3.The rise of digital media has democratized fashion journalism, shifting traditional power relationships and producing different kinds of representation
Discuss and critically evaluate this statement with reference to the fashion media.
INTRODUCTION
The digital revolution, including the mechanical, electronic and digital technology, took off in the 1980s. This revolution brought tremendous changes due to the computing and communication technologies. Analogous to the agricultural revolution and the industrial revolution, the digital revolution marked the beginning of the information age. The idea is that the current age will be characterized by the ability of the individuals to transfer information freely, and to have instant access to knowledge that previously would have been difficult or impossible to find. The main component of this revolution is the mass production of computers and mobile phones. As a matter of facts, the number of Internet users in 1990, being 2.8 million, increased by approximately 75.000% in the next eleven years, reaching 2.095 billion users in 2011.
The positive aspect of this revolution is that it enhanced society’s growth and development at an impressive rate. The economic impact of the digital revolution has been enormous.Without the World Wide Web (WWW), globalization and outsourcing would not be at the level it is today. Other positive aspects are the interconnectivity, the ease of communication and the exposure to information. These aspects have changed the industries and the everyday life. There seems to be a craving for more information at a faster pace. Radical changes have been noticed in the way people interact with each other and their approach to information.
However, these new positive elements do not come without their drawbacks. The rise of the digital media created an information overload as the users are given the ability to produce as well as consume the data accessed on an increasing number of websites. Finding what you are looking for becomes harder. One of the biggest protagonists in this digital revolution has been the development of the transmission technologies like the computer networking, the Internet and the digital broadcast. The constant connection has created a certain dependency to fast updates, impacting on the quality of the content provided and our approach to integrating information. The influence of the Internet on the fashion industry
The digital revolution has also changed the face of fashion. Initially suspicious about the trend, the fashion houses are nowadays fully committed to the digital world, constantly reinventing themselves and telling more and more upscale stories. Vogue and W Magazine,creating the legendary Style.com website- virtual bible of the fashion sphere- have convinced the high-end brands to be present on the Internet to the detriment of their survival. According to a recent study, the shoppers are “accustomed to having new styles in the stores all the time, and this is forcing luxury brands to be more similar to Zara and H&M in the way they emphasize newness, entertainment and the in-store experience”. The brands have to start rethinking the way they market their collection by creating new consumer experiences.The introduction of the Internet in the fashion industry included the introduction of ecommerce.This market cannot be denied, knowing that in 2010, €81.3 billion have been generated by e-retail in Europe. The potential of this market is enormous. Moreover, the luxury brands noticed that potential clients did note dare to enter their stores due to intimidation. Thanks to the Internet, the consumer is being offered some intimacy. Another advantage of the e-commerce is a better control over the brand image. Indeed, the brands get a direct access to their consumers without passing by the department stores, which might deform their message.
Fashion has shifted from brand centric to customer centric. Attention has been drawn on what the people are wearing in the street, creating new jobs like fashion blogger. Fashion has become more accessible. There are new trends setters and influencers, doing so from their computer. Internet made possible not only to read about fashion but also to have a role in it by sharing your opinion through comments and pictures. The brands no longer work for the consumers but well with them. In addition, the trends seem to travel at a sharper speed due to the interactivity within the consumers. There is a race to immediacy coming from their part resulting in an increase of fashion information. The consumer becomes knowledgeable.A fashion journalist said: “it’s time to re-think and look at what is working and what is not.” The new technologies in information and telecommunication changed the way creative products are produced, distributed and consumed globally. “The Web 2.0 has changed the course of the fashion industry’s future. Is this the death of the runway or the birth of a new way fashion designers and fashion houses market their collections?”.

The influence of the Internet on the publishing industry
As media continues to move into a digital realm, the publishing industries are forced to take a hard look at itself. Their traditional position as information and entertainment providers is being confronted. They need to establish transformations and transition strategies. This is due to significant changes in the audiences’ reading patterns, as the number of content provider increases, and the advertisers’ behaviour that challenge the long-term survival of the newspapers, magazines and books industries. The publishing firms that wish to survive have to adapt their role in creating, processing and storing content and they are forced to become more digital.

Even though the industry is aware of those challenges, it is hard for it to change due to the stiffness of their business model. Today, the publishing companies are struggling with determining how to respond to the disruptive information and communication technologies.Publishing firms have been trying substitute distributions like print-on-demand and e-books.Nevertheless, these are short-term solutions. Picard believes that “the industries should adjust to the new operating environment, to defend their currently strong position as information and advertising providers, and to establish a portfolio of content-driven products that will help develop their capabilities for survival and future growth.”

