Impact of Influencers: Driving Sales in the Fashion Industry (H&M)

This report examines the impact of influencers on sales within the fashion industry, focusing on H&M as a case study. It explores the growing importance of fashion influencers in the UK, how they operate to boost sales, and their future role. The research employs an interpretivism philosophy and qualitative research methods, gathering data from secondary sources like journals, books, and websites, supplemented by a survey of 25 respondents. Key findings indicate that influencers significantly impact consumer buying behavior, particularly through blog reviews, and that social media broadens audience reach. The survey reveals that most respondents buy products online, are aware of fashion influencers, and follow them on social media, though not all adhere to the information shared. The report concludes that fashion companies can leverage influencers to enhance customer engagement and drive sales, while also acknowledging both positive and negative impacts of social media trends on the industry. Desklib provides similar solved assignments and study tools for students.

Research

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Aims/hypothesis..............................................................................................................................1
Research Aim:.............................................................................................................................1
Research Objectives:...................................................................................................................1
Methodology....................................................................................................................................1
Method.........................................................................................................................................1
Research philosophy..................................................................................................................1
Research design...........................................................................................................................2
Research method..........................................................................................................................2
Data Collection............................................................................................................................3
Sample.........................................................................................................................................3
Ethical considerations..................................................................................................................3
Result...............................................................................................................................................4
Discussion........................................................................................................................................4
Evaluation(including recommendations for future research)........................................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
Influencers currently have significant role in the marketing strategies of various companies.
Influencers can be described as people having various social followers on digital platforms like
Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. In order to become an influencer, individual must have power
to influence the perception and viewpoint of others in some way. For this report, the undertaken
company is H&M which is leading and fastest growing fashion firm having headquarters is in
Sweden. The aim of the report is to focus on the role of influencers in increasing sales within the
fashion industry.
Aims/hypothesis
Research Aim:
‘To analyze the role of influencers in increasing sales within the fashion industry’.
Research Objectives:
● To understand who fashion influencers are.
● To analyze the growing importance of fashion influencers in UK
● To find out how fashion influencers work to increase the sales of fashion companies, and
● To assess the future of fashion influencers within fashion industry
Methodology
Method
Research philosophy
In the research process, research philosophy is an important part as it includes the set of
beliefs that are followed for the accumulation, interpretation, and analysis of data. There are
basically three types of philosophies i.e., positivism, realism, and interpretivism. Positivism
philosophy depends upon the scientific results which are drawn from the quantitative methods.
Plus, interpretivism philosophy depends upon subjective results generated from the observations
of respondents through qualitative methods. For this specific research, interpretivism research
philosophy is selected as this research philosophy is helpful in analyzing how influencers are
helpful in improving the sales of fashion companies based on the qualitative research. The study
is descriptive in nature so subjective philosophy is required to complete the research. The reason
for selecting interpretivism research philosophy is that the nature of this research philosophy is
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systematic and objective in nature (Stainton, 2020). In addition to this, interpretivism research
philosophy focuses on subjective analysis of research problem in significant manner. So,
interpretivism research philosophy is selected to analyze the observations and collected
information from the cases and other academic data.
Research design
Based on information to complete the study, a qualitative research method is identified and
selected. Qualitative data such as information in journal articles, newspapers, official websites,
and other sources is used to improve the research findings. Further, qualitative research method
is used for conducting this study as this method is helpful in understanding how the collection of
various empirical materials such as case studies and individual experiences are helpful in
conducting the study in significant manner. In addition to this, the analyzed and interpreted data
from qualitative research method is also helpful in achieving a clear and better understanding
related to research questions. Apart from this, the descriptive research design is also considered
to gather significant data related to research problem. The reason of selecting this research
design is that this method is helpful in describing the phenomenon or situation in precise and
systematic manner. In this particular research, detailed and deep analysis is essential related to
the importance of influencers in improving the sales of fashion companies (Opie, 2019).
Research method
The aim of this research is to understand how influencers are helpful in increasing sales of
fashion companies in UK. Basically, there are two types of research methods including
qualitative method and quantitative method. For this specific study, qualitative research method
is used to gather significant data. The study is conducted using qualitative research for
understanding the types of influencers that are used by the fashion companies to increase sales.
Further, there are various methods in qualitative research i.e., case study, interviews, and
observations. This research is explorative in nature which is conducted to understand the impact
of influencers on increasing the sales of fashion companies so; the adopted strategy is qualitative
research method. In order to collect significant information related to research problems, various
sources like academic sources, journals, books, official website, newspaper, and magazines are
considered to achieve the desired results (Basias & Pollalis, 2018).
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Data Collection
This is a crucial part of overall research process to gather significant information related to
the research problems. For this specific research, data collection process is done with the help of
various secondary sources like magazines, newspapers, official website, journals, books,
academic sources, and data provided by other organizations. This research is exploratory or
descriptive in nature that is helpful in understanding the impact of influencers on increasing the
sales of fashion companies. In order to verify this fact, information related to fashion companies
of UK is gathered from various sources. The primary data will be collected through the survey
