Limitations and future research - Self-branding: a cross-cultural perspective The Chiara Ferrag

8. Conclusion

8.2 Limitations and future research

As in all research, several limitations need to be considered. The main limitation of this study is the selection of the sample investigated. The researchers didn’t make a comparison between West and East but instead limited the study between the West as a whole and China. The two samples were not homogeneous as the researchers compared a macro geographical area to a country. This research thus does not fully reflect the differences in perception between West and East.

Another limitation is the sample size. The researchers selected eight people from the West and eight people from China. Consequently, the findings might not really be representative of the entire population. In addition, since there are no studies that clearly state how long it takes for individuals’ perception to change once they move to another country, it is difficult to be completely sure whether or not Chinese perception had been altered by Western environment at the time of the interviews.

Moreover, the choice to investigate individuals’ perception by using a case study is another limitation. Case studies are too situation-specific and, therefore, not appropriate for generalization (Weick, 1969).

Further research should include the validation of the findings, especially in more specific cultural settings. Comparing two or more countries instead of macro geographical areas would allow to understand which country-specific factors affect perception in self-branding. Also, since the perception of individuals was investigated solely through Instagram, further research could be extended to compare the same personal brand on a plethora of different social media.

Lastly, this thesis focuses on how a self-brand is perceived on a cross-cultural level and it does not infer the consequences of such perception. Hence, another cause for reflection may be investigating to what extent a positive perception affects self-brand in terms of success. Do differences in perception lead to differences in terms of success?

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Appendix A

Interview Guide 1

Interview Guide followed by the researchers during the semi-structured interviews with the chinese participants.

Interviewer: Hello, thanks for coming and participating to our interview.

This interview will revolve around our research. We are investigating how an individual who does personal branding is perceived on a cross-cultural dimension. In order to study this, we have chosen Chiara Ferragni, a popular Italian fashion blogger who builds her success by branding herself. We will both ask you questions and also make you watch to some videos and photos.

We will ask you to simply express your opinion and impressions. Tell us what you think freely, what you perceive, that’s what we are interested in. We are not judging you there’s no right or wrong answers.

I: First of all, we would like to ask you: since how long have you been living in Western countries?

I: Do you know Instagram? Did you know about Instagram before moving to Western countries when you were still in China?

I: What do you use Instagram for? What do you normally do? Who do you follow?

Which kind of people?

I: Can I now ask you to use your iPhone, go on Instagram and search for Chiara Ferragni? Please click on “memories Best of 2017” that you find on the top.

After 13 minutes...

I: Can you now please watch the memory called “Business”?

After 4 minutes...

I: Can you now please watch the memory called “Leo”?

After 10 minutes...

I: Can you now please switch account and go to the one called “Chiara Ferragni Collection” and scroll down the feed?

After 5 minutes...

Thank you. Now we will go a bit deeper because we want to figure out what you actually think about Chiara after this overview at her Instagram contents.

I: What is the first spontaneous thought you have about Chiara Ferragni?

I: To what extent do you perceive Chiara authentic and spontaneous in how she behaves and in how she speaks to her audience when she’s recording?

I: Does she look like someone who cares about other people?

I: What kind of woman do you think she is?

I: Considering the Instagram stories you have just seen, do you think she is good in what she is doing?

I: What about her personality? How would you describe her?

I: What do you think about how she engages with the followers?

I: The baby: would you say she has this behavior of showing so much because she needs to do that or because she wants to?

I: What do you think about Chiara Ferragni Collection?

I: Does the collection reflect her personality? How she actually is?

Interview Guide 2

Interview Guide followed by the researchers during the semi-structured interviews with the Chinese participants.