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Social media marketing represents the utilisation of social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to establish a connection with a business’s target audience, enhance brand awareness, and improve sales (Alghizzawi, 2019). Businesses use content marketing strategy to attract and engage customers and ensure long-term retention by sharing relevant articles, educational videos and podcasts (Baltes, 2015).
Sustainable fashion is a social movement worldwide that aims to change how fashion products are made and distributed by undertaking greater ecological integrity and social justice (Gwilt & Rissanen, 2012). Italian fashion brands have integrated sustainability and ethical approaches to producing apparel following their impact on the people and the planet.
The research topic is to evaluate the effect of social media marketing and content marketing on consumer perception of sustainable fashion in Italy. The research will also compare social media marketing and content marketing, considering the effectiveness of altering consumers’ perceptions regarding ethical and sustainable fashion choices.
The Italian fashion industry is popular for its elegant apparel and the incorporation of the latest trends. This is due to Italian fashion brands’ pioneering style and world-leading design (Ft, 2021). The Italian fashion brands have now ventured into an environmentally responsible and sustainable approach to producing fashion wear and apparel through establishing transparency and greening all processes, including designing and manufacturing.
Sustainable fashion and ethical clothing were considered niche concepts a few decades ago, but the topic has recently gained momentum into mainstream consumerism in Italy. The Green Carpet Fashion Awards are dubbed the Oscars of Fashion in Italy.
The research topic is rational as it contributes to value generation in consumer perception theory and marketing. The research will benefit the managers of fashion companies and decision-makers to understand consumer perceptions and how marketing initiatives can increase the sale of sustainable fashion products.
The research will also compare social media marketing and content marketing, considering the effectiveness in altering consumers’ perceptions regarding the choice of ethical and sustainable fashion, thereby enabling better marketing decision making.
The research aim is to analyse the effect of social media and content marketing on consumer perception of sustainable fashion in Italy.
The research objectives are:
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The research questions are:
The dissertation has a total of five chapters that represent the different segments and undertaking by the researcher to provide a chronological sequence of the findings in the study. The introduction chapter of the research presents the background details and rationale for undertaking the investigation followed by the aims and objectives.
The literature review chapter presents the existing theories and knowledge from secondary sources of information regarding the research topic. The research methodology chapter details the strategies undertaken for collecting and evaluating data regarding the research topic.
The results and findings chapter predominantly analysis the data collected from the primary sources. Lastly, the conclusions and recommendations chapter details the inferences from the data analysed in the research and provides managerial recommendations for the Italian sustainable fashion brands.
Companies use social media marketing to increase website traffic and make customers avail themselves of certain product ranges and promotions (Alghizzawi, 2019). Content marketing strategy represents the brand’s expertise and creates brand awareness among the customers to influence them regarding particular opinions and choices (Baltes, 2015).
The Italian sustainable fashion brands utilise social media and content marketing strategies to attract and influence consumers to purchase sustainable fashion products (Henninger et al., 2016). Across the Italian apparel manufacturers, there is an increasing trend of incorporating digital technologies and advanced methods for increasing transparency of the product sourcing across the supply chain.
The Italian Ministry of Economic Development had walked in alignment with multiple fashion houses in the country and incorporated the services of IBM for utilising digital asset tracking. The technology is like the internet of things and blockchain admin integrated into the supply chains of the apparel manufacturers for promoting traceability of the raw materials used in sustainable clothing (Lee et al., 2020). The utilisation of technology during the production and sales of sustainable clothing ensures the recording and accounting for the entire step of a garment’s journey.
The literature review chapter elaborates on the themes generated from the research objectives by integrating secondary data sources. The altering consumer perception regarding ethical clothing is also discussed in the literature review, along with understanding the role of content marketing and social media marketing regarding the creation of new sustainable fashion trends and consumer perceptions in Italy.
As per Lee et al., (2020), sustainable fashion incorporates an ethical approach towards manufacturing clothes and increases a sense of responsibility among consumers and business sectors. The trends in sustainable fashion in Italy include using upcycled products made from waste fabric and embracing clothes with minor defects.
