Textile and Apparel Industries

Analyzing Twitter and Instagram Social Networks to Trace the Consumer Opinion Regarding Transparency in the Apparel Supply Chain

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Abstract

Heightened demand for apparel supply-chain transparency and increased usage of social media in sustainability campaigns has created new opportunities to understand public’s perspective toward sustainability issues. Through social network analysis, this study aims to utilize large-scale user-generated data on social media to gain a deeper understanding of public’s views concerning apparel supply-chain transparency. Grounded in small-world theory, this study utilizes #whomademyclothes campaign on Twitter and Instagram as research context. The analysis of social networks formed by the hashtags in 17,030 Instagram posts and 4,530 tweets revealed that public associates sustainability with working condition improvements, environmental protection, community development, and transparency enhancement in the apparel supply-chain. The findings revealed that both Twitter and Instagram users considered working condition improvement as the primary duty to fulfill. This study contributes to the literature by providing a foundation for the use of social network analysis to analyze user-generated social-media data.

How to Cite:

Modi, D. & Zhao, L., (2018) “Analyzing Twitter and Instagram Social Networks to Trace the Consumer Opinion Regarding Transparency in the Apparel Supply Chain”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 75(1).