The importance of consumer satisfaction
In the business world, we know that without customers, there is no business. The customer is at the centre of companies’ interest. Therefore, in order to generate profit, a company has to focus on customers’ satisfaction by answering their wants and needs. Consumer satisfaction is the range of attitude and feelings that the consumer has with a company, based on their experiences. Satisfaction is simple. If you get what you want, what you required, then you are satisfied. Satisfaction is an important attitude as it is the first step leading to loyalty behaviours.
The digitalization is changing the existing market dynamics and requires new strategies.The communication within the fashion consumers is growing and impacts on the fashion trends, which are moving at a faster pace. Consequently, it becomes harder for the monthly print fashion magazines to be up-to-date as they are entitled to a periodical pace and they are forced to cut back in print run, to slash pay rolls and scale back on expenses48 in order to survive.
Moreover, the consumers feel that they have to keep up with these trends’ accelerations otherwise there is a potential loss of valuable options and connections.The fashion magazines have responded to this acceleration by a digital presence. They no longer only rely on their physical presence but they are also accessible through their websites. This study aims at setting the ground for the foundation of a new strategy by discovering the drivers that lead to satisfying readers’ experiences in both the print and the online fashion magazines. This will help the fashion magazines to know on what features they specifically have to focus.

The publishing industry
Publishing is“ to make information available to people, especially in book, magazine, or newspaper, or to produce and sell a book, a magazine or newspaper”. Publishing has different stages, including “the stages of development, acquisition, copy-editing, graphic design, production – printing and marketing and distribution of newspapers, magazines,books, literary works, musical works and other works dealing with information” . In connection to this thesis, I will only focus on the magazine defined as “a type of thin book with large pages and a paper cover which contains articles and photographs and is published every week or month”.
A large number of fashion magazines are being published every month in Japan. Recently, the way of being published has been changed by publishers. For example, we could get a small fashion accessory with a fashion magazine as a bonus. A publisher has come up and started the style since several years ago. After the recession in Japan, people do not tend to buy magazines; therefore, publishers want people to buy magazines more. The strategy was succeeded. On the other hand, the main purpose of magazines has been changed. People just want to get the bonus, so, they do not read articles in magazines. The tendency is very strange. These days some of the publishers have been following the same thing as the first publisher. And then a competition has started with publishers which magazines have a good bonus. Today, these publishers produce magazines which main are not articles but bonuses. I think this tendency is not the real purpose of the magazine. I understand publishers have to sell their magazines and earn money. However, the main purpose of magazines has been changed articles to bonus. To protect publishers and writers, publishers need to consider their main purpose of their magazine.
The fashion industry
The fashion industry has been defined in “Creating Agile Supply Chains in the Fashion Industry” as: “encompassing any product, services or market where there is an element of style and form that is likely to be short-lived, if not constantly changing, with trends. Fashion markets are synonymous with rapid change and, as a result, commercial success or failure is largely determined by internal and external factors, and to a reasonable extent, the organization's strategy, structure, flexibility and responsiveness.” Fashion is an art developed through lifestyles and the way people dress. It is a community of people striving to find the trend of tomorrow.
Consumer experience
Experiences are “physical, cognitive, and emotional interactions with an environment. They are at the heart of consumer behaviour and have an important impact on what consumers learn and remember.” Therefore, consumer experience is what a consumer feels with a product or a service provided by a supplier.
Web 2.0
Web 2.0 is: “the term given to describe a second generation of the World Wide Web that is focused on the ability for people to collaborate and share information online. Web 2.0 basically refers to the transition from static HTML Web pages to a more dynamic Web that is more organized and is based on serving Web applications to users. Other improved functionality of Web 2.0 includes open communication with an emphasis on Web-based communities of users, and more open sharing of information. Blogs, wikis, and Web services are all seen as components of Web 2.0.”
Presentation of the fashion magazines
1.Historic of the fashion magazines
It is in France in 1672 that the first feminine magazine appeared under the name of Mercure Galant. The magazine provided information about the latest clothing styles and was read throughout Europe. The monthly issue appeared in 1677 when Louis XIV addressed the publisher of the Mercure Galant to print a monthly version to enlighten the minds of the court. First illustrated by drawing, the magazine slowly started to deliver photographs of new designs when this technique became more sophisticated in the twentieth century, bringing a new era in fashion. From the beginning, fashion and art were merged and represented by artists. Short articles on fashion written by modern writers were also included.
The most successful and long lasting of the hundreds of fashion magazines that have come and gone is Vogue, created in the United States in December 1892. An important feature of Vogue’s content was its duality. Indeed, it expresses information on the latest trends in “high fashion, art and photography” and run simultaneously advertisements for ready-to-wear clothing.
The fashion magazines experienced a real expansion after the two World Wars as the priorities of the women changed72 and the fashion styles started to turn at faster cycles of change. The success of these magazines really took off in the sixties when they started to target the teenagers, rather than their parents, that had a growing purchasing power and were having their own styles. Today, the most influential magazines in Europe are Elle, Vogue,
Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Marie Claire, Grazia and InStyle.
2. Fashion magazines characteristics
The definition of the fashion magazine that has been followed throughout this thesis is: “A printed publication, issued on a monthly basis, providing information about the latest trends and news in fashion. It also incorporates articles, advertisements, photographs as well as information on clothing cosmetics, accessories and fashion forecasts.”
In ‘More than just a fashion magazine’, Brian Moeran defines the fashion magazines as sociologically interesting on two aspects. On the one hand, magazines are both cultural products and commodities. As cultural products, they “circulate in a cultural economy of collective meanings”. Indeed, they deliver stories, experiential and behavioural models that reflect the readers’ ideal self, on which they can reflect on and act”. As commodities, the magazines are products of the publishing world and an important medium for advertising and sales. On the other hand, related to magazine production, the magazines are characterized by a ‘multiple audiences’ property”. The fashion magazines negotiate relationships between their staff; the advertisers upon which they rely financially; the fashion world of which they play a part and with which they interact on a regular basis; and their readers.
However, the driving force behind the fashion magazines is fashion itself. It is a complicated system and to understand it, it is necessary to first comprehend the connection between the production and the consumption of fashion78. This will be further developed in the next chapter under consumer behaviour in fashion.
In Moeran, the purpose of the magazine has been stated as “to teach the lay public why fashion should be important in their lives. In other words, it legitimates fashion and the fashion world in cultural terms. A fashion magazine helps to form a collective concept of what ‘fashion’ is.” He further declares that there is inseparability between fashion and the fashion magazines. Without the fashion magazines, there is no fashion. They are the linkage between the different actors of the fashion system.
The magazines are based on a bi-annual seasonality (spring/summer; autumn/winter). This cyclical variation is being threatened by the acceleration of fashion consumption linked to the digital technologies. Therefore, it is very important both for economical and cultural reasons that the cycle remains. Indeed, this tempo structures the production that will be able to plan in advance, attracts the advertisers, and reassures the readers. No seasons would be counterproductive for the magazines and consequently for the entire fashion system. counterproductive for the magazines and consequently for the entire fashion system.
3. Multiple readerships
The fashion magazines are in constant interrelations of ‘competing forces’ with the internal (fashion editors, stylist, art director, photographers, the fashion world itself) and external (advertisers and readers) actors of the fashion world. Having different types of reader means serving different purposes.
As they address both readers and advertisers, the magazine editors have to satisfy two main audiences, creating a dilemma in their work. Indeed, the relationship between advertising and the editorial content has led to relevancy criticism. Therefore, the editors are torn between the interests of both the advertisers, and the readers, by representing a bit of everything.Fashion magazines are not only about clothing. They are networks, where they represent people and institutions that constitute the fashion world and their relation must not be underestimated.
Brian Moeran describes further functions:
1. They are important in linking the previous trends with the new ones in order to create a progressive logic.
2. The magazines are connecting the different components of the fashion industry. They are the ones bridging the fashion editors, with the stylists, the photographers, models and so on.
3. They seek to link fashion with surrounding social worlds like the film, the music and the entertainment industries.
4. On a social level, the magazines introduce a system of names, which aims at getting the reader familiar with the professionals of the fashion world.
5. They provide the reader with an entry to the consumption of the fashion industry’s products.
After providing the background information, the following chapter will elaborate on the consumer behaviour in connections with fashion in order to lay a foundation to understand the readers of the fashion magazines. In addition, I will develop the philosophy of the Web 2.0 that will contribute to the comprehension of the online users’ attitude. Finally, I will finish by specifying the consumer satisfaction as to grasp its mechanism and the advantages it provides.

