Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
media forums in specific areas of interest constantly generate content from
participants. These active blogs and social networks are those that are led
by influencers and opinion leaders who have the clout to change the percep-
tions of their audience worldwide. These influencers can affect the way the
public perceive luxury brands and products and are important not only to be
watched, but also to enable the spread of a brand's true values through feed-
ing them with real and up-to-date information and enabling them to reach a
wider audience. The influencers could come from any background and gen-
eration. A example is the fashion blog Style Rookie, written by 13-year-old
Tavi Gevinson, who has become somewhat of a darling in the fashion world.
4. The social web provides an intersection between online communica-
tions and commerce. One of the key benefits of the social web is that it
is a medium that has circumvented the conventional approach of several
independent aspects of e-business like e-communications, e-commerce
and e-marketing. The social web integrates multiple e-functions on a sin-
gle platform and provides varied benefits. For example, numerous luxury
e-retail websites like Brownsfashion, Net-A-Porter and My Wardrobe have
integrated social web elements suitable for both e-communications and
e-commerce like blogs, videos, discussion forums and other interactive plat-
forms in their e-Boutiques to enable interaction and exchanges in the shop-
ping environment. These have been done in the form of editorial e-retail that
provides rich content, entertainment, interactivity as well as commerce. This
level of participation promotes a sense of belonging and enhances affinity
between the shoppers and the website while increasing purchase probabil-
ity. As earlier indicated, online consumers trust fellow community members
and shoppers more than the brands and journalists, and therefore shopping
blogs and forums are likely to generate more sales than information coming
from the brands or the e-retail websites and the press.
5. The social web helps to monitor consumer psychology, mind-set evolution
and value-shifts in response to societal evolution. This is particularly crucial
in the current context of globalization, culture convergence, market expan-
sion, global warming, digital communications and global economic slow-
down. The luxury industry is undergoing an important revolution as a result
of these factors and their impact on the sector will be both quantitative, in
terms of financial performance, and qualitative, in terms of the changes in
consumer psychology. The social web is one of the most important media for
understanding the impact of all these changes in the psychological make-up
of consumers. Because people say what they think, literally, on social net-
works and blogs, it is quite easy to follow their thought processes through
tracking the relevant dialogues and conversations.
6. The social web helps to improve client relations. As a medium that enables
the understanding of the desires, interests, attitudes, needs and expecta-
tions of consumers, the social web leads to enhanced relations with clients.
When consumers are better understood, then it is easier for luxury brands to
