Emerging Markets: High Fashion Fights Recession
People express themselves in many different ways. Simple examples of this consist of a person’s dress and appearance. People make judgments about others using a variety of techniques, many of which are based on a person’s appearance. Clothing and our appearance act as a medium of communication. The way a person dresses can affect perceived social status, project a certain type of self-image or boost a person’s self-esteem. The way a person dresses can affect their acceptance into certain societies or assist in making certain types of impact on a target audience (Holman, 1980).
A person’s sense of style begins during adolescence where young adults begin to differentiate themselves based on appearance. Terms such as the jocks, burnouts, preppies, and gothic are examples of young people being categorized based on appearance. As these young person’s transition into adulthood the branding changes to collegiate, homeless, business man/woman, blue collar, sophisticated, etc. The phrase “looks can be deceiving” illustrates how luxury and fashion can influence perception.
Companies offering luxurious fashions rely on their brand as the primary means of generating customer sales. The strategy of high quality, high price and high margins is considered a differentiation or focused strategy by which the brand carry’s the sale. This branding sends a certain type of message and retailers are relying on this message to generate abnormal profits.
Whether a company’s strategy is a low cost provider, such as Walmart, or a focused high end goods provider such as Gucci, both strategies are attempting to appeal to a target audience. Some branding strategies are predicated on low cost and h...
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...municate a certain message. However as seen in 2008, changes in market conditions affect the psychological needs of the buyers. As their needs change so does their desire to make purchases of luxury goods. This notion of putting off these types of purchases aligns with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Works Cited
Burton, N. (2012, May 24). Our hierarchy of needs why true freedom is a luxury of the mind. Psychology Today, Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/hide-and-seek/201205/our-hierarchy-needs
Cui, G., & Liu, Q. (2000). Regional market segments of china: opportunities and barriers in a big emerging market. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 17(1), 55-72.
Holman, R. H. (1980). Clothing as communication: An empirical investigation. Advances in Consumer Research, 7(1), 372-377.
Peng, M. (2014). Global strategy. (3rd ed.). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.
The branding Ms. Klein wrote about only appears to work because the idea of “choice” as defined by the brick-and-mortar retailers is an illusion. Anyone entering a department store or mall understands this quiet truth. There are many styles to choose from, it seems, b...
Fashion Models Social Distance and Social Identification in Third-Person Effects." Communication Research. vol. 29 .no. 3 (2002): p. 270-294. Print. .
Furthermore, as Marie Kondo supports, with clothing comes the confidence that a person needs to be true to who they are and to think highly of him or herself as an individual. In general, one’s style of clothing can influence favorable feelings.
Young people need more attention or acceptance from others comparing with people at other stages, as youths are experiencing a process of being adults. The formation of identity can be exemplified through fashion. Young people tend to establish their identities through the way they dress. As Hall,S (1997) stated, visible objects, like clothes may have a simple physical function, that is to cover the body and protect it from weather, however clothes also have a function which can double up as signs, which construct a meaning and carry a message. Fashion can also be a language that makes clothing possible become a self-communicative device at our disposal, plays a...
In this essay I aim to identify the needs of humans and how they have been met from the early days of humanity, right through to the present day. I will be placing a lot of emphasis on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as this is the most widely accepted model and it makes sense that humans will have progressed up this hierarchy over time, this is something I will be exploring in the essay.
Ever since their invention many centuries ago, clothes have been used as a way of communicating. The message communicated relies on a number of factors including the social background of both the communicator and the receiver, and the context in which the message is communicated. Although at times the exact message or symbolism one is trying to portray may not be clear, it is evident that clothing has long been embraced as one of the best ways to project one’s desired personal image to those around them.
In society today, the clothing that someone wears is basically a billboard for his or her personal, or family's financial situation. For children in public schools, fitting in with the popular, or most fashionable people is probably the most important thing to them. When children are preoccupied wi...
Marketing and branding, two of the most common used words in the contemporary world, is closely linked to each other without doubts, but the importance of branding to successful marketing is enquired to measure in term of the question. In fact, various people have different ideas on marketing and branding. For most of people, or customers, the two are normally combined in their minds or even equal to each other. For example, people could raise Apple as the answer for both questions of "what is good branding" and "what is successful marketing". In fact, they are two separate topics on academic, and branding is just one of the numerous marketing activities apparently. However, the perception of consumers might be a good guide to answer the question.
Consumers today continue to be fascinated by personal appearance and fashion styles. Fashion, and the way we present ourselves through clothing
Fletcher, Ben C. "What Your Clothes Might Be Saying About You." Psychology Today. Sussex Directories, Inc., 20 Apr. 2013. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. .
Clothing is used in society to show the outside world who a person is. Sennet (1978(1976):67-8) quoted by Corrigan(Corrigan 2010:163) ‘on the street one stepped into clothes that whose purpose was to make it possible for other people to act as if they knew who you were’. Clothing therefore can show the different classes of society, and who a person is, for example their religion or ethnicity. Peoples clothing is usually a reflection of their personality, they dress in a way to make the rest of the world perceive them in a certain light or how they wish to be perceived. If clothing was abolished there would be a decrease in the individuality of people, all would be perceived in the same way not how they wished. The abolishment of clothing would have an impact on the social structure of...
Fashion, psychology and the sociological perspective have long been perceived as mutually exclusive concepts. However, is there a possibility that a trinity exists in the former? To illustrate, it is evident that throughout history fashion has influenced society as a whole and has mirrored its aspects i.e. economical and sociological. Furthermore, this influence has developed to be perceived psychologically where individuals identify with fashion in the sense of translating visual information showing their personal views and attitudes. To that effect, what is fashion? Traditionally and in the literary sense, fashion is defined as ‘a popular trend, especially in styles of dress and ornament or manners of behavior’ . However,
Clothing is something that defines a person, and allows society to have an outlook on an individual’s lifestyle and beliefs. Unlike criticizing other material things like a car, a home or even something as simple as a television set, criticism of clothing is very personal. This suggests that there is a high correlation between clothing and personal identity and values. (Breward, pg.1) Clothing in a sense has the ability to communicate thought. However, similarly to art interpretations, this does not mean that any two people will perceive these visual aesthetics similarly.
The style of wardrobe totally relies on the individual who is wearing it. As a result, it guides people to their personality. In today days, a lot is heard about personality and its significance in the individual life in this world. The selection of wardrobe is as key as classification by the way of the dye of hair, tallness, skin and sex. According to the article, What Your Clothes Might Be Saying About You, wardrobe these days is a...
In conclusion, fashion will speak out a person’s social signal, people dress on designs that blend with their social class. Just as population, social activities and fashion are changing with time. Fashion has made clothing to be convinient, everything needs to be done with the least effort and spend the least time.