DOWNLOAD: Media Journey of the Russian Consumer of Fashion Brands
Fashion Consulting Group Study, 2025–2026. Nationwide survey of 1,000 women, income from RUB 40,000, all age groups.
The path to a fashion purchase today is a complex system of «information touchpoints and contacts». Therefore, the «sales-driving» marketing budget should be allocated according to the logic of the customer journey: from «inspiration and trust,» through «comparison and selection,» to «purchase and payment».
We decided to study, measure, and map this journey from the brand to Russian consumers.
Part 1. Where to Allocate Marketing Budgets: Where Russian Consumers Learn About Fashion and Trends
The most influential sources shaping perceptions of fashion remain stores and shopping centers: storefront displays, product presentation, visual merchandising, and the retail environment are the primary factors forming perceptions of trends.
The second most significant channel is brand online stores—the brand’s own digital storefront is also becoming an important tool for trend communication.
The next most significant channel is television: from clothing in TV series and films to the looks of presenters, show participants, and, of course, direct advertising. However, television is losing ground and step by step is giving way to influencers’ personal channels. For fashion, influencers are «mobile media».
Budget prioritization should be based on the sales strategy and the role of each channel:
First priority – «owned touchpoints.
Stores, shopping centers, and online stores—this implies investment in store design and atmosphere, visual merchandising, storefront displays, website content, and engaging lookbooks.
Second priority – «trust-building channels.
Marketplace reviews and customer recommendations. Loyalty programs, feedback on social media, and work on product pages as part of the customer experience—all of these are now becoming part of marketing expenditures.
Third priority – «channels of fashion expertise and emotion.
Social media, video platforms, influencers, and online fashion magazines shape not only awareness of a collection but also the desire to purchase it: they explain how to wear the items, which looks appear current, and what style and emotion the brand conveys.
The main conclusion: in fashion, the marketing budget should be allocated according to the role of each channel along the consumer’s path to the checkout.
Part 2. Generational Media Preference Profiles
Generational differences in media journeys and preferences are highly significant.
In fashion marketing, these differences determine the allocation of budgets across channels. Errors in assessing the priorities and significance of each channel may lead to mistakes in media strategies and dramatic financial losses.
In our study, we not only identified these differences but also measured them quantitatively to demonstrate how the map of influence in fashion communications is changing. These figures will help refine benchmarks for marketing strategies and media planning. All figures are presented on the slides.
Generation X – the generation of pragmatists and traditional media. These are consumers aged 46–60. Values: independence in decision-making, stability, personal responsibility. Investment in comfort.
Media consumption through trust and proven experience.
For this audience, the channels that create a sense of reliability are of key importance: physical contact with the product, the familiar store environment, recognizable media, and established expert sources of information. A low level of trust in other people’s opinions and in the opinions of influencers is characteristic.
Generation Y / Millennials – the generation transitioning from traditional media to digital. These are consumers aged 31–45. This is the generation of demographic upheavals: the birth rate collapse of the 1990s, the SMO, and the outflow in 2022–2026. Values: self-realization, flexibility, balance, experience, development, investment in status.
Media consumption through a balance of rationality and visual influence. This generation combines pragmatic verification of information—through stores, online storefronts, and reviews—with high responsiveness to visual digital content and recommendations from opinion leaders.
Generation Z – the generation of digital speed. These are consumers aged 18–30. They were born from 1997 to the early 2010s. Values: digital environment, visuality, rapid access to information, personalization, sensitivity to identity, uncertainty about the future, a high level of anxiety, and the value of stability. Investment in emotions.
Media consumption through the social environment and visual engagement.
For Generation Z, fashion is perceived primarily through social and visual channels: social media, video, influencers, and recommendations from their social circle, which not only inform but also create the desire to be part of a current style.
Due to differences in generational media preferences, some channels retain trust with age, others rapidly gain influence among younger consumers, while still others gradually move to the periphery. Distrust of other people’s opinions.
At the same time, the «sacred cows» for all generations remain the stores themselves—offline and online—as the fundamental touchpoints with the brand.
Beyond that, the media journeys diverge:
- The older the audience, the more important traditional and «in-depth» fashion sources become—television, print magazines, and fashion shows;
- The younger the audience, the more influential dynamic and «human» channels become—influencers, video content, and brand social media pages.
For example, among the Zoomer audience, interest in television, print magazines, and fashion shows declines sharply. Clip thinking requires mobility and the ability to switch attention quickly: brief, flexible, and overview-oriented. They are less likely to read research or analyze fashion shows. They prefer a ready-made «retelling» from a blogger they consider authoritative. For the mature Generation X, however, influencers are outsiders in terms of influence; they study everything themselves and form their own opinions.
These and other differences in the media preferences of fashion consumers across generations were not only identified but also measured quantitatively and compared.