashion brands are well studied in this research through the survey and the in depth interview. The questionnaire was designed considering the participant’s responses with their motivational factors, places of purchasing, impact of celebrity endorsements, attractiveness and expertise on the brand communications adopted in their country. Due to the lack of extensive secondary data present on the communication strategies for China the focused group interviews and a personal interview are considered as the major approaches for collecting the data. It provided the benchmark to allow for various forms of imperfect markets in simulation to explain the probable outcomes of the luxury brand communication in China. The literature review comprises of the elements, concepts and theories related to the consumer behavior, the modes of communications adopted and how they impact the countries. The secondary data and the relation with Hofstede’s five dimensional cultural differences has been related to the findings and observations made with the Primary data for China, India and France. This method is based on the originality and is direct. We have drawn and inference through this study that the luxury brands can be more proactive and more cultural conscious when entering huge multicultural economy like India and China which must not be hindered with the traditional communication process of portraying the brand identity to the connoisseur category and thus prevent value shifts amongst the brand positioning.With the lesser dependency on making a brand fall prey to a trend it should strategically be identified as market driving than the market driven force. This new step could serve as the launch pad in increasing the brand value catering to the aspirational and admirational consumers. Confirming the interest of the potential consumers to consolidate and support a brand’s positioning as luxury. Furthermore, diverging the impact from “conspicuous consumption” to “brand loyalty”. The structure of this paper constitutes the introduction of the concepts involved in the study, research methodology, discussion and conclusion with the merger of solutions for managerial implications.

The concept of creative collaboration applied to the fashion industry

Co-branding is an interesting approach to building differentiation and reputation. In the fashion industry, one well-known example of co-branding is the creative collaboration between fashion designers and mass-market retailers. This paper aims to explore this specific example of co-branding. It first introduces the concept of co-branding and presents its application by the Swedish retailer H&M. An exploratory study with a convenience sample confirms the interest of the approach. Further analysis of the contrasting results of H&Ms collaborations with Lanvin and Sonia Rykiel shows that if a co-branding strategy is well managed by integrating compatible elements between two brands – visions, values and wills, to create real synergies – it presents an interesting path towards creating sustainable brand differentiation.

Fast Fashion and Sustainable Consumption

Summer dresses in January and winter coats in July, fast fashion have never been so fast! A world globalization trend to ever changing the fashion industry, it made global brands to adopt a seasonless cycle of designing clothes and relocating manufacturing activities at underdeveloped countries in a way to support the cost of mass production, but the transition went with ignoring the working conditions and the environmental costs. Fast fashion led to several disasters that have had a huge impact on planet earth and the overall humanity, it also led to a massive consumption along with unsustainable demand, this is not the extraordinary consumption of ordinary people but rather the ordinary and fast consumption of ordinary people if we want to divert the quote of Bernard Dubois, professor at HEC, in “The Art of Marketing”. Fast fashion is today subject to unsustainable progress that is frustrating an entire economy with a big shift in consumers’ behavior, and this fact raised the debate around the problem of sustainability in the apparel industry. So, it is interesting to see how sustainability may generate a new perspective to the fashion industry, by bringing not only the most innovative strategies and technologies into the production process, but also the most genuine ideas to satisfy the need of fashionable customers, that are not interested anymore in only acquiring the latest trends, but also involved in promoting a more sustainable fashion to a point of spreading a new mindset for pushing consumption toward consciousness, and especially to forge an ethical appeal for brands, it goes to say that the problems behind sustainability brought a radical change to the fashion industry and it may play to its advantage for having different concepts and resourceful solutions. So, can fast fashion be sustainable?

Innovation and Sustainability in the Luxury Fashion and Fabrics Industry

The global textile and fashion industries represent one of the most polluting and waste-generating sectors in the world. The ecological impact is seen through the different steps of its product’s life cycle: “from fibre growth and manufacturing, dyeing and printing, transportation to stores and selling, to end of the garment life disposal” (Hill and Lee in Young generation Y consumers’ perceptions of sustainability in the apparel industry, 2012). Kaye (Textile recycling innovation challenges clothing industry, 2011) in his article (available at theguardian.com) displays very clearly the current ecological situation, highlighting the fabrics and fashion industries’ role. He explains that fashion becomes more and more affordable these recent years, thanks to big branches such as HM to draw future trends and possible solutions in these sectors. In order to do so, the study will also look at market studies to understand the country’s economic reactions to these new markets. A special focus is given to the following: (1) the importance of sourcing, (2) the retailers point of view, (3) the customers point of view, (4) the Y Generation concerns, (5) different sustainable organizations, (6) COP 21 encouragements, (7) the Smart textiles solutions, (8) two kind of market examples, (9) the future of sustainability in the luxury fashion and fabrics industries, (10) the limit of the sustainable model, (11) Sustainable innovation examples.

