The omnipresence of online social networks in today's world has reversed the traditional "push-pull" marketing model that even fashion retailers were previously accustomed to. Social networks have had a significant impact on the fashion industry by creating two-way interactivity between businesses and consumers and allowing brands to reach customers globally at minimal cost (Lee, 2009). Blogs, virtual communities, and online social networking sites have empowered “ordinary” people around the world by providing them with a voice that has the potential to influence the purchasing decisions of millions more consumers (Mangold & Faulds, 2009). According to a recent Search Engine Journal report, 72% of all Internet users now connect through social media, with 23% of Facebook users accessing their page at least five times a day (Jones, 2014). This reflects the prominent place that social media has taken in people's daily lives, therefore explaining why 86% of marketers in 2013 indicated that they placed a very high value on social media for their business (Stelzner, 2013 ). According to Nielson, a leading global information and measurement company, approximately 46% of online users rely on social media when making a purchasing decision (Nielson, 2013). As a matter of fact, a third of shoppers surveyed in an Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) study revealed that a brand or product was discovered through social media and that subsequently influenced their opinions during the purchasing process ( Quinn, 2013). and 72% of consumers trust online recommendations as much as personal recommendations in the real world (Olenski, 2012). Despite the statistics and undeniable growing presence of social media in consumers' lives, academic research to date has......middle of paper...in the Harvard Business Review, 53% of consumers on Twitter recommend companies or products in their tweets (Allen, 2013). It has also been found that 87% of online conversations about fashion take place on Twitter (Bloom, 2013). Instagram was chosen due to its recent appearance and growing popularity. Having grown at an exponential rate since its creation in 2010, Instagram, with 90 million monthly users eagerly sharing photos, has led social media conversations to increasingly shift from text to images (Bayless, 2013). Finally, fashion blogs were chosen because the number of women who read blogs daily has grown 300% in the last four years and 44% of women say their favorite bloggers influence their purchasing decision (Olenski, 2012). It is also of particular interest to the author of this thesis, who actively follows numerous fashion blogs.