Fashion and Consumer Culture - Essay Example

Fashion and Consumer Culture Fashion designs keep changing each day following the demand of the society. In many cases, the society would go for the latest fashion in the market without asking who designed the fashion. Fashions designers take their time to come up with new designs in order to keep the consumers buying. Consumers like changing taste of products that they consume in the market. Clothing industry takes the advantage of advancing technology into wooing their customers to consume their products. The diversity in the society is a major factor that influences the market trends that fashion designers use to manipulate the market. For example, the television shows affect the demand for new fashions in the market. Television viewers usually tend to go for the designs that they view in the television channels. Some of the fashions that they feel they should consume belong to the royal family while others belong to the celebrity. It is a common trend in the society for artist and other special people in the society to come up with cloth designs, which distinguish them from the rest of the society. Artists who criticize the social trends in the society may come up with a design that seems to drum their views to the society. On the other hand, the society would pick the fashion without considering factors that led to its design. The society seems to incline on views and opinion of a few designers and artist to buy their products. For instance, lovers of a specific artist would be willing to dress the way the artist does no matter the cost that it takes. The aim of this paper is to discuss the notion; consumers are passive victims manipulated into buying commodities they cannot resist. Modernity contributes a lot in shaping the type of products that people buy. Social integration and mimicking of cultural practices by other communities has influenced the method fashion designers use to develop their products (Arpan & Peterson, 2008:78). Cultural practices are unique and diversified according to the number of tribes that exist in the society. Some cultures seem to dominate the market with their products because the majority of people in the society feel that they should associate with the cultural practices of a particular community. It is important to note that such practices have led the fashion trends to incline towards building the market with products that belong to that community. For example, western holiday lifestyle has influenced the kind of fashion during relaxation in beaches. Many women wear bikini in beaches and feel comfortable in it. This trend has influenced the consumption of bikini in other parts of the world because of growing civilization and globalization. For example, the African coasts have adopted the product because they share the shame cultures as shaped by civilization. Notably, consumers do not wish to know about the history of a specific product, instead, they would consume the product as it present itself to the market. Fashion in the market tends to follow seasons (Sassatelli, 2007:59). During hot season, the fashion designers would come up with products that seem to obey the climate change. Once the product come into the market, many consumers will rush for the product shunning the previous products in the market. This consumer trend is beneficial to fashion designers because it makes their product sell in the market. The intention behind designing a variety of products in the market is to control the amount products that consumers buy. Methods of creating and retaining customers applied in business contribute a lot in influencing the work of fashion designers. In many cases, the need to attract customers leads to innovative practices employed by the designers. In attracting customers to buy a particular product, the preference of the consumer would influence the approach that designers would take in rolling the product into the market. For instance, when the product had a single slit, the designers would add another slit and roll it into the market. When consumers come, sellers will promote the double slit product as the latest item in the market. Many consumers will buy the product without asking why. This common trend has been beneficial to fashion designers. Common products in the market seem not attract the attention of many consumers. Market research indicates that rebranding of products in the market influence the sale of the product. When people tend not to buy a product, rebranding of the product would change the taste of the product. Marketing executives notes that when a new brand comes into the market, many consumers would wish to taste the new brand. Largely, this principle affects the designing process employed by the fashion designers. Research indicates that individual perception or choices has an influence on the individual personality, in return it would shape the behavior of the individual. The social standing of an individual would always influence lifestyle and drive the fashion adopted by the individual. This attribute further promote manipulation of consumers in the market. Pride that people of high social standing have is another factor that has shaped the fashion market. People of high social standards feel that they should always be in their own world where their items of consumption are unique to the society. This would make them change the product they consume each time that they feel local man also consumes the product. This indicates that the social differences in the society play a major role in the fashion industry. Designers would come up with different products depending on the social economic status of an individual (Montgomery, 2010:68). Studies indicate that people who belong to high social economic class would do a lot of buying compared to those in the low social class. The difference comes in because of their financial ability to meet the price of the products in the market. Since the fashion designers have this information, they tend to make the designs to suit the social standards. Designs meant for the low social class would borrow a lot from the royal design, but the fabric would be of a lower quality. This approach has resulted to manipulation of consumers because, many feel that they should acquire products that belong to the royal class, while the royal class would also be thinking of how to change and be unique to the society. Largely, this is an advantage to the designers. When the royal family demands another design, fashion trends change leading