(Person) Percentage - Sabanci University Research Database

The Asian Media & Mass Communication Conference 2010 Osaka, Japan
Interpersonal influence
According to the respondents claim, they usually started to read fashion magazines
through old sisters and classmates recommend. Reading fashion magazines is like
some kind ‘knowledge-transfer’ that older and senior may lead junior to explore a
new field. But that senior is not just mentioned to those who is really older, the senior
is focused on ‘fashion knowledge’. There is an interesting common finding that
younger girls prefer local and Japanese fashion magazines, but they changed their
favorite to Western fashion magazines while they are getting older.
When I was young, my favorite fashion magazines are COCO and Sugar (both are
Taiwanese fashion magazines). When I grow up I preferred ‘Cancam’, but now I
think I already got into another stage of my life, I often reading Western magazines
now. (D, 25)
To choose a proper fashion magazine is not easy, women must perceive their
appropriate identity and select corresponding magazines to dress up as those models
on that.
I have no idea for which fashion magazine is better, but I think people must choose
proper fashion magazines to themselves, for example, if someone is an office lady
but she always read ‘Sugar’(which target is young girl), it is really not suitable. (C,
25)
Through the magazine’s target-fragmentation strategy, readers can choose ‘proper’
and ‘correct’ fashion magazines for themselves, but also, the readers seems to be
selected by fashion magazines, those media content reinforce readers self-identity.
That is, fashion magazines set up a guideline for women ‘to be the right (on their
dress, makeup, and anything for appearance)’.
Different magazines with different functions
Respondents usually strategically use those magazines. Most of them think local
magazines introduce many skin care and makeup product, that is useful than Western
magazines for easy buying. It is very discouraging when they cannot find those
product recommended on fashion magazines. As respondents A (25) said, she often
used Taiwanese magazines to know the new product, and learned how to outfit
clothes by referring Japanese ones. Japanese are Asians that more like Taiwanese in
ethnic than Westerners. But she used to read Western fashion magazines to receipt the
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