The Role of Social Media Within an Integrated Marketing Communication Strategy for UK Fashion Retailers
Authors:   , Murray Jennifer Charlotte Louise 
Published: October 2024

The evolution of internet technologies has irrevocably changed the way that we access information, creating a communication environment that is more complex than ever before. Web 2.0 technologies, emerging in the late 2010s, have created opportunities for fashion retailers to interact with consumers in real-time out with the bounds of time or space. The fashion consumer has adopted social media as a part of their decision making and everyday life experience and is using it to access information and to connect with fashion retailers and each other. The relative uncontrollable nature of social media has meant that fashion retailers are reassessing the way that marketing communications are organised. The addition of social media to the marketing communications mix presents a challenge in understanding how best to implement these new communication channels alongside the pre-existing channels present within the communications mix. IMC is a theory that has been identified as a possible solution to implementation of social media within the fashion retailing space, with previous literature arguing that adopting a consumer-centric approach that integrates the customer voice within the planning process as having the potential to balance the digital communications mix. This research explores social media implementation in the fashion retail context, while also considering the fashion consumers response to fashion retailers in the digital space. It draws on IMC theory to develop an understanding of how IMC and social media can be implemented within the unique context of fashion retailing. Using a mixed method design, guided by Pragmatic philosophical principles, it explores both the perspectives of fashion retailers and fashion consumers to gain deeper understanding of social media implementation. The research aimed to explore IMC in the context of fashion retailing with the expectation that an implementation framework which considers the context of fashion retailing could be created. Previous literature has explored the problem of implementation and social media however the outputs created have largely been: conceptual, guidance, or not industry specific. This research presents a conceptualisation of IMC that accepts the specific peculiarities of the fashion retailing industry. Building on this an implementation framework is presented, using a three-pillar design, to demonstrate how IMC can be implemented in fashion retailing. This research has implications for wider IMC theory as it represents a conceptualisation of IMC which: 1) refers to the wider digital communications mix, 2) is contextualised within a specific industry, 3) provides guidance on implementation of IMC, a topic which has previously been under represented within the IMC literature. This has implications for IMC research, adding to the debate on implementation, but also has wider managerial implications by presenting a framework that can be used to guide the development of digital communications and integration of social media.