Docusoap Celebrities: Attributes That Lead to Success Beyond Reality Television

Honors (Bachelor's)Communication StudiesUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/112109/1/jpearlgo.pd

Court of Appeal found no love for Topshop tank: the image right that dare not speak its name

This article contains an analysis of the first instance and appeal decisions of the "Rihanna" case. In particular, the authors consider the substantive law of passing off in the context of the unauthorised use of a celebrity’s image on a Topshop tank vest top. This is followed by a discussion of the consequences of the case for celebrities, consumers and stakeholders in the entertainment and fashion industries

Why Do People Chase Fashionable Technologies? Toward a Systematic Understanding of IT Fashion Diffusion and Adoption of Fashionable IT

Fashion is a ubiquitous social phenomenon. People chase after fashionable clothes, furniture and jewelry for reasons beyond utilitarian benefits. Many people did not associate information technologies with fashion for a long time. Nevertheless, as consumer technologies become increasingly smaller and more portable, they can be carried around as body accessories that bear social meanings. The fashion elements have begun to exert tremendous influence on consumers’ behaviors and companies’ successes. The advent of fashionable technologies necessitates thorough research on IT fashion. This dissertation aims to provide a systematic understanding of fashionable technologies. It first elucidates the process of IT fashion diffusion based on extant fashion theories and the unique characteristics of fashionable technologies. Then it investigates the reasons why people adopt fashionable technologies by identifying the core characteristics of fashionable technologies perceived by adopters and explicating how these perceived characteristics affect people’s behavioral beliefs of using the technologies. To empirically test the research model, 256 responses were collected by hiring a professional survey company Qualtrics. The results support most of the hypotheses. The current dissertation lays the foundation for future IT fashion research and potentially breaks new theoretical grounds for the IS field

Anak Jakarta; A Sketch Of Indonesian Youth Identity

Anak Jakarta refers to the youth of Jakarta, the trend-setters of the Indonesian youth. This paper gives a sketch of the youth in Jakarta as characterized by their appearance, language and lifestyle. Information is derived from discussions and personal contact with different groups of youth and parents (adults with children) in Jakarta; literature review, observations, as well as from flashbacks given by the adults, providing a portrait of anak Jakarta since late 1980's. The youth in Jakarta is Western (American) oriented, copying from the mass- and social media, often times conflicting with local norms and parental advices. Anak Jakarta profile includes: youth created slang language, school gang fights (tawuran) and brand minded consumerism. Jakarta youth has become the role model for most youth all over Indonesia, especially Jakarta migrant youth. Family upbringing, social contact, peer group and the media play a crucial role in forming, transforming and disseminating the characteristics anak Jakarta identity

Chasing Success: A Cultivated Reality

George Gerbner’s cultivation theory claims that people who consume heavy amounts of media are more likely to be influenced by those messages to believe the media reality as opposed to actual reality. Using cultivation theory as the basis for study, I performed a cultivation analysis examining the intersection of mass media and perceptions of success among college-aged young adults living in the United States. The analysis focused on three main points: (1) How mass media perceives and subsequently demonstrates success. (2) The impact of mass media on young adults living in America. (3) What reality of success is cultivated by these young adults. The top five most-watched music videos from the past five years were analyzed for perceptions of success. Seventy-nine students from Bryant University were surveyed. A message analysis of the music videos revealed that wealth as well as conformity to certain standards of physical perfection and gender-specific behaviors were key elements of success. This study found that college-aged young adults who are heavier consumers of music videos tended to share the perceptions of success as perpetuated by the media over those who are light viewers. However, there were certain elements of success where the intersection of college-aged young adults’ perceptions of success and media were more nuanced and complicated

Researching Campaign Materials for Ellie Mia Boutique

Before you spend thousands of dollars on a public relations campaign, it is important to test the campaign materials to a sample population to see what their thoughts and opinions are. Using their feedback, you are then able to tailor the information in a more effective way, thus, creating and launching a successful campaign that accomplishes all of your goals and objectives. Ellie Mia is a fashion boutique located on Marshall Street in Syracuse, N.Y. This capstone project explores the PR branding methods of the store to increase awareness of its existence, to augment store traffic and business and to build a consistent store image through platforms including photos, an event, a video and a look book. Two photo shoots were conducted with student models. One of the photo shoots took place on campus and was a fall, college theme, while the other was more glamorous and had an edgy, high fashion theme. A video shoot was also made at the boutique, which gave the viewers a glimpse of the store’s vibe and atmosphere and the clothing and accessories that it had to offer. An event invitation was also created to invite students to relax and shop. The promotional package was shown to three focus groups, consisting of six people each. The discussion questions were directly related to the research questions, which gave a better understanding on the participants’ thoughts on the boutique before reviewing the sample materials. The participants were also able to discuss recommendations and suggestions on how to improve the campaign materials before they were actually launched. Half of the participants knew about the existence of Ellie Mia, whereas half of the participants had never heard of it. They all agreed that boutiques generally carry more expensive items than retail and department stores, which was a concern for most students because money and clothing prices are crucial factors in their shopping decisions. Conclusively, if Ellie Mia is targeting students that are willing to spend more money on clothing and fit a size 0-6, then the campaign materials represent the brand well. However, if Ellie Mia is trying to branch out to a newer audience, then the campaign materials need to be altered in terms of using more diverse, student models and perhaps finding more affordable pieces for the store or offering student discounts