Review of the literature
1. Consumer behaviour in fashion
Consumer behaviour in fashion is quite complex. As Coco Chanel said: “Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the streets, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live and what is happening.” Thus, it is essential to understand the concept, as it is the ground of fashion magazines. In the following section, a description of fashion, motivations, values, the self, involvement and fashion consumer groups will be elaborated.
Description of fashion
Stone describes fashion as “an art and a science and at the same time both personal and public”. Like art, fashion is creative. As a science, the industrial revolution allowed the technology to push the extremes of fashion. It is also a personal business, as it is very specific to someone’s personality. Finally, it is public because you see it everywhere: on the streets, in the movies, across the countries. Thompson and Haytko analyzed the meanings that consumers use to interpret their experiences and conceptions with fashion. They believe that consumers are using fashion in order to express themselves. Fashion allows the consumers to interpret various aspects of their daily lives. It is a reference point that enables them to incorporate cultural meanings. It is a way to express their personality, values and beliefs. Fashion is the expression of a culture.
McCracken describes a culture in two fold: 1) as a lens through which the individual views phenomena, and 2) as a blueprint allowing determining the appropriate social behaviour. “In short, culture constitutes the world by supplying it with meaning.” Therefore, if fashion is the expression of a culture, it helps the consumers to see the fashion through a lens and provides them with the appropriate tools as how to behave in this fashion world. Moreover, he adds that meanings reside in the culturally constituted world and the fashion system is responsible for the transfer of these meanings from the culturally constituted world to the consumer goods.
Based on Bourdieu, Moeran states that the reception of these meanings cannot take place “without a special institution that serves the reception and thus brings about a fruitful dialect between producer and consumer.” In fashion, this institution is the fashion magazines.
Consumer behaviour and fashion magazines
Important factors, in understanding consumer behaviour, are to know the motivations and values of the fashion consumers. Indeed the motivation helps to explain the “why” consumers behave the way they do. Why do people buy clothes? Why do they choose Louis Vuitton or Chloé over Zara or H&M? The values are our beliefs that direct and motivate our behaviour and decision-making. Solomon has given a good definition of motivation: “it refers to the process that lead people to behave as they do. It occurs when a need (something that is lacking) is aroused that the consumer wishes to satisfy.” When this feeling appears, the consumer will try to get rid of it through products and services. For example: a girl who wishes to become more fashionable/trendy will buy a fashion magazine in order to get inspired and increase her knowledge about fashion.
There are several specific needs in fashion:
‐ Need for achievement: based on personal accomplishments.
‐ Need for affiliation: a person’s need to be part of a group.
‐ Needs for power: the feeling that a person has to control his/her environment.
‐ Needs for uniqueness: a person’s feeling that he/she has to distinguish him/herself from the others by his/her individual identity.
In the vein of fashion magazines, the fashion consumers might be reading for a need of achievement, affiliation, power and/or uniqueness. However, which need they will fulfil is specific from one person to another and it is based on the readers’ involvement with the fashion magazines which can be determined for example by sex, age, and status.

