Nike vs. Adidas

Sportswear consumers: Multiple Profiles

The consumer’s expectations in the sportswear market depend on how the profile of individual is. Indeed, an athlete, a sport amateur, an occasional sports user or a person with just a sportswear lifestyle will have very different kind of expectations in terms of the nature of the products, the budget and the frequency of purchase.

The Athlete profile

The athlete category has the lowest percentage of customers. In this category, the sportswear products must tackle extreme using and they also have to offer the best performance. The product serves as a real working tool.

So, professionals tend to have the sportswear products with the best innovation that has ever existed in order to excel in the concerned sport. In addition, athletes trains every day. That is why the product life will be very short and consequently the frequency of purchase will be high.

However, in most of the cases, a professional is sponsored by a brand during competitions. They also can have financial support for training equipment.

To sum up, the budget is very important in that case taking into account the short life cycle and the premium quality.

For instance, Lacoste sponsored French team for the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014, and they distributed more than 10 outfits per member that could be use only for these Games.

The amateur profile

This category is looking for products with good quality and they associate quality with specialized brands (Ex: Nike, Adidas, Puma and so on). So, the amateurs are ready to spend a lot of money in good quality products in order to keep them for longer.

For example, let’s have a look on a sport amateur who runs 3 times per week. This guy is willing to pay an average of 130€ for running shoes every year. His purchasing intention is motivated by the quality and the life cycle of the materials. After running the same kilometers and the same time, specialized shoes (so more expensive) will be more resistant and in a good way than classical basket shoes (less expensive).

The occasional sport user profile

Unlike the previous category, the occasional sport users do not often engage in sport activities and consequently they do not have the same expectations. They are not willing to spend a lot of money in sportswear and they are looking for products, which are more comfortable but still with good quality.

Thus, the frequency of purchase is lower than the amateur’s frequency with an average of 2 years because they use less the sportswear products.

The sportswear lifestyle profile

Since the 90’s, the sportswear lifestyle has invaded the fashion world. The concept tends to have a cool and fashion style. Many brands understood the interest of this profitable

market that it was growing.

Their first target is the young people (10-18 y.o). The frequency of purchase is very important because it is a dress code of every day. In addition, some of people collect and customize clothes in order to have unique piece.

So, in that case, quality and price are not the main preoccupation, the sportwear lifestyle person just want to be recognize by the other, be a part of a tribe. People are willing to pay more money in sportswear products because they are personalized and consequently unique for them.