DM7908 - Digital Media Dissertation Immersion Journal

Netnography & Thematic Analysis

This section documents the research process, which satisfies the requirements of Netnography and Thematic Analysis reflective process (Ch.3, section 4 & 7). It consists of an immersion journal to observe the subjective view of the researcher during data collection, analysis and interpretation from online data sets. Thematic Analysis also utilises a reflective journal, however TA is not necessarily an online task and is used to process the development, analysis and interpretation of patterns to find meaning. In undertaking the epistemological stance of social constructionism where luxury is a social construct between creator and consumer through historic and cultural interchange, personal reflexivity is used to create a subjective reality through the construct of patterns and themes by the researcher.

‘The researcher becomes the instrument for analysis’ (Nowell et al., 2017:2)

Data Familiarisation

Thematic Analysis was undertaken to explore patterns across two datasets from the Chanel website. The first dataset was to analyse sustainability brand messaging and the second was to analyse customer reviews of a product that featured sustainable attributes. A third dataset consisted of brand promotional YouTube videos that were analysed to see if the messaging manifested into the brand advertising and therefore affected consumer reviews. Ozeum et al., (2021: 146) state that ‘meaning and interpretation derive from pre-understanding’, which is aided by the familiarisation process. The first impressions were of the founder Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel; her love of sewing and Camelia flowers that have been part of her products. Chanel identifies with the cycles of nature and the championing of women. Brand imagery, iconography and colours reflect feminine characteristics, which is inherent in the brand. The more involvement I had in the datasets, the greater my deductive and interpretative ability grew. It helped to do a little and then come back to it. I would break away and read about Thematic Analysis and on return, invariably my perceptions would change. I would feel quite definite about a code or keywords and then see the data in a different way.

First Impressions

The sustainability information referenced the founder Gabrielle ”Coco’ Chanel and her love of sewing and Camelia flowers, which resonate, through the products. Chanel aligns itself with nature and working in harmony with the ecosystem. The brand strongly identifies with supporting women in the workplace and in all walks of life. The colours have an orange tint, symbolic of creativity. However, it did not go into great detail about its sustainability efforts, which indicates that there is still work to do.

Fig. 1 – Sustainability Ambition Imagery, (Chanel.com, 2024)

Semantic and Latent Meaning

Thematic Analysis provides a way to frame data to detect patterns, which can convey more than the words themselves and the hidden messages behind them. Clarke and Braun (2020) mention semantic and latent meaning and how the analyst may go between the connotative and denotative. It occurred to me that this is another reason why luxury branding held appeal as it often references symbolism, codes and hidden meanings. An example is the Camelia flower, a reference to Chanel’s romantic nature as this was the alleged flower given to her from her favourite lover and is used not only as an iconic symbol but as an ingredient in skincare and perfumes.

Brand Essence

Most of the dataset was covered fairly quickly and it was exciting to discover patterns and insights from the data. It was interesting to see how my perceptions framed the theme titles. An example are the narratives of text that referred to women, which was themed ‘The Female Archetype’. This was an apt title as the theme lent itself not only to Chanel’s female founder but her consumers and workers. The Jungian reference defines aspects of female personality and traits: the lover, the sage, the innocent etc is often used in marketing but has been implemented to represent different female personalities and traits and was well placed to describe Chanel’s social mission to all types of women.

Sustainable Luxury

There was only one product that boasted its sustainability features on the Chanel website, which was No.1 de Chanel, a small skincare range featuring the use of Camelia flowers with 97% natural ingredients and sustainable packaging (Fig. 2). This was not expected as luxury Houses as a whole do not tend to advertise sustainable poducts. Consumer promotional materials were surveyed for sustainability messaging, which revealed the focus was on the luxuriousness of the products, skin benefits and a few sustainability factors.

No.1 de Chanel

There was one luxury product on the website that promoted sustainable features, which was No.1 de Chanel, a skincare line extracted from Camelia flowers. A video on the website, which was not available to be linked or embedded into the journal extolled sustainable virtues such as:

97% natural ingredients
Light weight glass bottle
Organic ink
Refillable
90% bio based material in caps
FSC certified packaging
Carbon footprint transparency

Fig. 2 – Sustainable Luxury Product, No.1 de Chanel (Chanel.com, 2024)

The second dataset then switched from a critical to an experiential framework where the analysis focused on consumer experiences about No.1 de Chanel skincare. This was not surprising as having worked in the aesthetic industry over many decades, client experience is often the leading factor in purchase and the themes were as expected. Skincare is highly experiential and is based on how the product feels, perceived results and its attributes.

Product Advertising

No.1 de Chanel skincare was advertised prominently through videos. There was a collection of eight videos that ranged from model secrets, results, product use, heritage and promo video. The videos were already themed and therefore did not require Thematic Analysis but were arranged by their pre-determined themes into a table. It was interesting to note that sustainability did feature very discreetly.

Chanel Secrets – Liu Wen

Chanel Secrets – Olivia Dean

Chanel Techniques – Olivia Dean

Chanel Techniques Emily Okuda Overhoff

Chanel Secrets Emily Okuda Overhoff

Chanel – Beauty Ahead of Time Product Promo

Chanel – Beauty Ahead of Time Heritage

Chanel Secrets Rianne Van Rompaey

Fig. 3 – Brand Advertising for No.1 de Chanel (Chanel.com, 2024)

Immersive Engagement

Participatory engagement is not required in Netnography although Kozinets (2020) extols the added advantage of immersive experience. It was decided to take some time in Florence, Italy and view luxury brands from the perspective of the consumer. Florence is one of the world’s most popular destinations for high end retail shopping as it has a plethora of luxury brand Houses in short distances from each other. Most brand Houses require an appointment to visit, which is sometimes relaxed if no bookings are taking place. A demonstration of Swiss watches was provided by IWC Shaffhausen, which stands for International Watch Company Shaffhausen. It was founded in 1868 by Florentine Ariosto Jones but now owned by Richemont Group. The demonstration consisted purely of the excellence of the product and the craftmanship without mention of sustainability.

Fig. 4,5 & 6 – Left to Right, Gucci, Chanel and Louis Vuitton, Florence, (2024)

A visit to Gucci also took place. It must be noted that most luxury brand Houses do not permit customers to take photographs to protect displays and consumers, so images were taken outside premises (Fig. 5 & 6). However, Gucci did allow me to take an image (Fig.4) and did talk to me regarding sustainability, which was rare. They told me that ‘all their processes like manufacturing and dyeing fabrics were carried out to high standards and that included environmental measures, however it is not mentioned in advertising as clients are just not interested in sustainability, it may be sad but true’. It was noticed in all the boutiques that sustainability branding was absent, including Chanel, Valentino, Dolce and Gabbana, Prada, Louis Vuitton, and Dior and many other brand Houses that were viewed.

This initial ‘pre-understanding‘ (Ozeum et al., 2021: 146) has been helpful before formalising themes and carrying out analysis as the insights have not only prompted personal perceptions, but those of the luxury Houses themselves when dealing with consumers.