The Power of the influencer - the possibilities of using social media to develop the Namibian fashion industry
Main Article Content
Abstract
This article explores how social media can be used as a tool to develop the nascent Namibian fashion industry and encourage consumer interest. This research started from the hypothesis that a localised social media platform could be used as a tool to boost industry competitiveness as well as consumer support. The research took on a mixed methods approach where a survey was undertaken, followed by a series of interviews of local fashion industry stakeholders to gain insight into how social media could best serve Namibian fashion. Analysis of results indicates that a localised social media platform could be beneficial for the industry but it is important that such a platform not exclude opportunities of international exposure and networking. Furthermore, for such a platform to work, stakeholders in the Namibian fashion industry will have to embrace the power of influencers on social media, and the idea of ‘co-creation’ with the social media audience.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
References
Bauereis, L. (2016). The creative city in Namibia: Development potential for Windhoek? https://publikationen.uni-tuebingen.de/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10900/71829/GSWP_Creative%20Windhoek_Bauereis%2C%20Lukas.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Communicationtheoryorg. (2010). Communication Theory. https://www.communicationtheory.org/diffusion-of-innovation-theory/
Drury, G. (2008). Opinion piece: Social media: Should marketers engage and how can it be done effectively? Journal of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice, 9(3), 274-277. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/palgrave.dddmp.4350096
Durmaz, L. (2014). The role of social media in the fashion industry: How fashion blogging encourages two-way symmetrical communication. http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1081&context=joursp
Frazer, G. (2008). Used‐clothing donations and apparel production in Africa. The Economic Journal, 118(532), 1764-1784. http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/20108883.pdf?casa_token=Y4yIjvUrdcIAAAAA:ABD-0hnl9vaGEVFVC1DbJ5uyeBKA0QTYlLuV1zlULyy33hpmCNO_jkfWj_e6wnQfNuKWJuxoS6iqUCREFiYjNAhcPAQAekAxk30de7Ksh2R9UdEN7RJD
Frimpong, S. K. (2011). A comparison of effect between domestic versus foreign brands on consumer purchasing decisions in Ghana. In Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Innovation & Management, ISBN: 9787562936169. http://www4.pucsp.br/icim/ingles/downloads/papers_2011/part_3/part_3_proc_16.pdf
Gul, M. S., & Shahzad, H. (2014). The relationship of social media with fashion consciousness and consumer buying behavior. Journal of Management Info, 2(1). http://jmi.readersinsight.net/index.php/jmi/article/download/4/xml_1
Hansen, K. T. (2004). The world in dress: Anthropological perspectives on clothing, fashion, and culture. Annual Review of Anthropology, 33, 369-392. http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/25064858.pdf?casa_token=pUZzSLx0Tg8AAAAA:1CtETPJTe3a8foOTc3E1JvMVFRzSW8db0IqbPlf1TX9NwY3BA4yv-e6k-hhygVvIUUXy4ykGZXZOKNJ2Jw4CLgsvuEK_3bu8zM42gUjQap9AIonjlpdt
Huang, L., Hudson, S., Roth, M. S., & Madden, T. J. (2016). The influence of social media interactions on consumer–brand relationships: A three-country study of brand perceptions and marketing behaviors. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 33(1), 27-41. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/28a4/22c954c5b81d1c1b358b4cbe26f10811c949.pdf
Ibrahim, A., Ghazali, Z., & Zakaria, Z. (2011). The influence of socialization agents on fashion consciousness. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2(14). http://www.ijbssnet.com/journals/Vol._2_No._14%3B_July_2011/15.pdf
Jennings, H., & Ude, I. (2011). New African Fashion. Prestel. https://prestelpublishing.randomhouse.de/leseprobe/New-African-Fashion-US-Version-/leseprobe_9783791345796.pdf
Kaminski, J. (2011). Diffusion of innovation theory. Canadian Journal of Nursing Informatics, 6(2), 1-6. http://cjni.net/journal/?p=1444
Kim, A. J., & Ko, E. (2012). Do social media marketing activities enhance customer equity? An empirical study of luxury fashion brand. Journal of Business Research, 65(10), 1480-1486. http://hamkarfile.ir/up/1650.pdf
Oberhofer, M. A. (2012). Fashioning African cities: The case of Johannesburg, Lagos and Douala. Streetnotes, 20(01). https://cloudfront.escholarship.org/dist/prd/content/qt4dv2g2n9/qt4dv2g2n9.pdf
Rantisi, N. M. (2011). The prospects and perils of creating a viable fashion identity. Fashion Theory, 15(2), 259-266.
Rocamora, A. (2012). Hypertextuality and remediation in the fashion media: The case of fashion blogs. Journalism Practice, 6(1), 92-106. http://kenanaonline.com/files/0081/81971/HYPERTEXTUALITY%20AND%20REMEDIATION%20IN.pdf
Rogers, E. M. (2010). Diffusion of Innovations. Simon and Schuster.
Rovine, V. L. (2006). African fashion design: global networks and local styles. In Africultures. com. August, 2. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Anja_Christinck/publication/225616414_Farmers_and_researchers_How_can_collaborative_advantages_be_created_in_participatory_research_and_technology_development/links/00b4953a92931a6fae000000/Farmers-and-researchers-How-can-collaborative-advantages-be-created-in-participatory-research-and-technology-development.pdf#page=37
Shephard, A., Pookulangara, S., Kinley, T. R., & Josiam, B. M. (2016). Media influence, fashion, and shopping: A gender perspective. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 20(1), 4-18. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Bharath_Josiam/publication/301826030_Media_influence_fashion_and_shopping_a_gender_perspective/links/5a1c89d2a6fdcc0af32659f3/Media-influence-fashion-and-shopping-a-gender-perspective.pdf
Utwentenl. (2018). Universiteit Twente. https://www.utwente.nl/en/bms/communication-theories/sorted-by-cluster/Communication and Information Technology/Diffusion_of_Innovations_Theory/
Wadell, A. (2016). Redifining fashion capital(s) contemporary Ghanaian and Nigerian Fashion [Master's thesis, Ryerson University]. https://mlc.ryerson.ca/assets/MRP%20Proposal%20(Waddell)_web.pdf
Wolny, J., & Mueller, C. (2013). Analysis of fashion consumers’ motives to engage in electronic word-of-mouth communication through social media platforms. Journal of Marketing Management, 29(5-6), 562-583. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0267257X.2013.77832