to new items in the market. Research on consumer behavior indicates that social interaction contributes to changes in fashion. The response to a product by peer groups would influence the entry behavior of the product in the market. Studies indicate that people who belong to the same peer group would tend to like similar products. In this case, once a product comes into the market, many people will buy the product and influence the rest thus the trend would manipulate the consumer characteristics. Interaction among different consumers and cloth identity is a factor that would influence how the consumers would react to a particular design in the market. Many people feel that clothing communicates to the society by defining new societal order. Consumers feel that they are able to present their personality to the society by identifying with certain clothing style. For instance, many people associate men suit to dignified people in the society. The way a person dresses influence the judgment that the society would accord to an individual (Bianchi, 2002:42). The society accords a lot of respect to individual who dress in official attires in the society. This in turn influence trend adopted by designers when designing products in the market. Many people who wish to gain the favor of the society would look for clothes that would put them in high social economic level. Studies of how people perceive certain dressing style would influence the clothes rolled into the market. Clothing style influence the social gain of an individual, for instance clothing style for individuals who are working in certain fields would follow the dressing code of that field. Attorneys would always dress according to the legal practice codes. In essence, the fashion designers would use culture to manipulate the fashion of the cloth. Designs rolled in the market would follow the consumer culture or clothing code as required by a given field. Martin-Herran et al, (2010:56), argument against fashion trends claim that culture instigate fashion oriented behavior, spending, and debt behavior on clothing among the consumers. Designers and retailers in the clothing industry employ strategies, which would affect their sale targets. Most of strategy developed by fashion designers seems to capitalize on cultural integration in the society before rolling and promoting a product in the market. Research further indicates cultural integration influence buying of products in the market. Some fashion designers mix design of different cultures in order to change the trends in the market. Largely, globalization is a major factor in integration of cultures today. Products that belong to a particular culture would reach far markets where the culture that led to the production of the fashion does not apply. Manipulation of consumers to buy products from other cultural backgrounds occurs in the market due to the marketing strategies that many designers and retailers take. Observations in the clothing industry indicates that clothes from countries such as America or Britain find the way into the African marketing following market strategies developed by manufacturers. Sometimes the fashion designers would label the products that they roll into the market according to what the consumers demand. Most manipulation tactics employed by fashion designers follow marketing methods applied in business. Research indicates that consumers of clothing products seem to buy attractive products. Factors that would influence the consumption rate of consumers shape fashion apparel in the market. For example, cross border trade between America and Mexico capitalizes on the consumer demand trends in Mexico. Many consumers like clothes that are attractive thus influencing the fashion that designers would produce. The impact of fashion trends influence retail markets and superstores in major cities. Arrangement of products in retail stores would follow the market fashion trends. Studies indicate that retailers like placing the latest fashion trends on the front line while old fashions of the back line. This would influence the number of consumers who would buy products on that retail store. Studies further shows that stores with latest fashion in town witness loyal consumers who would always visit the stores for their products (Paterson, 2005:121). Prices of the new fashion products seem not to influence buying of the product. Many consumers seem to yearn for new fashions rolled in the market. Preferences of many consumers hang on the cultural values. For example, Mexicans like following their cultural values when buying an item. Another notable example is the Indians who would buy products, which follow their cultural value. The origin of the product is would influence the attitude of the consumer to the product. Studies show that some consumers would buy products by considering the country of origin of that product. Valdez, (2000), claim that fashion promotions would consider social psychographic background of the intended consumers of the product. Factors such as gender, age, religion, social status among others would influence the design of the cloth. For example, consumers who belong to a particular religion would follow the dressing code of the religion. It is quite hard for Islamic women to go for products used by Christian women. This social difference would influence fashion apparel that fashion designers would send to the market. In most cases, the information about an individual or society is essential in fashion designing. Competition among cloth manufacturing companies has an influence on fashion trends developed or rolled in the markets. Fashion designers are in constant competition since their products are substitutes. Failure by one cloth or fashion designer is a gain to another fashion designer because a consumer would seek the products of the most innovate designer. Innovation is vital in shaping market trends in the clothing industry. Uniqueness of the product would always influence its appearance in the market (Lee, 2000:121). Market behavior of many clothing products relies on how attractive the product is to the consumers. Fashion designers exploit this opportunity to come up with clothing designs, which look attractive to the consumers. The aim is to manipulate the consumer to buy the products. Factors such as packaging of consumer products influence clothing design rolled into the market. Fashion designers wish to control large market share with their products. Product finishing is thus a major factor that many manufacturers