2. Philosophy of the Web 2.0
Understanding the consumer of the twenty-first century includes looking at the factors affecting this era. As stipulated in the introduction, the century is marked by a series of event that is tremendously impacting on the consumer. The main reasons for these changes are the technologies and the Internet. The Internet gave the people the opportunity to cut across distances in no time and transformed every relationship on the planet. Nowadays, it is time to start thinking about the globe as a web of political, economic and cultural interconnections due to the technologies speeding up the delivery of information.
Data overload and data mining also describes this century. The huge amount of information created and absorbed by the consumer is the consequence of the development of the computer and telecommunication technologies. More organization are concerned with the spread and effective use of information within their organization. Nevertheless, data mining becomes an important tool to discover the trends and hidden patterns and relationships about consumer behaviour.
The fashion consumer is one of the most affected individual by these phenomena. Therefore,it is important to understand the effects on the consumers, as it will explain the pattern in their consumption of the online fashion magazines.

Consumer behaviour in the Web 2.0
The new shiny Internet of the twenty-first century is defined as the Web 2.0. It is the rebirth of the Internet as a social and interactive medium, originally rooted as a one-way communication from producers to consumers. The content is consumer-generated. This means that the people are sharing their opinions about products, brands, and companies on websites, blogs, and social networks like Facebook and MySpace. This new era embraces a two-way dialogue between the companies and the consumers. The latter can no longer be ignored. The easily available and inexpensive technologies as well as the Internet access allow the consumers to become experts in a matter of hours.

