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Rallying Hashtags as a Tool for Societal Change in Fashion

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Fashion Communication (FACTUM 2021)

Abstract

The influencing power of hashtags cannot be overestimated since they can be used as facilitators of some societal change calling for collective action. Following the influential social identity model of collective action (SIMCA) presented by Van Zomeren, Postmes, and Spears (Psychological Bulletin 134(4): 504–35, 2008), social identity together with collective efficacy beliefs and perceived injustice leads to collective action. Perceived injustice in the fashion domain is usually associated with sustainable fashion which in this paper has a broad concept of being both environmentally and socially friendly. It presumes a call for fighting against environmental pollution including overconsumption and raising awareness of ethical issues such as racism, sexism, ageism, poor working conditions, and low wages in the fashion industry. This paper discusses hashtags’ linguistic and digital characteristics, which could enhance influence on Internet users. The focus is on the rallying affordances of hashtags in the fashion domain, which help raise awareness of environmental and ethical issues. Top-down hashtags promoted by the Fashion Revolution group such as #FashionRevolution, #WhoMadeMyClothes, #sustainablefashion, #slowfashion, #ethicalfashion, #haulternative, and #LovedClothesLast are under investigation. The analysis proves hashtags’ influencing power and discusses achieved changes due to social hashtagged campaigns.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Foreign Languages, HSE University, Moscow, Russia

    Olga Karamalak

  2. USI - Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland

    Lorenzo Cantoni

Authors
  1. Olga Karamalak
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  2. Lorenzo Cantoni
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Olga Karamalak .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. ISEM Fashion Business School, University of Navarra, Madrid, Spain

    Teresa Sádaba

  2. Università della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano, Switzerland

    Nadzeya Kalbaska

  3. IREST/EIREST, Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne, Paris, France

    Francesca Cominelli

  4. Institute of Communication Technologies, Universita della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano, Switzerland

    Lorenzo Cantoni

  5. School of Communication, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain

    Marta Torregrosa Puig

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Karamalak, O., Cantoni, L. (2021). Rallying Hashtags as a Tool for Societal Change in Fashion. In: Sádaba, T., Kalbaska, N., Cominelli, F., Cantoni, L., Torregrosa Puig, M. (eds) Fashion Communication. FACTUM 2021. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81321-5_18

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