Detoxifying Luxury and Fashion Industry: Case of Market Driving Brands

The current chapter encompasses the distinction between market driving and market driven brands in the sustainable luxury and fashion industry. In particular, how brands are detoxifying their manufacturing, supply chain distribution and market along with the methods they have adapted to differentiate themselves in this process. In the long run, how these methods economically impact the brands and consequences followed from the consumer’s perspectives are explored. Stella McCartney published for the first time its environmental activity statement for the last three years of the brand in 2016. The fashion designer is also famous for her commitment to sustainability and her environmental friendly creations. Sustainability and detox are at the heart of debates within modern society and represent the main stake for the future, the organization of COP 21 in 2015 in Paris being one of the latest examples. However, when we talk about luxury industry, especially fashion, sustainability appears to be difficult to associate to this sector. Indeed, luxury is representing a kind of “unfair” and fast moving consumption, with some ostentation, while ecology involves the protection of resources and durable models. But sustainability and detox are representing a tremendous opportunity for luxury fashion brands. Luxury and fashion brands’ strategies need currently, within an increasingly competitive market, to shift from such paradoxes and to capitalize on being the greatest opportunity to dodge “green washing” advocacy communication.

Luxury Toys for Men: When women will let us decide and buy on our own?

Abstract Yachts, watches, sport cars, hunting rifles, all those goods represent most of the time a hedonist purchase done by Men. Nevertheless, things have changed. Women have an important impact on the final purchase decision. Researchers demonstrated the influence of husband and wife considering the determinants of role structure such as empathy or involvement (Burns and Granbois, 1977). Hofstede showed the importance of gender differences organized through a role-separation in everyday life. However, by exploring the role of consumer, gender codes are decreasingly important. Nowadays, a product that was masculine, might be highly purchased by women, who have growing influence on the purchasing decision of their partner. Who the final decision belongs to? The findings of the paper show the strong gender influence on luxury products. Generally, this paper will deal a lot with gender stereotypes as they can be found in the customers base of luxury brands. While the luxury market targets men or women through their products and services, our research shows the influence of client’s environment on the shopping experience and behavior. This article will focus on the power of women within the decision-making process depending on the culture. Generally, when men have the power on the product in itself, women have the ability to influence the decision on particular aspects.

The Virtuous Circle: Hard Sustainable Science Versus Soft Unsustainable Science Within Marketing Functions of Fashion and Luxury Sectors and How to Prevent ‘Soylent Green’ from Happening

Not merely a business function, the view that marketing is being informed from science is increasingly gaining gravitas. However, the notion of ‘scientific marketing’ seems somewhat paradoxical and in considering marketing as a science, one enters into a deeply subjective and intricate matter. In considering this notion from a simplistic standpoint, it is clear that there are two distinct categories in which marketing falls into. Strongly influenced from marketing research, and equally from the intuitively creative proposals that arise from such research, one can deduce that scientific marketing incorporates both hard and soft sciences. However, this is where such a complex notion arises. Considering of how marketing is informed by phenomena such as culture, management and personal preference and relating this to the multitude of disciplines held by science, such as biology, psychology, neuroscience and sociology; one begins to understand what a vast and complex concept scientific marketing is. This piece seeks to analyse and clarify how marketing activities are informed by both hard and soft sciences in the light of the fashion and luxury sectors. This chapter will examine and evaluate how such complexities in scientific marketing aid and hinder this particular business function and then seeks to how the future of marketing in the fashion and luxury sectors will be informed by this scientific approach. The luxury and fashion industry caters to both sustainable and non-sustainable consumptions. In this chapter, we explain some definitions such as natural, organic, bio and synthetic. We examine what has led to the entropic syndrome from energy consumption to pollution, the real ‘umweltschutz’ has begun industry cases and interviews show the technicalities from production and consumption, enhancing some problematic elements with facts and data, dealing with problematic elements in clothing supply chain such as raw materials, water, energy, climate change, waste, chemicals emissions, disposal or biodegradation, on the one hand. On the other hand, a specific section of this chapter is analysing the industrial face of textiles and clothing, with references to the food, perfumes and cosmetics industries: industrial ecology in textiles, problematic areas and solutions. Definitely not a simple optimistic Stairway to heaven.