The third ethical problem of the increased use of social media in the fashion industry is that it creates inconsistencies regarding communication between the brand and the consumer. This problem stems from what most people find to be the best part of social media. While social media allows for customers to connect directly with certain brands and bloggers, consumers cannot necessarily trust that they are getting all of the honest truth from the brand. That authentic feel that customers love when they see an influencer post about a certain brand actually is the opposite, as “what most customers don’t know is that behind a seemingly casual post goes hours of thinking and crafting. The post may give an impression of spontaneity. In reality it is anything but” (Fateh). Influencers are told exactly what to post about the brand on their various forms of social media, so what the consumer sees is not the influencer’s honest opinion. Social media has caused the fashion industry to be entirely image-based, not caring about the authenticity of the brand and their mission. Brands are employing popular celebrities and influencers to endorse their products and post on Instagram about them in order to gain a larger following, even if the certain influencer does not actually like that product or brand. While consumers think they are getting a genuine endorsement from brands and influencers, in reality “They don’t reveal too much. What we see is highly curated. Yes, fashion houses are using social media to engage with their fans, but it’s in a very controlled way” (Hope). Consumers believe that they are seeing behind the scenes footage, yet the fashion brands are posting extremely planned out images. While it is not inherently wrong to use celebrity endorsements to gain a following, it is wrong that the brands are controlling how the said celebrities post about their products. The celebrities and influencers should be giving an honest representation of the brand and their message. The counter argument to the idea that consumers are not getting the truth from brands is that “A brand ambassador is no longer just the face of a campaign but the voice of it – they connect brands to their audiences. This explains why a strong, authentic and engaged social media following is of utmost importance to brands when identifying talent to work with” (Fleming). Some brands are capable of attaining this genuine relationship between the brand, influencer, and consumer, however in most cases, the influencer is just saying and doing whatever the brand tells them. This use of celebrity and fame strictly for numbers is seen clearly through Maybelline as they used Gigi Hadid to make her own makeup line due to her “37.5 million Instagram followers, 4.2 million Facebook followers and 8.21 million Twitter followers,” (Fleming). Hadid has no prior experience or expertise in creating makeup, however she has a large following and span of influence so the brand decided to use her. Consumers should be getting products made by experienced individuals, not just some influencer who has a lot of social media followers.
