ATHLETES BUYING BEHAVIOUR ON SELECTED SPORTSWEAR

BRAND : A BASIS FOR MARKETING PLAN

_______________________

A Research Proposal Presented to

Ramon A. Victor, Ph.D.
Faculty of the Graduate School
Institute of Accounts, Business and Finance
Far Eastern University
Manila

_______________________

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Course
RESEARCH METHOD IN BUSINESS

________________________

by

OJUOLA, EMMANUEL O.
2019
 CHAPTER 1
THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND
Introduction
Sports and games have become two of the most important elements of human life as it contributes

to both the physical as well as mental fitness. To date, people are trying to get involved in sports

activities to build their team spirit, mental strength, constructive use of time, confidence and

decision making which in has created a rise for the sports goods industries like Nike, Adidas, and

Puma, among others. These industries are now competing against each other to become the world

leader in sports industry with the help of newly innovative branding techniques and marketing

strategies to attract more customers.

Brand allows consumers to select out of the countless collective items and gives them a

reason to buy the product. Brand is basically the experiences people have had in past in relation to

the goods, service, and the companies that produce and deliver the product. Branding is a very

important aspect in business as it can make or break business interests, which can destroy image

or build public trust and credibility. Product Branding depends on the creation of impact in the

consumer’s perception. Customers’ perceptions on product brands are shaped by experiences

which are brought about by the design, comfort, quality, price, reliability, ease of use, social status,

make the customers feel better, improve their performance, make their job more gratifying or easier

etc. Once a customer likes a brand he or she will definitely come back for repeated services or

products purchase. The qualities of the product or services are conceptualized in the customers’

minds through the brand imaging. Brand recognition is acquired when a brand is widely known in

the marketplace. The ability of creating and retaining a brand is called brand management. With

the demand for sports goods, various sportswear brands are trying their best to satisfy the

customers with the help of new marketing strategies which can influence the consumers to change
brands of the product(s) they usually purchased. Hence, the buying behavior of the consumers

likewise could be changed helping them make purchase decisions.

This research is being conducted to determine the influences of the product branding to consumers

buying behavior. Further, it will find out the level of awareness of the consumers in sports brands

and how do they make their decision to buy a particular brand considering factors such as price,

quality, reliability, availability, design, innovation and comfort. In addition, the research will

analyze the impact of brand perception on the buying behavior of the customers in choosing

sportswear brands.

Background Information

The research will consider sportswear brands like Nike, Adidas, and Puma determine the impact

of brand perception on consumer buying behavior.

Nike is one of the most important publicly traded sportswear and an equipment supplier

based in the United States with its headquarters near Beaverton, Oregon, The company was

founded in the year 1964 by Bill Bowerman and Philip Knight as Blue Ribbon Sports and it

officially became Nike, Inc. in 1978. Now, it is the world’s leading supplier of athletic

shoes and apparel with revenue in excess of $19.2 billion USD in the year 2009 with more than

30,000 people employed worldwide. NIKE, Inc.’s wholly-owned affiliates with Cole Haan,

Converse, Inc., Hurley International, LLC, NIKE Golf, and Umbro, Ltd. Nike produces sports

shoes, apparels, etc. for a wide range of sports including track & field, baseball, ice

hockey, tennis, football, basketball and cricket. Nike has more than 700 shops around the world

and has offices located in 45 countries outside the United States. Most of the factories are located

in Asia, including Indonesia, China, Taiwan, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, Philippines, and
Malaysia. Nike’s marketing strategy is an important component of the company’s success. Nike is

positioned as a premium-brand, selling well-designed and expensive products. Nike treasures its

customers with a marketing strategy which centres on a brand image attained by its distinctive

Tick logo and the advertising slogan: “Just do it”. Nike promotes its products by sponsorship

agreements with celebrity athletes, professional teams and college athletic teams. For Nike

performance and reliability of shoes, apparel, new product development, price, product identity

through marketing and promotion, and customer support and service are important aspects of

competition in the athletic shoes and apparel. They make contracts with prominent and influential

athletes, coaches, teams, colleges and sports leagues to endorse the brands and use the products to

help market the products (10-k annual report- Nike, 2010).

