It was in economics that it connected for me. I was an art major while also earning a degree in business administration. The understanding of economics played a huge role in understanding human behavior. My instructor told us that day that the maturation of an economy peaks at diverse artistic expression.
The relationship between art and cultural evolution has always existed and artistic expression has always played a role in conjunction with economic changes. It is both a form of intimate and personal expression and a loud symptom betraying the secrets that motivate it – at a micro individual level and at a macro economic level.
Fashion is one form of artistic expression that has been studied for centuries; because the study of cyclical fashion and its relationship with economic hardship or economic growth helps inform marketing and product. From the longer sleeves and hemlines in the post war 30s to the invention of rhodophane by Elsa Schiaparelli, I was fascinated by how human consumption of art and expression through art seemed almost manipulated through external influences. Having a degree in fashion, business administration and being a researcher for over 15 years is the type of combination that makes you think about artistic expression and the consumption of brands in combination.
To truly understand the consumption of fashion we must understand how art is a desire to stand out and also be culturally accepted. Except, in today’s world, we do not digest one fashion magazine from France and look up to one Couturier like Charles Frederick Worth – we have thousands of designers, fashion shows, magazines and through the technical revolution and the digital age are now struggling to identify our brands in a multi trend fast cycling world. Catching up can seem impossible where the struggles for independence and societal acceptance are unique to each niche cohort. It’s a niche within a niche within a niche… so this is why my mom always claimed that 99% of fashion businesses fail within their first year.
You can’t sell the right product to the right person in the right place and at the right time if you don’t know who the person is, what they want, and what their trade-off in terms of value perception for price is. Speaking to real consumers about your brand is really the only way to understand how (not if) your brand can succeed.
- Running a segmentation study can be a great way for you to understand and learn about the cohorts of consumers that are likely to buy your brand, how many are out there, and how to reach them. A segmentation is not derived from age and gender, but really from understanding those cultural, economic, psychographic, attitudinal, spiritual whatever you want to call them human attributes that determine how we are similar and how we differ.
Impact: this enables us to create the right product to the right person and market that product in the right way.
- Concept development and concept testing are used to determine what products to bring to the brand, what categories fashion buyers want from the brand, and what price they are willing to pay. Analytic tools like Gabor Granger pricing and TUR (Total Unduplicated Reach) can help you understand and measure multiple product lines / SKUs to identify price and revenue potential and the optimal combination of products.
Impact: this enables us to provide the right products at the right price and get those products into the hands of our customers. Doing this type of research can also be ideal for start-up businesses to take market sizing potential to investors or for brands releasing new products or products to new markets.
- On site secret shops are a great way to test the full customer experience in real time using trained professionals who can evaluate everything from accessibility, to signage, to in store POS experience, to returns and in-store atmosphere.
Impact: this enables us to optimize the full purchase cycle our customers go through to understand potential barriers and to improve in-store and online shopping experiences for our customers and prospects. We cannot be everywhere – but secret shoppers can.
- Digital ethnographies or online diaries are a modern, engaging and media rich way to get into the homes of consumers without actually being there. Allowing you to get inside the closet with shoppers, follow them along their shopping journeys or having them log their shopping experiences through images, videos or selfies.
Impact: this enables us to understand more real time feedback from consumers about the decisions they make or may have made in the past. It allows for expert moderators to identify motivators and barriers surrounding behaviors they log and share as well as better understand those defining moments for consumers.
Of course, there are many applications and tools for research to support a fashion business. Understanding digital buying journeys of fashion shoppers, doing campaign testing are just some other examples. The biggest take-away is that we are complex beings in an increasingly complicated world. Understanding our behavior, our needs and wants, and how we express ourselves is essential to a fashion brand to succeed in today’s world.
Research methodologies outlined here are not limited to fashion brands, these are all techniques that can apply to other categories. To learn more reach out to Nune Hovhannisyan at Nune@luxinsights.com.