in the clothing industry consider in order to control large market share. Technology change contributes to change in cultural practices in different communities. Many people tend to assimilate cultural practices of other communities using media technology. Media technology provides an opportunity for people to share their social lifestyle with other communities. For example, the modern market has fashion apparels, which do not follow cultural practices, but the designs sexually attract both the male and female shoppers (Narumi, 2000:313). The fitness of the fashion to the consumer demand would influence how the designer would fabricate the cloth. Fashion designers consider many factors before modeling the cloth to take a particular design. Hartley and Montgomery (2009:71), argue that the purpose of the fashion would always ring in the mind of the fashion designer. They allude that efficiency and fitness of purpose drive cultural change in fashion trends. Designers use parametric feature based fashion modeling trends to make clothing, which would fit many consumers. Gender biasness towards fashion design influences the buying ability of male and female. Studies indicate the female often visit fashion stores for new fashion apparel than men. This influences spending trend of women. Women have high buying power of new fashion to men. This trend has led to manipulation of fashion apparels by fashion designs to keep women buying. Studies also indicate that the younger generation tends to buy fashion products than the older generation. Many consumers among this young generation seem to yearn for exotic products (Edwards, 2000:245). Argument against their attitude indicates that young generation tends to like exotic culture since they spend time watching exotic movies and advertisements. Buyers who go for the new fashion as it arrives tend to shop more in contrast to followers who will incline towards cultural conservation, or traditional shopping. It is important to note that the behavior of the consumer contributes a lot to the approach that fashion designers would take when designing a new product. In most cases, the products that fashion designers take into the market spark the attention of many consumers on first sight. Manipulation of the consumers by fashion designers relies on television celebrities. Celebrities shape lives of most people in the adolescent age. Fashion designers believe that many adolescents like some media personalities or celebrities. In return, the designers would always manufacture fashion apparel for the adolescents to mimic the celebrities (Clarke, et al.(eds). 2003:152). Children spend their time watching television or magazines, which has an influence on their lifestyles. Many children would wish to dress liker the celebrities that they view on the magazines or television. On the other hand, celebrities like being unique in the society, thus providing an opportunity to fashion designers to keep manipulating consumers in the market. Fashion apparels designed for celebrity would fade when the music or artwork of the celebrity is out of fashion. For example, sports wear for the famous Lakers basketball player Orlando magic attracted many children and people across the globe. The love that the society has for celebrity influences the consumption rate employed by many consumers. The pride of many fashion designers is to manipulate market trends for different fashion apparel with an aim of making maximum profit. When the trends in the market do not change, some products in the market may stagnate. Manipulation of consumers taste by the fashion designers seems to incline political structures of the country. Countries with strict political systems and legislation seem to dictate the fashion of the day. Social freedom is vital in creation of a new fashion. Societies, which restrict social parameters, seem to adopt particular fashion apparel in all seasons. For example, clothing in Saudi Arabia follows legislation of the country defining the boundaries of fashion trends adopted in that society. Innovation and manipulation of the consumers is a factor that relies on freedom of the society. Social structures that hamper globalization hinder the growth in fashion industry. When the law provides an opportunity for the subject to pursue their own interest, fashion designers, and market players would change fashions without involving the consumers. Market players and fashion designers do not provide an opportunity for consumers to come up with proposal about products that they want. Instead, fashion designers would change the trend by introducing a fashion that would suit conditions presented by the society. This argument is in support to the notion of discussion by this paper. Aldridge (2003:59) argues that many people fear social disapproval thus; they would tend to rush to the market to hook up with the latest fashion apparel. Largely, social environment promote the sale of new fashion in the market. Studies indicate that once a product receives some audience in the market, many people who follow suit. In conclusion, fashion designers develop new fashion apparels according to the need or purpose that the fashion would serve. Largely, consumers would always change their buying trends whenever new fashion apparel comes into the market. Factors such as social economic status, religion, age, and gender contribute to fashion development. Globalization and civilization contributes to cross border interaction, which has an influence on fashion trends in the market. Fashion designers seem to rely on cultural practices or cross-cultural practices when coming up with a new fashion design. Technology influences the lifestyle adopted in the society. The use of media by celebrities often influences the choices that many people go for when choosing their fashion. The society seems to go for fashion apparel used by celebrities. This usually influence buying trends adopted by consumers in the market. Competition among fashion designers has led to new fashion apparels as season changes. Bibliography Aldridge,A. 2003. Consumption. Cambridge: Polity. Arpan, L. M. & Peterson, E. M. 2008. Influence of Source Liking and Personality Traits on Perceptions of Bias and Future News Source Selection, Media Psychology, London: Routledge Belleau, B., Haney, R., Summers, T., Xu, Y., and Garrison, B. 2008. Affluent female consumers and fashion involvement, International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Bianchi, M. 2002. 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