Social acceleration
A possible explanation for the fast spread of the Web 2.0 is the social acceleration defined by Rosa. James Gleick once said: “acceleration is just about everything”. As many observed, modernity seems to be speeding up with all kinds of technological, economic, social and cultural processes and picking up on the general pace of life. This phenomenon is linked to the evolution of the Westerns societies. This can be explained by a “social phenomenon to which the concept of acceleration can be applied”. Social acceleration can be defined under three main categories.
The first category is a technological acceleration. This speed-up is within the society. The people are faster at communicating, at moving and at processing information. In the information age, time is conceived as compressing space. The second category is the acceleration of social change. This increases the speed of the society itself. The main idea is that the rates of change are themselves changing. The pace of the changes goes at a faster speed, impacting on the attitudes, values, fashions, lifestyles and social relations. The philosopher Hermann Lübbe calls this ‘contracting the present’. The last category is the acceleration of the pace of life. This is linked to the compression of actions and experiences in the everyday life. Time, becoming rare, has two effects on the individual. On the one hand, as the people consider time as scares, they constantly feel under time pressure and stress. On the second hand, we do more in less time, giving the impression that we have less time toexperience each activity. This might result in reducing the pauses or doing several things simultaneously.
The fashion magazines are also affected by this acceleration. The Web 2.0 is a technological acceleration
(1.), developed through the Internet and the technologies. This brings a new approach to social practices, communication structure and corresponding forms of life in the fashion world. This leads to an acceleration of the social change.
(2.), increasing the speed of communication exchange and the virtualization initiating new forms of social interaction and identity. So, the communication within the fashion consumers increases and impacts on the trends, which are moving at a faster pace. As a result, it becomes harder for the monthly print fashion magazines to be up-to-date as they are entitled to a periodical pace. Moreover, the consumers feel that they have to keep up with these accelerations of these trends otherwise there is a potential loss of valuable options and connections. This is resulting in an acceleration of the ‘pace of life’
(3.) The fashion magazines have responded to this acceleration by a digital presence. They no longer only rely on their physical presence but they are also accessible through their websites.
There are three motors driving this social acceleration. First, the technological acceleration is due to an economic motor. Western societies are ruled by capitalism, where the key of this type of economy is profit making. Growth is linked to the acceleration of production,distribution, and consumption. The cultural motor is the second driver of social acceleration. The Western societies have this ideal that we have to live a fulfilled life and the world have more to offer than possible to experience in one lifetime. Therefore, there is an increase in the pace of life, as it seems to be the solution to experience twice as fast. The last driver is the structural motor. The people are no longer structured by classes but according to their functional system (e.g. politics, science, art, etc.), creating a growing complexity and leading to an abundance of social options and possibilities. The Internet has created new jobs and new relationships.In the case of fashion magazines, this industry also bases its business model on a profitmaking economy. Money is a crucial factor for the survival of the magazines and is the key to its success. The second motor, I believe, impacts when the fashion consumers are clickingthrough thousands of websites, always wanting to see more in a shorter period of time. Then, the role of the fashion editors is to keep the consumer on the magazine’s website by interesting her with complete information. Finally, I think that the structural motor creates new relations in the industry. For example, the bloggers, who were in the beginning simple consumers with a high interest in fashion, are nowadays attending the fashion shows and influencing the tendencies. They became essential actors of the fashion world and they have to be included in the fashion magazines. It becomes a two-way dialogue between the consumer/readers and the magazines.
Consequences of the Web 2.0
The Web 2.0 has several consequences on the consumer and they are defined under ‘ the cult of the amateur’ and the information overload and processing.
The cult of the amateur
Sir Francis Bacon, who was an English philosopher, once wrote: “knowledge is power”. In our digital age, “information is power”. While the Web 1.0 was linked to the retrieve of information through hyperlinks, the Web 2.0 is characterized as a consumer/participative-generated content. But what are the consequences of such participation on the consumers themselves? In ‘The Cult of the Amateur’, Andrew Keen is rather pessimistic towards this new evolution. He states that “user-generated media is contributing to misinforming our young people, corroding our tradition of physical civic participation, endangering our individual right to privacy, and damaging our sense of personal responsibility and accountability”. The digital revolution is characterized by the noble amateur. They are slowly replacing the professionals. Suddenly, we all become equal: amateurs are professionals and professionals are amateurs. In reference to the fashion magazines, this could imply that if you are actively commenting on the magazines’ websites, you could be a fashion journalist.
Most of the people think that they can trust the information available on the Web. But if the content is amateur- generated, trust can no longer be. The cult of the amateur is destroying the effect on the truth, the accuracy and the reliability of the information we get. According to Keen, the role of the media is to provide a high-quality information and entertainment delivered by professionals, but the amateur is stepping on their work. It becomes harder to distinguish the good content from the bad. Only a few of us have real training, knowledge and experience to generate a real perspective . David Volger talks about a potential danger when the media tools are in the hands of the untrained general public. The Internet is a great tool but it lacks gatekeepers to control the quality of the information, like for books. The truth seems to go away as the Internet grows.Related to fashion magazines, people are creating blogs and websites where they expose their opinion about fashion. Unfortunately these are blurring the fashion experts’ advices and reducing the credibility and the role of the fashion magazines, which are professional reporters from the fashion world.
Information overload and processing
Every year, a Web 2.0 Summit takes place in San Francisco where the leaders of the Internet Economy gather to talk about business strategies. This year, they are meeting to tackle the subject of “data frame”. Indeed, they believe that the consumers are creating a huge amount of data through their exchange in real time. This has an impact on today’s network economy and it is how the industries respond to this opportunity that will succeed or fail in the future. As a matter of facts, the data overload has several consequences on the fashion readers, impacting on their attitudes and behaviours. Information overload can be defined as “the condition by which a person cannot process all communication and informational inputs, which results in ineffectiveness or terminated information-processing. This concept suggests that people have limited capacity for information storing and processing.” The limited processing capacity allows the human brain to only handle an adequate number of information simultaneously. If the inputs overtake this number, the information-processinglevel begins to decrease. Second, the overload impacts on concentration. The human brain is at its best when it processes information on a one by one basis. The overload forces it to multi-task, which reduces its efficiency, slows down the processing and increases the lack of concentration. Therefore, the fashion magazines’ web designers must take into consideration the processing capacity of their readers. The fashion reader cannot be overwhelmed by information at the risk of reducing the process of the message.Nevertheless, a study proved that readers responded positively to high amount of information on websites, as it gives it a value and a persuasive character. Moreover, readers access more information as the amount of information provided on website increases. But they may not realize that the information available is exceeding their processing capacity. If we are accessing more websites, it does not mean that more is processed. On the contrary, we become more mentally superficial as we only skim through the information. According to Maryanne Wolf, we are what we read and how we read.
A study by Mark Bauerlein has found a relationship between the rise of the digital literacy and the decline of cultural literacy. He described that the “the Internet is undermining both our ability and our desire to read anything beyond short posts and instant messages.”
Applied to the fashion magazines, this means that attention has to be drawn 1) on the amount of information available, linked to the persuasive character of the website, and
2) on the layout and the length of the information content to reinforce the processing of the message and to attract a skimming generation.
In addition, the data overload impacts differently on people depending on their ability and motivation. According to the Elaborated Likelihood Model (ELM), a message is processed differently according to the readers’ involvement. A message takes a central route to processing when the reader is highly involved with a product. This route is likely linked to the attitude following a standard learning hierarchy of effect. On the other hand, a message takes a peripheral route when the reader is not motivated to deeply think about the argument presented. Thus, the high-involvement fashion readers seeking for more information areless affected by the overload of data than the low-involved fashion readers. On the contrary, the lack of information is disturbing them1. High-involvement readers need a lot of information about fashion to be aroused. This could explain why they would rather go online, where more information is available. Therefore, the information level in fashion magazines is crucial in catching users interest and attention, depending on the type of involvement. As a result, the magazines have to decide whom they wish to target.The elements of consumer behaviour in the Web 2.0 are important to keep in mind when interpreting the results from the online fashion magazines because it might provide an explanation as why the respondents answered the way they did.

