Fashion and Sustainability: Social Listening Project
The following was my first self-guided Python programming project, created in Fall of 2019. It was my first time employing the sentiment analysis techniques that would later inspire my Senior Thesis.
What are users on Twitter saying about "sustainable fashion"?
Can we use sentiment analysis to guide brand decisions?
Hashtag use on Twitter.
This figure displays the frequency of hashtags that appeared in tweets about ‘sustainable fashion.’ Aside from variations of the keyword analyzed, notable hashtags include #fashionweek and #fashionshow, signaling that consumers were interested in sustainability as it was being presented (or not presented) on runways. Another note is that locations were tagged, with NYC and Los Angeles making the cut of the most-used hashtags.
Location of Tweets.
Much of the data analyzed came from Twitter users who did not disclose their location. Those who did were, predictably, located in metropolitan fashion hubs like London and New York City.
What are consumers looking for?
At the time these tweets were scraped in December 2019, the holidays seemed to influence much of the conversation. ‘Sustainable gift’, ‘Christmas’ and ‘gift season’ all indicate that consumers were looking for ethical options during their searches.
Implications for Brands: My scrape in early December would have predicted the popularity of sustainable gifts in 2019. The data above shows Google Trends based on Web Searching from the last five years. From December 2018 to December 2019, there was over a 300% increase in searches for ‘sustainable gifts’. Brands with the ability to scrape and analyze social media conversation on Twitter could have adjusted their SEO strategies to meet the consumer’s interest in shopping for sustainable gifts during this time period.