The fashion blogosphere: Success from the readers' perspective

The role of blogs and bloggers as conduits of fashion information has strengthened through their growing popularity with fashion consumers. Convenience has been identified as a key reason why fashion consumers use the Internet and social media, enabling them to quickly and easily find trend information, new products and retailer discounts. While research into blogs and blogging is growing, little is given of how blog readers perceive and merit the success of fashion blogs. In this study, we aim to promote a better understanding of the characteristics that fashion blog readers value as contributing factors of a successful fashion blog. This is achieved through an exploration of blog readers' opinions and through the identification of key blogging trends focusing on female fashion bloggers and readers. The most significant measure of a blog's success was found to be how relevant it is to its readers, the qualities of which are revealed in this article. KEYWORDS blog fashion blogger media consumer
THE IMPORTANCE OF ELECTRONIC WORD-OF-MOUTH (EWOM) Consumers enjoy using social media networks to engage and advise others about products, services and companies, which can influence opinions and even buying behaviours. [...]