Respondents’ perception of female empowerment

From the above mentioned case studies, the authors infer some interesting results. First of all, an higher level of engagement generates a higher value co-creation, in terms of amounts of comments, replies to polls, quizzes and so on. The second important conclusion is related to the role of brand communities. If a brand is able to include its customers in a shared experience online, particularly on Instagram, then there will be value co-creation opportunities.

industry in particular is deemed to have a role in shaping a certain image of women. The researchers asked the following question:

“Do you feel more attracted to a brand if it sends a message of strong and independent women? “.

Respondent 17 opinion on this is:

Adding to this, respondent 1 shared an interesting point of view. The relevant question was:

“Do you think fashion could make the difference in conveying the message of a strong and independent women?”.

Her reply was:

The next question she was asked was:

“And what about Instagram? It is also a good tool to spread this message?”.

To which she replied:

“Yes, because I think that, as I said before, I am more attracted by brands that have a universe behind. So not just the community but also

a strong message, something different from the others. So if there is some content behind I am attracted to a brand. Nowadays there are so

many products and so many things are very similar to each other. So you need to choose somehow and a way of differentiating yourself.

Then when you are buying I think you're also shaping your identity.”

(Respondent 17).

“I think so, because ,especially in the past, women were judged by their appearance and what they were wearing and by addressing this issue women can dress anything they want and can be considered equally as

men. I think fashion is a great tool to empower women.” (Respondent 1).

This last sentence is crucial in understanding the reason why the researchers decided to conduct this analysis in the first place. As emphasized in the literature review, fashion brands find great interest in Instagram as a marketing tool, able to establish a great communication and engagement with users, and the fact that they talk about female empowerment comes as consequence of this dialogue between brands and consumers.

Following this discussion, the authors report the results from the specific questions on the multiple case studies.

First, respondents were asked their opinion about the kind of images presented in the brands’ pages. The image of women portrayed by the brands are really different. La Semaine Paris has a very elegant, Parisienne and feminine look. Respondents believe that the images show a stereotype of perfect woman, skinny, tall, with perfect hair and make-up. Some of respondents like it, while others would like to see more variety in terms of types of bodies shown. It is clear to respondents that the target audience of the brand is quite narrow; women between 15 and 30 who like to dress up and go to high class social events.

On the other hand, Olivia Palermo collection reflects the style and life of Olivia Palermo.

It definitely targets working class women who have a taste of fashion. Respondents perceive this image of women as a classy, working woman walking around the streets of New York City. The target audience is estimated by respondents as women between 25 and 50 who like to be elegant at work and in other social occasions. Respondents believe that even in this case the body types portrayed by the brand are skinny and tall, looking like models.

Nasty Gal seems the only brand that achieved the goal of representing girls with all types of shapes and skin colours and respondents really appreciate this. The majority of the interviewees see these pictures as a more truthful representation of women. There are no rigid poses, all the Nasty Gal girls look like having fun and sharing tips for the

”Yes, I think that female empowerment, fashion and Instagram can be really powerful together.” (Respondent 1).

Instagram community. The target audience in this case is 15-25 Millennials and Generation Z women from a variety of different countries, as USA, UK and Australia. The style of clothes is definitely more casual compared to the other two brands and gives the perception to respondents to be a more affordable brand.

Female empowerment is shown with three different shades. We will now evaluate respondents’ perceptions of the brands’ messages concerning female empowerment.

La Semaine Paris shares a variety of different content regarding feminism, from quotes such as “We get so worried about being “pretty”. let’s be pretty kind. Pretty funny. Pretty smart. Pretty strong” to the hashtag #LaSemainegirls and the motto “Stronger together”.

Respondents believe that the message of female empowerment comes through this page as strong and powerful and it is hard not to notice. Taking the words of respondent 4, who was asked whether La Semaine Paris is clearly promoting female empowerment by its content on instagram, her opinion is

Other interviewees believe that the messages are very clear, no one was not able to see that La Semaine is actively engaging the audience with a feminist content.

Regarding Olivia Palermo collection, most of the respondents believe that it is not clear, not that evident that she is promoting feminism. The posts do not have any caption that makes you think about it. Some respondents see it, as they think that just pictures of working class women dressing up in a powerful way are showing the message that every woman can have a career and that is a way to empower women. Definitely Olivia Palermo does not underline the message with any caption, compared to the other two brands.

Respondents believe that she looks very credible on her page, as she is showing herself as a powerful career woman inspiring other women to do the same. Taking the words of respondent 2,

“Yes a lot. There are girls posing and having fun, the page looks very authentic and funny, ironic. I like the way it is promoting good values for

women.” (Respondent 4).

On the contrary, respondent 15 has a different point of view. She states:

In fact, some respondents think that the message does not come through in a direct and clear way as in La Semaine Paris. On the other side, analyzing the third brand, Nasty Gal, it turns out that female empowerment is definitely one of the central topics of discussion on the Instagram page. Respondents show a great interest in the type of content shared by the brand, as it is ironic, very realistic and relatable to the generations we interviewed. All of quotes from movies, books and TV shows are able to communicate feminist values in an effective way, without seeming outdated or boring. Pictures also show the most variety in terms of body types and skin colour of the models chosen.

Respondent 14, in fact, mentions that:

“I think she looks credible in spreading the message of female empowerment because she is showing that women can be really leaders and powerful and also in the posts she looks very empowered.”

(Respondent 2).

“I think this brand could do a bit better. I think there's not that much content related to it. It could be a bit more direct. I think it is promoting somehow how to be confident. But I think there could be promoting first

of all diversity. Because I think that female empowerment is also accepting all types of women and I do not see that here in this page.”

(Respondent 15).

Respondent 11 adds an interesting point to this discussion. She states:

To sum up, respondents are generally attracted to fashion brands that convey positive messages for women. Integrating female empowerment issues into the communication strategy can definitely give an advantage to brands. The authors will discuss this topic in the following sections. Respondents’ opinions shed light on the fact that showing natural poses, quotes from movies, funny memes, empowering sentences, career women - just to mention few examples - generate interest and engagement in the community. There is clearly a tendency towards rejecting the stereotype of the skinny, tall and perfect women.