Adidas, a major German-based sports footwear and sports apparel manufacturer, was

found in 1924 and has its headquarters in herzogenaurach, Germany. The Adidas Group consists

of the Reebok, Taylor Made-adidas golf company, and Rockport. Their mission is to be the global

leader in the sports goods industry with sports brands built on a passion for sports and a sporting

lifestyle. The company is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe and the second biggest

sportswear manufacturer in the world after Nike. The company’s clothing and shoe designs

typically feature three parallel bars. The company revenue for 2009 was listed at €10.38 billion

(US Dollar).

Adidas believes in engender high consumer brand loyalty and consumer focused, therefore

it continuously improve the quality, comfort, look and image of the products to to meet consumers’

expectation to provide product with the highest value. It is more into innovation and design to

help athletes achieve peak performance with every product it brings to the market.
 Adidas has divided the brand into three main groups with separate focus as follows: Adidas

Performance, designed to maintain its devotion to the athlete; Adidas Originals, designed to focus

on fashion and life-style; and Style Essentials? “Impossible is Nothing” is the current mainstream

marketing slogan for Adidas. The Adidas main focus is on football, running, training, basketball

and outdoor. It is focused on the investment with the highest potential markets and has a distinct

channel approach.(Adidas Group, Annual Report 2010). Reebok, a subsidiary of Adidas, is a well

know global sports brand which is inspired by its roots in sports and fitness, was founded in 1895

England and has its headquarters in Canton, U.S.A.

Reebok is committed to develop innovative products which will satisfy both women’s

fitness and men’s sport category and revive its heritage by providing with the opportunity, the

products and the inspiration to its customers to have fun staying in shape. It has a close

collaboration with the athletes’ training needs. It focuses on creating adaptable products that help

athletes prepare for their sport irrespective of the discipline. Reebok sponsor lot of events and

players from various sports as a part of their marketing. The brand is committed to designing

products and marketing programs that reflect creativity in some form which has the desire to

change constantly. Reebok creates products and marketing programs that reflect the brand’s

unlimited creative potential. It has its own path of greatness with its authenticity and courage.

Puma is one of the world’s leading sport lifestyle companies that designs and develops

footwear, apparel and accessories. The company was founded in 1948 with its headquarters located

in Herzogenaurach, Germany. Its products are distributed in more than 120 countries and have

more than 9000 employees worldwide. PUMA starts in Sport and ends in Fashion. The price of

the PUMA share stood at € 231.84 (US dollars?) at the end of the year 2009 and increased by

65.2% year-on-year, which resulted in a market capitalization of approx. € 3.5 billion (US
dollars). Puma is committed to working in ways that contribute to the world by supporting

creativity, sustainability and peace. Its vision is to stay true to the principles of being fair, honest,

positive and creative in decisions made and actions taken.

Puma strengthens its sport lifestyle brand through unique events and marketing campaigns.

Puma’s vision and principles are put into practice through the programs: puma.safe, which focuses

on environmental and social standards;puma.peace, which focuses on supporting peace initiatives

worldwide; and puma.creative, which focuses on supporting artists and creative organizations. It

invests very high on product design and development so that they ensure that the unique PUMA

design and targeted diversification of the entire product range comply with the general brand

strategy. As per Puma competitive advantages can only be derived by those who can recognize

these trends at an early stage. (Puma- Annual Report,2009)

Statement of the Problem

The study will determine the buying behavior of athletes on selected sportswear brand to

be the basis for developing a marketing plan.

