The impact of fashion brands' social media marketing on customer loyalty

The purpose of the paper is to find out how fashion brands can benefit social media in their marketing to retain customers and generate brand loyalty. Companies are struggling with ever-decreasing commitment to brands since the online information overflow makes consumers more aware of different brands and increases the accessibility to them. Thus, consumers tend to switch brands easier than before which decreases the commitment and brand loyalty. Results show that social media are valuable tools when acquiring new customers but also for creating brand loyalty. Especially user generated content and online brand communities serve as an important source of information for consumers and reinforce commitment to brands by creating a feeling of belonging. This helps firms to create stronger, long-lasting relationships with consumers as well as support creation of consumer-consumer relationships. What characterises fashion marketing is that it gives extra emphasis on aesthetics. Fashion is a major part of peoples’ identities and therefore fashion consumption is shaped by status-seeking and desire for social acceptance. On social media, firms can enhance interaction and two-way discussion which strengthens the brand image, making the brand an important part of consumers’ identities built online. The thesis discusses marketing opportunities provided by social media in general but concentrates on the advantages that fit well for fashion marketing. The aim is to link fashion marketing and social media marketing to bring out the justifications for fashion brands missing a potential opportunity to get loyal customers if they do not use social media channels in their marketing