Consumer satisfaction
Consumer satisfaction is the last step in the literature review that needs to be developed to fully understand the scope of this study. Consumer satisfaction may not have been considered as a key organisational goal in the eighties and most of the nineties but the concept is not new. Satisfaction is important as it has direct effects on a company’s performance. The main idea is that it puts the consumer on the top of the agenda. Satisfied consumers are easier to reach with communication, likely to increase purchase volume and more tolerant to price increase.

Definition of satisfaction
Many definitions of the concept “consumer satisfaction” have been developed throughout the years. The most straightforward definition was provided by the renowned Professor, Philip Kotler: “if the product matches the expectations, the consumers are satisfied; if it exceeds them, the consumer is highly satisfied, if it falls short, the consumer is dissatisfied.” The key in this description is that satisfaction is based on the consumers’ expectations and their judgement on the performance of a product or a service. Hence, Oliver Richard defined satisfaction as “a judgement of a pleasurable level of consumption-related fulfilment, including the levels of under-fulfilment or over-fulfilment.”
Related to the fashion magazines, this definition has three implications:
1. The satisfaction judgement is the evaluation that the fashion consumers attribute to the online and/or print fashion magazines when reading. It is based on a variety of fashion magazines’ aspects like for example the layout, the content and the photos.
Their opinion emerges across their experiences.
2. Fulfilment comes in different varieties. The fashion readers might feel fulfilled or satisfied when realizing that the magazine contains what they expected like pictures, articles and advertisements. Or the consumers may feel over-fulfilment when for instance the magazines is a special issue or when the website present an exclusive video of “behind the scene”. Finally, the consumers can experience under-fulfilment when, for example, the magazine is filled with advertisements.
3. Satisfaction is an internal state, meaning it is personal to each individual. It is based on the consumer’s own perceptions. Two fashion consumers who read the same fashion magazine may experience different level of satisfaction. This can be the case with the advertisements, some readers are highly amused by looking at them others think it is a waste of time and paper.

Other researchers believe that consumer satisfaction is simple if you meet the requirements of your consumers. It is a “measure of how your company’s total product performs in relation to a set of requirements.” There are two sides in measuring satisfaction. On the one hand, you need to measure the expectations of the consumers, which is linked to the importance rating.
Identifying the consumers’ requirement is key and you have to attribute their relative importance. On the second hand, there is the satisfaction part, which is the performance rating related to the company’s performance. The consumer will compare, consciously or unconsciously, the products from different organizations. In relation to the fashion magazines, the consumers’ expectations could be the beauty of a layout in the print or on the website. However, beauty is subjective and its importance might vary from one person to another. In terms of performance, the consumers might evaluate the ease of navigation of a fashion magazine’s website or the quality of a print. In other words,satisfactions judgements related to the expectations are more subjective and emotional than the quality judgements related to the performance of the product.
Satisfaction can also be characterized in terms of feelings and attitudes. It is a relative concept. It is the consumers’ subjective judgement, feelings and attitude they hold about the extent to which the supplier has met their requirements. Linked to the fashion magazines, it would be the range of feelings that the consumers have when reading online and/or print fashion magazines.
The reason why it is important to define consumer satisfaction is because it is a key lead indicator to consumer behaviour, resulting in company performance. Satisfaction is an attitude, revealing how satisfied the fashion readers feel with the fashion magazines. This attitude could lead to loyalty behaviour. Even though consumer loyalty is extremely important for fashion magazines, I do not want to further explicit myself on this subject. One of the reasons is that online fashion magazine websites are not always profitable even though their readers are loyal. The magazines are challenged in their digital business model. What I try to define is what really satisfies the fashion readers and based on these characteristics, help the fashion magazines to build a new and profitable digital business model.