designed so that the views of people can be collected. Basically, interpretivism approach is used
to complete the research so analysis of documents, unstructured observations, and systematic
collection of data are used to gather significant information related to impact of influencers
(Kumar, 2019). Information associated with fashion companies of UK will be gathered for this
particular study. For instance, annual reports of companies are helpful in conducting information
related to the influences used by them to increase sales. In addition to this, articles and journals
given by various authors and authenticated companies will be gathered and analysed for
collecting significant information. Through all these evidence, important data related to the
impact of influencers by fashion brands to increase the sales has been collected so that the study
can be completed in proper manner.
Sample
For conducting the research in significant manner, sample size for this particular research
is 25 in which information related to influencers and their impact on companies’ sales (Etikan &
Bala, 2017). The respondents for the survey have been selected through convenience sampling
method. The number of respondents will be 25 therefore, the sample size will be 25.
Ethical considerations
The research has been done with utmost sincerity. Everything in the report includingthe
findings, analysis, and data has been reported honestly. There is no made-updata in the research.
This research does not present any form of contradictory information. This research has been
conducted with full honesty and integrity. In addition to this, The research has been conducted
with competence as well as carefulness. The data has been properly analysed and examined and
all the reckless mistakes have been avoided. All the records of the data have been managed
carefully including the research, data gathering, research methodology, as well as others.
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Result
The result of research indicates that, the influencers have significant impact on the buying
behaviour as well as it also helps to understand the decision making approach. Through such
study fashion industry is able to provide better services according to the demand. Furthermore,
the paper provides information about the changing environment which able organization to make
decision for sustainable growth. It has been identified that, blog influencers have greater impact
on the minds of customers as their review change perception or decision of audience. There has
been both negative and positive shift in fashion industry which directly impact on the sales of the
company. One of the positive aspect about social media is that, it appeal the global audience
through which company have increased the revenue in shorter time span. From the study it has
been analysed that, customers are more loyal towards influencers who decide the future sales of
fashion industry.
Discussion
Question 1: Do you buy products online?
Options Frequency
Yes 24
No 1
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Interpretation – From the above graph, it can be stated that majority of the respondents,
i.e., 24 out of 25 respondents stated that they do buy products online. This is because they think
that better product quality is available online, there is a lot of variety and also, there are different
deals for different brands. Due to this, the respondents are attracted towards purchasing products
from different online websites. On the other hand, only one respondent stated that they do not
buy products online because they believed that the product quality might be low and the brands
can charge high price for the same.
Question 2: What is your age group?
Options Frequency
Below 18 years 1
18-25 Years 13
26-35 Years 10
36-45 Years 1
45 Years and above 0
Interpretation – From the above graph, it can be stated that out of the 25 respondents, only
1 respondent stated that they were below 18 years of age. 13 respondents stated that they
belonged to the age group of 18-25 years. 10 respondents stated that they belonged to the age
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group of 26-35 years of age and this helped them to respond during the study in an effective
manner. on the other hand, 1 respondent stated that their age group was 36-45 years of age. But it
was observed that none of the respondents were in the age group of 45 years or above.
Question 3: From where do you mostly do online shopping?
Options Frequency
Websites 7
Social media websites 1
Mobile Applications 16
Others 1
Interpretation – From the above graph, it can be concluded that 7 respondents stated that
they shop from, online websites as they are convenient. On the other hand, 1 respondent stated
that they shop from social media websites such as Instagram and Facebook. 16 respondents out
of the remaining respondents stated that they use the mobile applications of various brands in
order to shop online. This is because they get an access to a variety of products as well as
services. this is also because they are able to compare the prices of different products. Lastly,
only one respondent stated that they use other mediums for online shopping.
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Question 4: Do you know who fashion influencers are?
Options Frequency
Yes 21
No 4
Interpretation – From the graph, it can be interpreted that 21 respondents stated that they
were aware about who fashion influencers were as they have either watched their videos or
follow them online. On the other hand, the remaining 4 respondents did not know who fashion
influencers are as they did not have any social media accounts and neither they’d read about
them anywhere. Therefore, it be said that there is a significant level of awareness about fashion
influencers among people.
Question 5: Do you follow any of the fashion influencers?
Options Frequency
Yes 17
No 8
I don’t know 0
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Interpretation – From the above graph, it can be concluded that out of 25 respondents, 17
respondents stated that they follow some of the famous fashion influencers on different social
media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook as well as Twitter because they find their content
to be relevant and interesting. They also felt that the content shared by the fashion influencers is
informative and has helped them enhance their personal styling. On the other hand, 8
respondents stated that they did not follow any of the fashion influencers online. Lastly, it was
found that none of the 25 respondents stated that they did not know if they followed any fashion
influencer or not.
Question 6: Do you adhere to the information they share?
Options Frequency
Yes 8
No 7
Can’t say 10
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Interpretation – From the above graph, it can be stated that out of the 25 respondents, 8
respondents stated that they adhere to the information that the fashion influencers share on their
platform. On the other hand, it was observed that 7 of the remaining respondents stated that they
did not adhere to the information that is shared by the fashion influencers and that it is only a
good way of distracting themselves from their daily routine. Lastly, the remaining 10
respondents stated that they did not have any idea if they adhere to the information shared by the
influencers or not.
Question 7: How do you ascertain the validity of information they share?
Options Frequency
By developing trust 4
Checking reviews of product 15
I just buy products after checking the information shared by an
influence
2
Any other 4
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Interpretation – From the above graph, it can be stated that 4 respondents stated that the
way in which they ascertain the validity of information the fashion influencers share is by
developing a trust on them. On the other hand, 15 respondents stated that they check the reviews
of the products for which the influencers share information. Out of the remaining respondents, it
was found that 2 respondents stated that they just buy the product after checking the information
that is shared by the fashion influencers. And lastly, 4 respondents stated that they ascertain
validity of the information in other ways.
Question 8: Do you think influencers are next generation marketing channel?
Options Frequency
Yes 12
No 3
Can’t say 10
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