The Influence of Fashion Bloggers on the Consumer Behaviour of Big City Residents in the Сontext of Foreign Brands Exit (on the Example of Moscow)

The mediatization of people's daily lives has a contribution on the consumer practices of residents of large cities, and the fashion industry is no exception. At the same time, significant changes have taken place in the fashion market over the past two years: foreign brands of clothing, shoes and accessories, as well as glossy magazines, have left Russian market. Thus, fashion bloggers, who perform as communication agents in the fashion market, have become one of the main opinion leaders who are able to influence the broad masses of their audience and their consumer behaviour patterns. The aim of the study was to identify the influence of fashion bloggers on the women's consumer behavior in the context of the departure of foreign brands. In existing studies, the aspect of socio-cultural influence on this process has not been fully studied, which creates scientific potential for this work. The objectives were achieved using the methodology of mixed methods research: qualitative content analysis was used, as well as a quantitative survey in which 204 people participated. The empirical object of the study is women aged 18-54 who live in Moscow and consume the content of fashion bloggers at least once a month. The key method in the work is the use of structural equations (SEM-modeling), which make it possible to identify both direct and indirect links between trust in bloggers, broadcast attitudes and the expression of types of consumer behavior in relation to clothing, shoes and accessories. As a result of the conducted research, the influence of fashion bloggers on consumer behavior was established in the prism of the following concepts. The level of trust in the blogger affects the severity of both broadcast attitudes (cognitive and emotional) towards Russian brands, which, in turn, affect the expression of consumption types in women. A significant influence was found between emotional attitudes and types of consumption of “shopaholism” and “listening”, cognitive ones influenced only the severity of the type of “passivity”. The results of the study can be applied both for further study of the aspect in science and used for practical purposes to promote brands.