The Megaphone Effect in Social Media: How Ordinary Consumers Become Style Leaders
Abstract
Amassing an audience by blogging is a very recent form of online consumer behavior. Consumers not only seek community as earlier studies show, they also look for taste leadership from certain peers Fashion bloggers take hold of the Internet “megaphone” to broadcast and influence taste within an elaborate social and cultural process. It teaches us some general principles about the ways professional marketing is affected by these “citizen journalists” on social media, and how their behavior is affected by marketers. These megaphone-holding consumers have real power, and their consumer-to-consumer relationships depend upon brands. Brands are increasingly coming to depend upon them as well. Although these bloggers started out as ordinary consumers, they were soon integrated into the professional fashion system and do not oppose it. They therefore pose no threat to professional marketers, but rather offer an alternative marketing opportunity within the complex web of social media.
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