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The Fashion Celebrity, the Fashion Celebrity Marketer and the Fashion Consumer

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The Fashion Celebrity, the Fashion Celebrity Marketer and the Fashion Consumer A Human Fashion Brand Model to Define Critical Symbiotic Relationships for Celebrity Fashion Emulation. Submitted as a partial requirement of the requirement of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Fiqua Iqbal Supervisor: Professor Angela Lee School of The Built Environment The University of Salford. Chapter 1 - Introduction ABSTRACT The internet and widespread use of Web 2.0 technologies such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, are changing and shaping the way celebrities communicate their fashions to their fans. This is because it facilitates a more direct connection with celebrities. Celebrities are used as a reference point for entertainment to fill a gap or numerous gaps in individuals’ and consumers’ lives (Rojek, 2001). Why individuals feel the need to look for inspiration from celebrities and their styles to activate, validate, fulfil their expectations, create feelings and experiences is important for marketers to understand. From an industry perspective there is real revenue in the sales of their celebrity copy ready to wear derivations and mass market clothing. The meanings and attachments of celebrities and their fashions can significantly shape identity development of consumers and many theorists believe these attachments foster the transition into adulthood, in much the same way that relationships with peers do. Preceding celebrity research has involved using the “celebrity as an endorser for another brand's product… rather than understanding the celebrity brand itself” (Moulard, Garrity, & Rice, 2015). This investigation explores the current context of literature in celebrity fashion marketing and examines the celebrity and their effectiveness in endorsing and promoting fashions as a coercive force in shaping the identity of fashion consumers. There are three stakeholder groups involved in celebrity fashion and emulation which are termed symbionts by the researcher. Namely, the fashion celebrity, the fashion celebrity marketer and the fashion consumer. The interrelationship of these three stakeholders is investigated in the research and a ‘Human Fashion Brand Model’ is developed to define critical symbiotic relationships for celebrity emulation. Based on the examination of the ‘Human Fashion Brand Model’, the research presented the research aim and objectives and provided an outline of how the ‘Human Fashion Brand Model’ evolved and was developed. The study presents valuable results and insights and a research methodology is used to assist in the model development which demonstrates the key findings gathered from literature reviews and the use of semi- structured interviews by the assimilating of theory into one model to theory build and demonstrate the varying complexities between the symbionts which describe best practice theories and constructs. The need for a ‘Human Fashion Brand Model’ is pertinent because there is an enhanced growth in the use of social media by celebrities to communicate their fashions without a - 1 Chapter 1 - Introduction clear understanding and monitoring of their positioning, capability /maturity, the impact this has and the measuring of the impact. It analyses existing models and how these impact on the fashion consumer-self, on the attachments that individuals place on celebrities as opinion leaders and their fashions. The ‘Human Fashion Brand Model’ is envisaged to be a guide for anyone interested in celebrity fashion marketing and can be further adaptable to any gender, age group, country, campaign location, target customer, religion or culture. The model’s workability and efficiency in the field is validated and the final chapter summarises the entire research and provides recommendations for future research. - 2 Chapter 1 - Introduction ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS “All Praise Belongs to The Lord of The Worlds and The Master of The Universe”. Thank you for blessing me and allowing me to fulfil my dream. This work is dedicated to my mother (Ami) who always believed in me and supported me throughout this journey in every possible way. I couldn’t have done it without you. You always said that education is power and 100% encouraged me to follow my dreams, visions and goals. I thank you for allowing my brain to have the freedom to explore and thrive creativity. My girls, this is also for you - you probably hadn’t realised what I have been doing all this time when mama had the laptop open and was working until late at night and again in the early hours of the morning. I too want you to believe that you can achieve your dreams with hard work and determination. The research is also dedicated to my brother who sadly passed away during it and would have been happy and proud. I would like to say a huge thanks from the bottom of my heart to my supervisor Professor Angela Lee to whom I am indebted to and without which, this research could never have been possible and what it is today. Words cannot express how I feel. I still remember the first day we met and how the ideas started to flow and I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for believing in me, your time, patience, continuous support, expert advice, guidance, motivation, allowing me to evolve, your inspiration and belief. My sincere thanks to my sister J who allowed me to escape into a celebrity world which inspired this research; where I became surrounded by celebrities that were full of fashion, glamour, and colour. Finally, thanks to my colleagues in the celebrity fashion industry, the celebrities/ fashion designers and interviewees who came forward to assist me in this research and gave me feedback and encouragement along the way and lastly my PhD friends, you were there through the ups and some downs. I now look forward to what the next chapter of life holds. - 3 Chapter 1 - Introduction ABBREVIATIONS CMM Capability Maturity Model DBI David Brown Index. DIT Diffusion of innovations theory. FIFA International Federation of Association Football. FRED Familiarity, Relevance, Esteem and Differentiation. HFBM ‘Human Fashion Brand Model’. MERCH Merchandise. MP Member of Parliament. TAM Technology acceptance model. TPB Theory of planned behaviour. TRA Theory of reasoned action. Web 2.0 Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. - 4 Chapter 1 - Introduction Table of Contents ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................... 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................. 3 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................... 16 1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 16 1.1 RESEARCH BACKGROUND & CONTEXT ........................................................ 17 1.1.2 THE FASHION CELEBRITY .......................................................................... 21 1.1.3 THE FASHION CELEBRITY MARKETER ....................................................... 25 1.1.4 THE FASHION CONSUMER ......................................................................... 26 1.2 RESEARCH NEED AND FOCUS ....................................................................... 30 1.3. RESEARCH AIM ........................................................................................... 31 1.4 RESEARCH GAP AND CONTRIBUTION ........................................................... 33 1.5 RESEARCH DESIGN ....................................................................................... 34 1.6 THESIS OUTLINE ........................................................................................... 37 1.8 SUMMARY .................................................................................................... 38 CHAPTER 2: ....................................................................................................... 39 LITERATURE REVIEW: THE FASHION CELEBRITY ............................ 39 2.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 39 2.2 WHY USE CELEBRITIES? .............................................................................. 40 2.2.1 CELEBRITY DEFINITIONS ........................................................................... 43 2.3 THE HISTORY OF THE CELEBRITY AND THEIR FASHIONS: ............................. 46 2.3.1 CLASSIFICATIONS OF THE CELEBRITY ....................................................... 49 2.3.2.1 ROJEK’S CLASSIFICATION....................................................................... 49 2.3.2.2 A TO D/Z LIST / ULMER SCALE: .............................................................. 51 2.3.2.3 REALITY TV ........................................................................................... 53 2.3.2.4 THE DAVID BROWN INDEX ..................................................................... 54 2.3.2.5 REVIEW OF CELEBRITY DEFINITIONS ..................................................... 55 2.4 FASHION AND THE CELEBRITY...................................................................... 57 2.4.1 MARKET LEVELS OF FASHION BRANDS ..................................................... 58 2.5 USING CELEBRITIES AS FASHION BRANDS .................................................... 62 - 5 Chapter 1 - Introduction 2.5.1 THE INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CELEBRITY AND THE FASHION CONSUMER ......................................................................................................... 65 2.5.2.1 KIM KARDASHIAN-WEST ....................................................................... 68
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