CHAPTER 2

Fashion as a World of Influences

Fashion is characterized by multiple trends and products that fluctuate in time and across customers. Fashion apparel and accessories as ­public, visible products influence people’s looks and appearances. They help ­customers communicate about themselves, earn approval from their peers, or reject others’ influences. Fashion also influences people across social environments, by implying symbolic and social meaning for and among people.

Creating Symbolic Influence with Fashion

Fashion companies not only create new products but also influence customers’ appearances through their constant renewal and creation. Fashion integrates more than just nice apparel and accessories; it implies symbols and desires.

Fashion is the Creation of a ‘need’ which does not exist. There is no real ‘need,’ just a desire. (Product Manager, Women’s Fashion Brand)

In turn, fashion creates desires among customers, for new apparel, new accessories, and new looks. As Marc Jacobs notes, “we don’t need fashion to survive, we just desire it so much.” But why is fashion so important for so many people?

The answer can be found in the meanings attached to fashion items, which allow people to express and present themselves the way they choose. The constant renewal of trends and products by fashion companies creates a desire that transforms into a means of expression. According to Prada, “what you wear is how you present yourself to the world, especially today when human contacts go so fast. Fashion is instant language.”1 It also is an expression of symbols. People buy fashionable products, such as clothing, more for what they mean than for their literal utility, such that they use fashion to communicate their individual identity. A fashionable sweater is purchased not to protect against the cold but rather because it is fashionable and represents a must-have item for this season, such that wearing it makes the consumer more fashionable. Those who possess the sweater signal that they are up-to-date and communicate something about themselves, namely, that they are the ones who keep up with fashion.

Moreover, continuous changes and renewal convey the idea of youth, not just to seniors but to all fashion customers. By keeping up with trends, fashion adopters gain an image of being someone new and different. Fashion adopters, accordingly, have strong adaptation abilities, in that they are able to stay up-to-date and follow changes linked to ideas of youth. Thus, choosing a specific fashion product implies more than an apparel purchase, by establishing an identity purchase. From there, we can draw a link between symbolic consumption and individual identity: People define their identity by choosing fashion products and use their choices to signal their self-image. Such signals should communicate something special about people. For example, customers can express themselves through their clothing purchases because of the visibility associated with these items. In this process of adoption and symbol expression, fashion conveys meanings but also is not harmless, in that some people might be judged or criticized for their fashion choices. Wearing certain apparel or accessories creates a certain image, and this presented appearance may be the basis for judgments. The way people dress during the week to go to work conveys a certain image that might differ from the one transmitted through the way they dress on weekends, for example. The same person, encountered at work or at leisure, accordingly, might produce different images among peers, as conveyed through clothing choices. Some people actively play with their image by altering their fashion apparel and accessory choices to reveal particular messages through their visible clothing, according to the self they want to express.

In this context, fashion can establish a self-concept, which is defined as the perception that a person has about himself or herself. Three facets of self-concepts are prevalent:

• Ideal-self: The person I would like to be.

• Social-self: The way I think others see me.

• Real or actual-self: The person I really am.2

According to Sirgy’s research, self-concept explains 58 percent of clothing choices.3 Fashion companies leverage different self-images in their design creations. They offer the promise that shoppers can choose to express one self-image or another, using the various themes the companies develop for each season.

Self-congruity exists when the product effectively communicates the self-image. A shopper chooses a fashion item only if it is congruent with his or her self-image. Through these choices, people present desired images of themselves. That is, fashion offers a symbolic language to reassure people in their own social environment.

Symbolic communication about fashion apparel and accessories is part of the creation of fashion companies. People grant meanings to products designed by fashion companies, but fashion managers influence those meanings too, according to how they communicate about their creations. For instance, a company will not deliver the same message with a Perfecto as with a classic trench. Then the customers who decide to adopt their products in turn can communicate a particular meaning through their choices; by adopting the products, shoppers adopt their favorite brand’s image too. Thus, a fashion firm must express a somewhat consistent message over seasons, depending on its collection plans and image. It has its own identity, related to a brand or designer, that it uses to deliver symbolic messages to shoppers. Ralph Lauren clothing does not communicate the same message as Jean-Paul Gautier’s clothes. The distinct messages then influence customers’ communication, and fashion companies adjust these symbols through their selections every season. Fashion shoppers choose among different symbols offered by fashion brands and can present themselves depending on their mood and desires.

However, no symbol is an independent element in a social environment. Rather, symbolic communication must exist in an exchange.

The symbol only acquires meaning through a socialization process. By projecting an image and acting as symbolic communication, fashion enables people to present themselves in a certain way for others to interpret. Moreover, fashion products help people improve their images to obtain recognition in a social environment.

Because they are visible, fashion products deliver information about the person who chooses and wears them, but communicating the symbol requires both the actor who expresses it and a recipient who notices it. Therefore, social relationships are necessary to spread fashion, because products must be noticed and judged by others to become fashionable.

Thus, symbolic consumption creates and supports people’s self-image while also potentially enabling them to gain or reject social status and approval. Social relationships are indeed critical to the fashion adoption and diffusion process.

Using Social Influence Through Fashion

Fashion must be recognized and adopted by many people to exist, which implies multiple relationships in the social environment. Fashion is a collective, social phenomenon that relies on multiple relations and judgments. These relations enable various actors to participate in the social environment, choosing or changing it according to their choices of fashion apparel and accessories. The social environment also comprises groups. Many theories emphasize the existence and the role of those groups in social environment.

