LO5 D2: Evaluating the negative impact of my product

This product could cause some negative impacts on the users and society, some people will not like the idea of not needing to go to a store to buy their clothing and try it on whilst others like the idea of it. A few issues that could occur with the idea of this app is moral panic or people becoming antisocial and people loosing their jobs in stores, the possibility of people developing body dysmorphia due to them not liking the idea of what they look like when their avatar is created. 

An negative impact that could occur due to this app could be the development of body dysmorphia which could further lead t eating problems, this could occur from people having to measure themselves to create their avatar and further seeing what they look like. This situation would be hard to avoid however a method that I could include could be from adding compliments on the screen once people’s avatars are created such as “beautiful” or “handsome,” from including these phrases it would comfort the user more and make them feel better about themselves for they are being complimented on their body. 

Another negative impact that could occur would be the panic people have that this app could cause antisocial behaviour for people would be able to shop online rather than go into a store and socialise. To minimise this occurring there would be an option to collect the items from the store if possible, however people may not always use this option so there would be pop ups of messages on certain items ensuring them that the items they are looking for can also be found in the store. From including this feature it would hopefully encourage them to go to the stores as well and to check what the clothing is like, which further results in them socialising with people still. 

This app could lead to there being a moral panic for people who have jobs in the clothing retail industry, this is because people would be concerned that stores would not need to be open for there would be a app that people could try clothing on instead of having to go to a store. However, some people prefer to try clothing on physically instead of digitally meaning they would more than likely not use the app as much for they would like to try them on in person, they might use the app based on minimising the need to browse stores when they could do their research online. To reduce the possibility of this moral panic there would be further options for people the click & collect the clothing from the store or to order the items in store so they could check the items out in person to determine if they want to buy it or not. The moral panic theory was discovered by Stanley Cohen in 1972. 

A further negative impact that could occur could be people feeling left out in the ethnicities or religion sectors because they may feel as if there is not online clothing brands that are suitable for their religion. To counteract this situation there would be many options for religious people to filter their app so they have their religious clothing brands on their app, this could be done through them selecting their favourite brands at the start of their sign up for the app. 

In conclusion, the negative impacts that could occur due to this app have been accounted for. From coming up with solutions to these possible issues it reduces there to be issues with the app and people becoming offended due to the app.