Role of Netnography In The Fashion Industry

Netnography is a newly coined term for closely analyzing ethnographic behavioral patterns of netizens (online audience). Netnography is a simplified research method of digital interactions. It is a modified and mordernized qualitative research technique (Kozinets, 2012). It is a type of ethnographic research based on internet-mediated communications (Baym, N. K. 1995).

Over the past decade Netnography has seen an increasing trend in Google Search as well as application in businesses. Yet there is no trace of the usage of netnography as a research method in the Fashion Industry (Xharavina, Kapoulas and Miaoulis, 2019).

Netizens are people using the internet for social interactions (Hauben and Hauben, 1998). 4.6 Billion globally are active on the internet population out of which 4.2 Billion people are active social media users (Internet users in the world 2021 | Statista, 2021). Social media is a very extensively used tool by fashion brands to influence buying as well as increase brand awareness (How Fashion Brands Engage on Social Media: A Netnography Approach, 2021). Netnography will help the Fashion Industry identify popular behavioral patterns with respect to brand consumption as well as provide insights for future ventures.

What are the key factors of Netnography?

Digital Focus: Netnographic analysis focuses on online communities and social media generations. With an increase in worldwide internet penetration to about 50% of total global population (Internet users in the world 2021 | Statista, 2021); it is important to focus on digital communities to ensure brand awareness and business growth.

Data Efficiency: As netnography downloads data directly from online communities, portals, or tools; it is termed for efficient and credible compared to traditional manual methods of research data sources.

Focus Groups: As nethography focuses on online communities, the groups or target audience for research can be further filtered to sub-groups for more detailed/in-dept analysis. Digital communities can be categorized basis age, location, internet usage, social channels, etc. This makes it easier for listing exclusive insights.

Data Analysis: Digital data is analyzed keeping social implementations in mind. Online data is indexed and categorized keeping cultural parameters in mind. (Kozinets  1998)

Types of Netnography

There are four types of netnography (Kozinets, R. V. 2015)-

1.       Digital-

Focusing on social data that interlinks online statistics and local/cultural behavioral patterns.

2.       Humanist-

3.       Auto-

It is a part of auto-ethnography using technological communication methods as well as requires self evaluation of parameters. The research also relies on personal opinions/experiences.

4.       Symbolic-

Forms groups or communities based on social and online interactions. This type of research identifies personas based on similar traits and then provides insights for intent-driven business targeting.

Phases of Netnography:

Netnography is considered less intrusive as it relies on observations of naturalistic social/online interactions. It doesn’t require induced research setting or questionnaires for data collection. Netnography is carried out in procedural phases for optimum results. Following are the major phases of netnographic research-

1. Introspection- Identifying research agenda based on business objectives
2. Investigation- Framing research questions keeping netizens in mind
3. Informational- Drafting ethical outlines and processes
4. Inspection- Online research and data collection using digital resources such as websites, pdfs, user generated content, chat data, etc.
5. Indexing- Segregation and labelling of collected data
6. Interpretation- Connection of collected data to answer research questions
7. Iteration- Framing patterns, insights for question saturation
8. Instantiation- Creating a relevant representation of data to fit one of four types (digital, auto, humanist, symbolic, or auto)

Why must Fashion Industry prioritize Netnography?

Fashion Industry thrives on trends and consumer demand. What better way to study global popularity in retail than the internet!

Netnographical studies can help in gaining public opinion which can help in taking business decisions while creating a collection or range of products. It will also help in gaining public perspective of a new launch. Many fashion trends are inspired by retro years, netnography can retrieve digital data of product consumption and can also provide current generation’s opinion on the same. This will help the industry make informed decisions.

What Tools Fashion Industry Can Use in Netnography?

There are various tools used for data collection, visualization, categorization, and segregation (Netnography made SIMPLE | What, how and why - Tourism Teacher, 2021). With an increase in internet penetration globally, online consumer interaction and activity has increased. With the help of technology and Artificial Intelligence user specific data can be retrieved easily. Ensure personal data collection abides by the GDPR Guidelines and research ethics.

Netnography Benefits

Netnography can improve online fashion and retail industry (Xharavina, Kapoulas and Miaoulis, 2019). Weather brands seek brand awareness or brand consumption, with enough research and actionable insights retail can see boost with in-dept consumer interaction analysis.

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Keywords:

Netnography in fashion

Netnography Research

Marketing Netnography

Fashion Nethnography

Netnography Types

Netnographical Analysis

Benefits of Netnography

Tags:

#netnography #netnographyinfashion #netnographytypes #netnographyindigitalmarketing

Author: Rachael Sumitra 

 

Publishing Date: 14/07/2021

REFERENCES

Baym, N. K. (1995) The Emergence of Community in Computer-Mediated Communication, in Cybersociety, ed. Stephen G. Jones, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 138-163.

Hauben, M. and Hauben, R., 1998. Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet. First Monday, 3(7).

Kozinets, R. V. (1996) I Want To Believe: A  Netnography of The X-Philes‘  Subculture of Consumption, Association for Consumer Research Conference Presentation, October, Tuscon, AZ.

Kozinets, R. V. (1997) I Want To Believe: A  Netnography of The X-Philes‘  Subculture  of  Consumption, Advances in Consumer Research, Volume 24, ed., M. Brucks and D. J. MacInnis, Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research, 470-475.  Kozinets,  R.  V.  (1998)  On  Netnography:  Initial  Reflections  on  Consumer  Research  Investigations  of Cyberculture, in Advances in Consumer Research, Volume 25, ed., J. Alba and W. Hutchinson, Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research, 366-371.

Kozinets, R.V. (1998), “On netnography: initial reflections on consumer investigations of cyberculture”, Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 366-371.

Kozinets, R., 2012. Marketing Netnography: Prom/ot(Ulgat)ing a New Research Method. Methodological Innovations Online, 7(1), pp.37-45.

Kozinets, R. V. (2015) Netnography: Redefined. 2nd edition. London, Sage.

Statista. 2021. Internet users in the world 2021 | Statista. [online] Available at: <https://www.statista.com/statistics/617136/digital-population-worldwide/> [Accessed 13 July 2021].

Taylor & Francis. 2021. How Fashion Brands Engage on Social Media: A Netnography Approach. [online] Available at: <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10496491.2019.1557815?journalCode=wjpm20> [Accessed 15 July 2021].

Tourism Teacher. 2021. Netnography made SIMPLE | What, how and why - Tourism Teacher. [online] Available at: <https://tourismteacher.com/netnography/> [Accessed 15 July 2021].

Xharavina, N., Kapoulas, A. and Miaoulis, G., 2019. Netnography as a marketing research tool in the fashion industry in Southeast Europe. International Journal of Market Research, 62(4), pp.499-515.