This also includes ensuring that the working conditions across the factories and the entire supply chain are ethical. Sustainable fashion ensures accountability and responsibility of the clothing apparel manufacturers regarding the origin of the raw materials in the production chain.
Sustainable fashion and ethical clothing dominate contemporary apparel consumers due to the rising concern regarding resource usage and climate change among the consumers (Lundblad and Davies, 2016). This includes a shift in the consumer mentality from purchasing low-quality clothes that have quickly disposed into the purchase of apparel with minor defects and upcycled products.
The trains include purchasing handbags made from waste fabric and recycling old clothes by giving them a second life through the process of adding a patchwork or painting a plain t-shirt. The new trends in sustainable fashion include the use of organic cotton along with surplus cotton and hemp for manufacturing clothes.
As per Machado et al., (2019), the concept of sustainable clothing and fashion spans beyond the fashion textiles and products into the production domain, tracing it back to the workers and their working conditions. The fashion product lifespan is also analysed to ensure sustainability by determining the time for which it is circulated among the consumers before reaching the landfill.
The trends of sustainable fashion among consumers include using locally produced apparel and biodegradable fabrics to avoid adverse impacts on the environment (Min Kong and Ko, 2017). Sustainable fashion and ethical clothing also combat the carbon footprint generated by the fast fashion industry along with the reduction of other greenhouse gas emissions. The perspectives of various stakeholders are considered in sustainable fashion, including the present and future producers and consumers of clothing apparel.
As per Agyekum et al., (2015), consumer perception is defined as the customers’ feelings towards a particular brand and its products that influence whether they will recommend the same to their friends and family members. The consumer perception can be explained with the theory of reasoned action.
This theory explains the relationship among the behaviours of the customers along with their attitudes that influences their actions. This theory predicts the behaviour of the consumers based on their attitudes and behavioural intentions (Hale et al., 2002). The theory of reasoned action can be used for evaluating the consumer perceptions of ethical clothes as more focus is given to recycling and upcycling the fashion products before being disposed of.
The customers have changed their consumption of fashion products by purchasing clothes based on their quality to last for a longer time in comparison to purchasing a higher quantity of cheap clothing. There is also a tendency among the customers to use the clothes for as long as possible along with ensuring careful treatment for extending the lifespan. There is also an identified trend of repairing the clothes and using them for different purposes before throwing them away, donating and sharing with others when they do not want it anymore.
According to Mukendi et al., (2020), sustainable clothing has gained popularity among fashion consumers as they have begun to consider their responsibility for minimising their carbon emissions and guaranteeing a sustainable future for future generations. Consumers have become more considerate towards fashion products the eco-friendly in their entire product ranges and packaging.
There have been more emphasis on purchasing fashion apparel that follows closed-loop systems for recycling waste and utilising recycled materials for production. The consumer perceptions also altered towards purchasing handcrafted and good quality fashion apparel with a long-lasting life span for reducing the waste to landfills (Niinimäki, 2013).
The emphasis on using organic and biodegradable materials and dyes has also become apparent among contemporary fashion consumers. The consumers display an affinity towards the brands participating in sustainability initiatives and supporting the local workers and farmers for sourcing their materials and production. Consumers’ perception towards ethical clothes has increased as they have accepted the higher prices for ethically sourced apparel to reduce and eliminate worker exploitation and environmental degradation.
As per Rahman et al., (2017). the trend of collaborative consumption is witnessed among the fashion customers as they exploit alternative opportunities for acquiring individual ownership in comparison to buying new fashion products through gifting and swapping along with purchasing second hand.
There is also a trend of sharing and lending fashion apparel along with renting and leasing for any particular occasion instead of purchasing the product and not utilising it to the full extent. Cradle to cradle concept is also prevalent among the consumers as the choices of purchasing fashion products shifted to textile apparel that can be safely worn on their skin along with being fully biodegradable (Shen, 2014).