Causes of satisfaction
There are several basic points that contribute to consumer satisfaction.
Quality
A key determinant and predictor of consumer satisfaction is the consumer’s perception of product performance. This is translated by the perceived quality of the fashion magazines by the readers. The more favourable the fashion magazines’ performance, the greater the readers will be satisfied. Many researches believe that quality is an ideal and that it paves the way to satisfaction, which is crucial to maintain a competitive advantage.
Quality can be distinguished by the design and the conformance. Quality of design reflects the extent to which a fashion magazine has the intended features. For example, magazines with think covers would be considered to have a better quality of design than the magazinethat do not. The quality of conformance reflects the extent to which a fashion magazine conforms to the intent of the design. But there is no such thing as ‘objective’ quality. Perceived quality is based on comparative standards, differing among consumers and involves personal preferences. It represents the value that the consumers attribute to the fashion magazines. Quality perceptions are guided by how well the fashion magazines fulfil the fashion consumers’ drivers, motives, needs and wants. A satisfying fashion magazine quality meets the requirements of the fashion readers. Quality has both cognitive and affective aspects.

What differentiate an experience in the print version from the online version? The first question of this study focuses on the differences in consumer experiences between the print fashion magazines and its online version. In order to answer this question, I will compare both versions based on the average of their performance in regards to similar features between the print and the online fashion magazines.I would like to start this first discussion with a general comment.It seems that the print fashion magazines perform better on a general level than the online versions. This is a key element of observation for the fashion magazines’ companies. As explained in the problem identification, the magazines have to move to a more digitalized business model. Hence, I will go through each feature and I will try to provide an explanation as to know why there is a difference.
First, based on the consumer’s own experiences with the fashion magazines, it seems that the best performing features in both kinds of magazines are the inspirational factor, showing the new tendencies, the updates and the quality of the photos. I am not surprised to realize that the inspiration factor as been graded as one of the most performing features in both versions.
My interpretation is because fashion is a culture. fashion tells you how to see the world and how to behave in it. Thus, the fashion magazines,as institutions of this culture, are helping the fashion consumers to understand how to see and how to behave in the fashion world. Moreover, I believe that this inspiration factor is linked to a need. Depending on the consumers’ involvement with fashion, the fashion readers might feel a need for affiliation if they wish to be part of the fashion world. As other consumers might use the fashion magazines as an inspiration because they wish to express a need for uniqueness. Secondly, it is reassuring to see that both versions of the fashion magazines are performing well when regarding the new tendencies of the season. Indeed, representing whatis new is the primary purpose of these magazines. Thirdly, as expected, the magazines are highly updated. With common sense, the online version is more up-to-date than the print and also seen as a very positive attribute to the online version of the fashion magazines.
Even though both kinds of fashion magazines perform well on those features, there are differences between these two versions that I will now cover. The first difference is linked to the relaxation feature. Indeed, the print fashion magazines score higher than the online version. The result was expected, as the difference had been covered during the focus groups where the participants described a feeling of stress when going on fashion magazines’ websites. They concluded that the main reasons for this feeling are created by the overload of information and the clutter.Indeed, reading print magazines is more relaxing than going online, as the readers encounter fewer challenges. For a positive online experience, the consumers would have to create flow, which is a combination of a maximum of challenges and a maximum of skills. In this case, the challenges are referring to the overload of information and the clutter.
The second difference is about the appealing layout, which had been defined as the fit between the typography, the pictures and the content. Again, the print fashion magazines scored higher than the online version. My interpretation is that the appeal of the layout is associated to the amount of information presented. The fashion magazines have more information (and updates) on their websites than in their printed version, which challenges our information processing and gives an impression of clutter. Moreover, according to Keen, we are becoming mentally superficial as we skim through the information due to the Internet and the increase of information. Therefore, the layout becomes a key element for skimming.
For these reasons, I believe that the augmentation in information increases the clutter impression, that consequently decreases the layout appeal and it becomes harder to skim.
A second explanation to this difference is linked to the expression of the fashion magazines’ personality. Indeed, during the focus groups and the personal interviews, the participants described the fashion magazines’ websites as lacking visual distinction between them. This means that the websites tend to look like each other, as on the contrary, the print versions are very particular to each magazine’s personality. The online fashion magazines’ creativity is not as prominent as the printed magazines.
The selling dreams factor is the third feature that distinguishes the print from the online fashion magazines. This result was rather unexpected. Indeed, participants in the focus groups have expressed positive statements, like ‘fashion magazines are representing glamour’. My interpretation to this gap is that this feature is connected to the self-image. Because the fashion magazines tend to show beautiful and skinny girls, the fashion readers are challenged in their self-conception and stress is created. Therefore, some fashion readers may feel that the magazines are destroying their self-definition and/or self-evaluation.
Fourth, there is a difference when it comes to the quality photos, which have been described as stylish, directed and creative. The performance of the print is again better than the websites. I believe that there are several explanations to this result. First, I believe that this is because the free website of the fashion magazines (it is different if you subscribe) does not contain the long photo reportage presented in the printed magazines. The reason for not displaying them is because it costs a lot of money to the fashion magazines to produce these pictures. Therefore, the websites only provide pictures covering the catwalks and parties, which are not connected with expensive producing costs. Moreover, I think it is due to the fact that on the one hand, the fashion readers see the activity of ‘reading on the screen’ as a negative experience as on the other hand, the quality of the paper makes it a positive one. So, the breach might just be linked to the medium itself.
The fifth gap is the appealing visual as a whole. The print fashion magazines have a more appealing visual than the websites according to the respondents. I believe the reason for this is because the fashion consumers associate the attributes ‘real tangible object’ (not virtual) and ‘when it looks like something precious’ as positive experiences. It can also be linked to the layout appeal that we saw previously. This can be explained through the extended self. Indeed, the fashion magazine allows the readers to express their personality. The visual of the magazine is appealing to them because they believe it reflects their personality. If the fashion magazines were to be lying on a table, the guests could have an idea as who that person is by just identifying the magazines. In addition, I assume this is also related to the cover, being the actual paper representing the magazines from a viewers view. The fashion readers (both consumers reading only the print and reading both) have been grading the cover as the best positive experience when reading print fashion magazines.
This means that the attraction is emotional. The involvement is following an experiential hierarchy in the Hierarchy of Effects. The fashion consumers feel a hedonic consumption towards the fashion magazine. This proof that fashion is emotional even though the people might be highly involved (i.e. their high interest in fashion forces them to acquire more information on the subject).