A group is usually defined as a sum of persons engaged in some relation who are interdependent. According to Ford and Ellis, people form a group when they:

• are independent,

• share common goals,

• are aware of others members in the group, and

• consider others as part of their group.4

To exist in a social environment, people also need a point of reference, which often is established by groups. Most customers act in accordance with the references conveyed by their groups. Thus, social influences affect people’s decision process for fashion products, and we can identify three main influences on fashion shoppers:

• Internalization: People accept others’ influence because they perceive it as a means to resolve their own issues. Fashion shoppers may find a solution to an uncertain social position by adopting others’ fashion choices.

• Identification: People identify with a group because they perceive doing so as satisfying. This identification occurs because fashion customers foresee benefits of being part of a group.

• Compliance: People choose to adopt fashion apparel and accessories to conform with the group and obtain a benefit or prevent retribution.5

Thus, groups have important roles for status definition within a social environment. To better understand their role in fashion adoption, we also need to clarify the dimensions of a group, related to both the point of reference and the associated affiliation.

A reference group is one that influences others’ behaviors. In their decision processes, people evaluate norms, status, and values expressed by the group. According to Childers and Rao, a group serves two mains functions:

1. Comparative: People evaluate themselves through comparisons. A hero or athlete might be a reference, because their behavior establishes a comparison standard. Many fashion brands in turn strive to invite celebrities to represent their name and image: Julia Roberts represents Gianfranco Ferre, and Sharon Stone symbolized Dior for some time in advertisements. Fashion brands seek to attract shoppers who are willing to identify with these stars. In addition, shoppers often enjoy having the image of Julia Roberts or Sharon Stone in mind during their decision process, and enjoy owning the same items.

2. Normative: The group is a source of norms and values. People act according to the norms implemented by their family, friends, or peers as a group. The groups’ norms and values affect their choices.6

These influences vary with the products. If the product is a public, visible one, such as apparel, these influences should be powerful.7 The choice of an outfit to wear to work likely reflects others’ judgments in the office, such that consumers choose what to wear by thinking about the norms established indirectly by their colleagues. In addition, they might think about what others have worn and judge them on the basis of their appearance, with the belief that people are reflections of the purchase choices they make. Fashion consumers take this influence into account in their decision process. No one has all the information needed to judge a person, but observing consumption choices provides a means for the social environment to determine the person’s identity.

In contrast, for a private, less visible product (e.g., piece of bedroom furniture), the influences likely are less significant. Appearance is less important, and the group will not have the same comparative or normative influence.

The influences of groups also vary with the shoppers. Teenagers are very sensitive to their peers’ judgments and refer to them before purchasing apparel or accessories. Having the same hat style or basket shoes refer to norms that teenagers accept and follow. Women tend to attend more to others’ comments and choices than men, and then react positively or negatively. Because social influences can be evaluated and internalized so differently, we consider it appropriate to consider the role of reference groups in the fashion product decision process. The visibility inherent in fashion clothes means these items carry meaning that influence shoppers’ decisions.

An affiliated group is a collection of persons who belong to the same structure, for example, a sport club or political party. A decision process might reflect similarities with this group especially because people often need such affiliation to evolve in their social environment.

Moreover, people attempt to respond to group expectations through fashion consumption choices, such that others’ recognition is crucial. We live in social environments, interact with others, are more or less sensitive to others judgments, but we all need recognition. As Maslow established in 1943, people seek to satisfy five types of needs: physiological (eat, drink, rest), safety (material protection), social (relationship, friendship, love), esteem (to be respected, to be approved), and accomplishment (self-achievement). When one level of need has been satisfied, people pursue the next level, until they reach self-achievement. This theory suggests the importance of recognition by the social environment for fashion shoppers. People seek approval for their decisions, especially for fashion products that are visible and affect others’ judgment.

Everything that is observable is considered a signal, a message for others. Fashion products are worn and displayed to allow people to communicate something about who they are or want to be. With their choice, they also seek others’ approval by following peers’ codes and, norms or rejecting these codes to communicate something different. That is, fashion can communicate either agreement with or distinction from their social environment. Fashion apparel and accessories are nonverbal tools for exchanging messages with others. These two main fashion forces of differentiation or socialization with the social environment act at both individual level (micro) and social level (macro):

• Macro level: Social trends arise across society. These trends adapt to fashion. Fashion managers design items to answer social needs.

• Micro level: A consumer selects fashion products to create a look. He or she interprets fashion choices to conform or reject others’ norms. People give meaning to their looks and evaluate the consequences of their choices in their social environment.8

Fashion brands offer customers many possibilities to determine and change their looks, with various fashion apparel and accessories. Fashion shoppers choose their social status by conforming or being different in their fashion choices; by offering a wide and deep assortment, fashion managers try to reach every potential customers. One shopper might focus on all the black clothing offered in a collection to develop a Goth look, while another chooses blue and white stripes to adopt a nautical look during the same season. Fashion companies introduce collections with various themes and products, enabling them to appeal to many, diverse consumers around their brands. Managers also are aware of the importance of the social aspects of fashions which allow for fashion diffusion.

We have many trends in each collection. We launch fashion products every month but they become fashionable only if thousands of shoppers buy them. If I can see many pink coats in the street, I know that we have succeed. (Product Manager, Women’s Fashion Brand)

Fashion only exists if some number of people adopt the same product, and legitimize its novelty. Thus, through its symbolic and social influences, fashion allows people to build affiliations with their social environment or choose deliberately to be different from their peers.