The impact of user-generated content in the fashion industry: A case study of SHEIN and PrettyLittleThing

Öz

The rise of online shopping has encouraged online retailers to discover new ways to ensure consumers have a positive experience when searching for information within the competitive landscape. User-generated content (UGC) can be conveyed in a variety of formats and contexts, such as reviews, photos, forum posts, testimonials, and much more (Fader & Winer, 2012). The purpose of this research is to investigate and compare SHEIN, which hosts the functionality to post UGC in the form of reviews with photos, and PrettyLittleThing, which does not allow the functionality for UGC in any form. Very limited literature explores UGC in the fashion clothing industry amongst the young, upcoming generations. To address this, a sample of 12 females aged 18 to 26-years-old participated in semi in-depth interviews to discover the impact of user-generated content on the information search stage of the consumer decision-making process. This research adds to the current UGC body of knowledge in the form of photos with reviews in the fashion industry via a case study context. The findings emphasize the positive influence UGC (in the form of reviews with photos) has on the information search stage of the consumer decision-making process.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• User-generated content
• reviews with photos
• consumer decision- making process
• information search
• online shopping

Kullanıcı tarafından oluşturulan içeriğin moda endüstrisindeki etkisi: SHEIN ve PrettyLittleThing üzerine bir vaka çalışması

Öz

Çevrimiçi alışverişin yükselişi, çevrimiçi markaları, tüketicilerin rekabet ortamında bilgi ararken olumlu bir deneyim yaşamalarını sağlamanın yeni yollarını keşfetmeye özendirmektedir. Kullanıcıların yarattığı içerikler (KYİ), tüketici yorumları, forum gönderileri, kullanıcı fotoğrafları gibi farklı biçimlerde ve bağlamlarda karşımıza çıkmaktadır (Fader & Winer, 2012). Bu araştırmanın amacı, kullanıcıların yarattığı içeriklerden biri olan fotoğraflı yorum kullanımını alışveriş sayfalarında kullanan SHEIN ile bu hizmeti tüketicilere sunmayan PrettyLittleThing’i araştırmak ve karşılaştırmaktır. Moda giyim endüstrisinde genç ve gelecek nesiller arasında kullanıcıların yarattığı içerikler üzerine yapılan arastırmalar sınırlıdır. Bu çalışmada yaşları 18 ila 26 arasında değişen 12 kadın tüketiciyle, kullanıcı tarafından yaratılan içeriğin, tüketicinin karar verme sürecindeki aşamalarından biri olan, bilgi arama üzerindeki etkisini araştırmak amacıyla derinlemesine görüşmeler gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bu araştırma, moda endüstrisinde kullanıcılar tarafından geliştirilen icerik örneklerinden biri olan fotoğraflı yorumlar literatürüne vaka çalışması ile katkıda bulunmaktadır. Bulgular, markaların sayfalarında yer alan fotoğraflı yorumların tüketici karar verme sürecinin bilgi arama aşaması üzerindeki olumlu etkisini ortaya koymaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Kullanıcı tarafından oluşturulan içerik
• fotoğraflı değerlendirmeler
• tüketici karar verme süreci
• bilgi arama
• çevrimiçi alışveriş
• User-generated content
• reviews with photos
• consumer decision- making process
• information search
• online shopping

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