Print requirements
The requirements for the fashion consumers that read both kinds of magazines and the ones that only read the print have been merged, as their requirements are fairly similar. When there is a difference, it will be pointed out.
The main print requirements
The first main attribute required by the fashion consumers for the print fashion magazines is the presentation of the new tendencies of the season. This was rather expected, as it is one of the main roles of the fashion magazines and it has been expressed during the print focus group. Moreover, this confirms Bailey and Seock who stated that: “the most important is that fashion magazine content focuses on providing information on the latest trends and news in fashion.”
The second and the third requirements are quality photos and quality content. Quality is certainly very subjective and differs from one reader to another as it concerns personal involvement. During the focus groups, the participants were talking about a perfect fit between the models, the clothes and above all, the key element, the light. Regarding the quality content, it has to be well researched, written and executed. In the focus groups, the respondents were talking about a match between the articles and the personality of the magazines. Indeed, it is a matter as how and whom they present in the articles. For example, there are some celebrities that cannot be represented because they do not fit the personality of the magazine.
The fourth requirement is the cover, which has to be attractive. As I explained in the previous section, the attraction towards the magazine through the cover follows an experiential hierarchy of effects. The fashion readers want to be emotionally attracted by the magazine.before reading the issue and have an opinion about it. Indeed, the print focus group did point the importance of this major detail that would unconsciously lead them to read the fashion magazine. This attraction might be different among the readers due to their personal involvements.

The minor print requirements
These requirements have been qualified as minor because they have been chosen by less than a quarter of the whole sample. However, I believe that these still have to be taken into consideration because they might play an important part in the diversity of a magazine.
I noticed that the consumer granted more importance to the clothes showed on models over the clothes showed on the VIP/personalities. My interpretation is that fashion is intrinsically linked to top models. Their beauty is still what makes fashion attractive and glamorous.
Nevertheless, this result contradicts what has been covered in the focus groups, as they ask for clothes showed on VIP/celebrities over the ones showed on models. Another requirement is the presentation of new fashion designers. I believe that the people requesting so are highly involved readers. I have been measuring this link by crossing the reading frequency and the requirement. It has been confirmed by the consumers reading both types of fashion magazines as it as been rejected by the consumers that only read the print.
Even though the readers like print fashion magazines, they still require links to blogs and websites (including the fashion consumers that only read print fashion magazines). Indeed, this proves that we are entering a more digitalized world. The Internet can no longer beignored.
An additional requirement is the personality of the magazines. This one should be clearly stated. My understanding is that each fashion magazine is referring to a certain type of woman. For that reason, the fashion readers identify themselves to these women through their self-conception and they also wish to express who they are by having the magazine as part of their extended self.
The final minor requirements are the catwalk section and the review of different styles. The former is requested as it might be linked to the requirement about the new tendencies. The catwalk allows the readers to have a straight overview on the main upcoming trends.
Online requirements
The main online requirements
The first main online requirement is critical for the fashion magazines’ websites, as it has been chosen by more than 60% of the respondents and covered in the personal interviews. It is the ease of navigation. This request embodies further requirements which have also been defined as important, including: a well structured home page, a clear and simple menu, a slide show on the pictures, the research bar and the zoom function. I could not help noticing that these requirements, compared to the print, are first axed on the functionalities of the website rather than on its content. My interpretation is that the readers need to reach flow in order to truly enjoy what they read online. This confirms the theory of Novak, who believes that good online consumer experience is positively correlated to fun, recreational and experiential use of the Web. The playfulness, expressed through these requirements, is an important indicator of flow, which is key to attain positive online consumer experiences.

Conclusion
Fashion magazines operate in a dynamic media market where the influences of the technologies and the Internet have changed the reading patterns of the readers. To secure their survival in the future, the fashion magazines need to re-think about their strategy and current situation. I believe their transformation or change in strategy should take its point of departure with their readers. Indeed, companies and consumers see things differently. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to discover the drivers that lead to satisfying consumer experiences with the fashion magazines as well as what differentiate an experience in the print version from the online.

11. Bibliography
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