The environmental awareness among the consumers has affected their previous consumption habits leading to the choice of green fashion for minimising the impact on the environment while also following the do no harm principle of ethical fashion. This includes consumer awareness regarding animal protection practices and the safe working conditions of the workers.
As per Kotler (2012), marketing is the process of creating awareness regarding the products and services offered by a brand to the customers. The marketing and reverse of brands intend to alter and influence consumer behaviour and increase the sales of the products.
As per Bamossy and Solomon, (2016), the consumer behaviour theory presents an account of how the consumers make decisions during purchasing a product. The theory enables businesses to take advantage of consumer behaviour by detecting the purchase patterns of the consumers and offering them relevant products that can influence their choices.
As per Tuten, (2020), social media marketing is a process of utilising social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to create awareness about a brand’s products and services. This type of digital marketing allows businesses to engage with existing and potential customers and reach out to a large number of targeted audiences (Zarrella, 2009).
The apparel manufacturers and sustainable fashion brands of Italy actively use social media platforms for creating awareness about their fashion products and advertising sustainable clothing products. The social media platforms create the opportunity of engaging and communicate with the customers and clarify their queries regarding sustainable fashion products.
Regular posting and branding by the apparel manufacturers and highlighting the environmental and social benefits of sustainable fashion influencers the consumer behaviour and perception towards sustainable fashion in Italy. Gunelius, (2011) states that content marketing is the strategy of attracting and engaging customers by sharing educational and informative content like articles and podcasts to increase consumer knowledge.
He added that content marketing strategy empowers the customers and engages them resulting in indirect delivery of expertise and promotion of the products of the brand. Content marketing strategy is perceived as a social benefit by the customers that enables them to gain expertise regarding certain topics like sustainable fashion. This results in influencing their choices and decisions while thinking about the purchase of new appeals leading to the selection of sustainable fashion brands by weighting the benefits for the society and the environment.
The Green Carpet Fashion Awards in Italy represents a large-scale celebration of sustainable fashion that has gained wider appreciation and attraction from the international audience and the Italian fashion consumers (Eco-Age, 2020.). The move towards sustainability had influenced the Italian consumers who were previously unwilling to choose ethical buying in comparison to cutting edge fashion.
Italy had witnessed a surge of creative innovation in its fashion industry ranging from contour to High Street, leading to the inclusion of materials developed from citrus fruits and its by-products along with clothing dyes manufactured from waste products from the automotive and aerospace industries in Turin.
Even the nylon used in apparel is made from fishing nets for sustainability along with many other alternatives. Consumers use social media platforms throughout the day to communicate with their friends and entertainment (Zarrella, 2009). Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are the three most popular social media platforms used by millions of people worldwide; hence, it remains highly effective in influencing consumer perceptions and choices regarding sustainable fashion in Italy.
However, the credibility of content marketing strategy using blogs and podcasts cannot be undermined due to its high educational and informative content (Baltes, 2015). The combination of social media marketing and content marketing strategy has the potential to generate business success for sustainable fashion brands across Italy as the contents can also be shared through the social media pages of the brand.
There is a gap in research regarding the utilisation of social media marketing and content marketing for impacting consumer perception regarding sustainable fashion in Italy. This is because the previous researches have undertaken a conventional approach for determining the impact of social media marketing and content marketing on the perception of consumers regarding fashion apparel. Still, specific consideration has not been provided towards sustainable fashion.
Companies use social media marketing to increase website traffic and make customers avail themselves of certain product ranges and promotions. Content marketing strategy represents the brand’s expertise and creates brand awareness among the customers to influence them regarding particular opinions and choices.
Sustainable fashion incorporates an ethical approach towards manufacturing clothes and increases a sense of responsibility among consumers and business sectors. The customers have changed their consumption of fashion products by purchasing clothes based on their quality to last for a longer time compared to purchasing a higher quantity of cheap clothing.
Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are the three most popular social media platforms used by millions of people worldwide; hence, it remains highly effective in influencing consumer perceptions and choices regarding sustainable fashion in Italy.
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The time to write an undergraduate full dissertation varies, but it typically takes several months, including research, drafting, and revisions.
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