Value creation and appropriation in social media - the case of fashion bloggers in Sweden
Journal article, 2013

This paper explores and explains the emergence of commercial blogging. Studying the contents of 18 of Sweden's top fashion blogs, our findings suggest that bloggers create value by generating improved transaction efficiencies. Fashion bloggers have high credibility and thus facilitate the flow of consumer information and choice. The blogs present a combination of private and commercial content, thereby creating a customer intimacy that differentiates them from more traditional market channels. The value of these relationships is appropriated partly through advertisements and partly from other sources of revenue, such as the creation of brands and online stores. Bloggers have become powerful intermediaries who often have a better contact with end consumers than fashion firms. This paper therefore suggests that management of the blogosphere is an emerging source of competitive advantage for fashion firms.

blogs

fashion

Sweden

transaction costs

business model

social media

Author

C. Pihl

Stockholm University

Christian Sandström

Chalmers, Technology Management and Economics, Innovation and R&D Management

International Journal of Technology Management

0267-5730 (ISSN) 1741-5276 (eISSN)

Vol. 61 3-4 309-323

Subject Categories

Economics and Business

DOI

10.1504/IJTM.2013.052673

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3/1/2018 7