Peer Review

This is my final blog for public relations research! Today I will be commenting on two of my classmates posts. First, I took a look at Roberta's fashion blog. In this particular post, she discusses the importance of surveys in the fashion industry. She highlights the importance of consumer feedback, and how this benefits designers. Consumers can rate customer service, new designs, and help predict new trends. For example, if a survey is given to a particular store's customer base whether they like a new pair of leggings or not, these results may influence whether more of this product is made. She also gives us a great example of E!'s fashion police. On this show, celebrity figures are given the opportunity to rate other celebrities' outfit choices. Viewers are encouraged to go online and rate the outfit.
Another blog post I decided to review is Stephanie's Jersey Shore Experiment. In this blog post Stephanie discusses how the MTV hit Jersey Shore was produced to examine the chemistry of individuals. It is similar to Real World because it puts strangers together in a house, yet different because many of these individuals share common interests and share a similar look. Jersey Shore has produced more controversy than any other show recently, yet it has had the highest ratings. Overall, the success of Jersey Shore has proven to be an experimental succes.

Experimenl Research

In Public Relations, experimental research is used frequently in order to gain insight on a new product or behavior. It is a collection of research which uses manipulation and controlled testing to understand causal processes. One or more variables are manipulated to determine their effect on a dependent variable.
In the fashion world, experimental research is conducted in order to research consumer trends.  There are internal and external factors that drive people to shop. Internal motivation may be to keep up with appearances and look your best, while external motivations may be to keep up with the trends that are occurring and fashion among friends. Other factors that may influence someones decision to buy a product may include what the product is made of. This website highlights different experiments conducted in the fashion world, and various ways which people limit their product consumption. One experiment, called the Great American Apparel Diet, challenges people to not buy any new clothing for a whole year. Unfortunately, I had trouble finding an experiment which uses variables, pre tests and post tests.

Surveys in Fashion

Surveys are an important quantitative method used in Public Relations. They help gain insight from the consumer by asking questions that can benefit the company. Questions should not be confusing, and get straight to the point. In addition, surveys should give the participant the right amount of answers to gain a response. For example, in class we were given a list of 10 survey questions and asked what was wrong with each. One of the questions was "Which do you associate with September 11?" and the choices were "Osama Bin Laden, George Bush, or Sadam Husein." This is not a good question because what if you do not associate a particular person with September 11, rather a thought, memory, picture, etc. In fashion, surveys can be general such as "Out of the following which is your favorite designer" to "Do you own a pair of jeggings." While explaining various fashion surveys, I found a page of them on Buzz Dash that gave a WIDE variety of topics that people can cast their vote upon. One question was
1.) what do you think about the $2 million Victorias Secret bra?
     a.) i love it
     b.) i like it
     c.) i dislike it
     d.) i hate it
We are told to stay away from strong emotional words such as "hate" or "love" but in the fashion world I feel as though these  words are used so often to describe new trends, designs, and designers. The surveys on this site are for fun and to look at what others feel about hot topics in fashion. However, designers and fashion websites like to collect data in order to give their readers insight into what other women think and if their opinions may be similar to theirs. In conclusion, surveys in the fashion world can be used for fun in order to let others know what trends are out there and if you agree. In addition, surveys are used to predict whether new designs and trends are working or not, what colors are in and not. This helps designers target certain groups of people and create new designs.