Audience Preference_ on Fashion and Beauty Vlogging in Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to look into the Audience Preferences on Fashion and Beauty Vlogging in Kenya. It has been ascertained that even though vlogging creates a virtual market place and interaction point, there is a vast stimulus that this interaction and content has on the audience that warrants study. The following research objectives guided the study; to establish choices available to audiences with respect to information sources on fashion and beauty; to establish audience perceptions with respect to vlogs as a source of information for fashion and beauty; and to determine audience preferences with respect fashion and beauty information sources. The study was guided by the Technology Determinism Theory and utility theory. The study used content analysis and survey research design for the study as well as a qualitative approach since the research intended to draw out a clear understanding of how vloggers content influence their audience in Kenya. The sample size for this study was reached through purposive sampling where the researcher identified top fashion and beauty vloggers in Kenya whose content was studied. The study mainly relied on primary data and since it was qualitative in nature, it relied on the use of interviews for data collection. Presentation of data involved the mentioning of the key points and themes based on the research questions. This was done with the help of pie charts, bar graphs and frequency tables. Data analysis for the study was done with respect to thematic areas based on the study objectives and as such the data was organized around. After this, interview responses from the vloggers were analyzed qualitatively through inferential statistics. The study findings showed that the consumption of fashion vlogs over the recent years across all demographic groups has increased. There is a similar trend among all the vloggers studied as shown by the increasing number of views another reason for the rise in the level of uptake is the level of personal connection that the viewers create with the vloggers the video types that are most popular as sources of information for fashion and beauty are mainly the videos on fashion styling and make up application since from the figures, they have the largest figures of highest viewed videos and average video views per vlogger. One very major factor influencing the choice of vlogs by respondents as their information source is the high level of accessibility. In more than 50% of the cases, all of the vloggers receive feedback from their viewers and the kind of feedback given by the audience is mainly in the form of requests for other videos addressing certain areas they prefer. Affordability has been cited by many viewers as a reason for their dependence on vlogs for fashion information. There is audience that looks up to the vloggers for information on fashion and beauty trends in Kenya. Consumer preference and dependence on fashion vlogs can be influenced both actively and passively by vloggers through their content as well as through the kind of engagement strategies they use in their videos. To achieve audience engagement and to influence their preferences via vlogging, vloggers can use interaction and self-presentation. After capturing a proportion of viewers on YouTube, it is possible for the vloggers to steer the conversation on their channels through the videos they post and by so doing, they get a number of dedicated consumers of their content. Feedback helps vloggers to know the impact they have on their audience by showing them how well the videos have been received by their viewers. As a recommendation, there is need for vloggers to make videos on subjects that their viewers can properly identify with. This would result in the members of the audience trusting their channels and as a result use them as a source of information for their beauty needs.