| Summary: | The aim of this study is to explore the use of emojis by fashion brands on their Twitter accounts. We conducted a content analysis on tweets created by the top ten fashion brands for the month of December 2016. These top fashion brands consisted of five mass fashion brands (Nike, Adidas, Victoria’s Secret, Zara and H&M) and five luxury brands (Chanel, Dior, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Prada). After training, two coders analysed predetermined categories from a coding scheme in each brand’s tweet, including (1) the presence of an emoji in the tweet, (2) the type of emoji used, (3) the content and context of the tweet, (4) the number of replies, (5) the number and content of the replies that contained emojis, (6) the number of retweets and (7) the number of likes given to the tweet. The use of emojis by fashion brands was minimal and tended to be limited to simple objects as opposed to conveying emotion or brand personality. None of the luxury brands in our sample used emojis in their tweets. In examining the effectiveness of emojis on Twitter, we found that the use of emojis was positively related to the number of replies, retweets and likes. The use of emojis did not differ significantly based on the types of messages. This study contributes knowledge to the development and implementation of effective Twitter strategies for fashion brands. © 2019 Intellect Ltd Article.
|
|---|