Specifically, it will answer the following questions:

1. What is the profile of the athlete-respondents in terms of:

1. Age

2. Gender

3. Type of Sports

4. Years of Being Athlete

2. What features of the brand of sport shoes that are preferred by the athlete-respondents?
 3. To what extent do the following factors influence the buying behavior of the athlete-

respondents:

1. Cultural Factors

2. Social Factors

3. Personal Factors

4. Psychological Factors

4. Is there significant difference in the perception of the athlete-respondents, when they

are group according to profile, with regards to the extent of influence the factors in their

buying behavior, as mentioned in question number 2?

5. What are the issues and concerns of the athlete-respondents on the features of the

subject brand of sport shoes?

Hypothesis of the Study

The study will test following null hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance:

Ho: There is no significant difference in the perception of the athlete-respondents, when

they are group according to profile, with regards to the extent of influence of the
following factors in their buying behavior:
1. Cultural Factors

2. Social Factors

3. Personal Factors

4. Psychological Factors

Objectives of the Study

The study objective is to solve the problems on buying behavior of athletes on selected
sportswear brand to be the basis for developing a marketing plan, which are
1. To study the profile of the athlete-respondents in terms of age, gender, type of sports and
years of being athlete.
 2. To study the features of the brands of sport shoes that are preferred by the athlete-
respondent.
3. To know what extent do the following factors influence the buying behavior of the
athlete-respondent, which are cultural, social, personal, and psychological factors.
4. To know if there is any significant differences in the perception of the athlete-
respondents, when they are group according to profile, with regards to extent of
influencing the factors in buying behavior.
5. We will be able to find whether pricing of a product and monthly income/allowance of
the consumers has any influence on the buying behavior.

Significance of Study

The findings of this study will benefit to these following specific differently.

 Athletes. The direct recipients of the output of this research are the athletes, will help them

in making decisions on sporting brands.

 Community. This study will help the community to understand why athletes make their

decisions on sporting brands and also help them make decisions also if they wish to

patronize sportswear product.

 Personal. It will help me as an athlete to know what type of shoes to buy for my basketball

games.

 Sportswear brand. To help them know what the consumers want and like about their

product

 Future researchers.to serve as help, guidelines, and also reference to them in any related

studies

Scope and Limitation

The scope of the research will specifically allow us to know more about sportswear brands, the

factors that affects buying behavior of athletes such as price, quality, design, comfort, etc. While
the limitations of this study will be the other sportswear brand aside from the ones mentioned in

this study and financial.

Definition of Terms

Credibility. Refers to the quality of being believed or accepted as true, real, or honest.

Innovative. Having new ideas about how something can be done.

Affiliates. To closely connect with or to something as a member or partner.

Perception. Refers to the manner a person thinks about or understand someone or

something.

Reliability. Refers to the extent to which an experiment, test, or measuring procedure yields

the same results on repeated trials.

Gratifying. Giving pleasure or satisfaction..

Distinctive. Having a quality or characteristic that makes a person different from others.

Apparel. Personal attire or clothing of a particular kind.

Engender To be the source or cause of something

Collaboration.. To work with another person or group in other to achieve or do something,

Diversification. To change something so that it has more different kinds of people or thing.
 Chapter 2

Review of Related Literature and studies.

Related local literatures

Customer satisfaction presents a versatile crosschannel metric to gauge the retailer‘s strengths and

weaknesses from the customer‘s point of view. Since satisfaction drives behavior, a more thorough

understanding of what drives multi-channel shoppers‘ satisfaction will give retailers the insights they need

to influence customer behavior in the short term and long term. In this way, customer satisfaction is

harnessed to become a driving force in sales growth and increasing loyalty where each channel is

optimized to meet the customer‘s need and exceed their expectations. Customer satisfaction is a driving

force in sales growth, increased loyalty and a strong multi-channel strategy where each channel is

optimized to meet customer‘s need (―Customer Satisfaction‖, 2005). There are several reasons why

people visit the mall. Some of these reasons may involve the enjoyment of the company of other people,

while other reasons may concern the shopping opportunities a mall can offer. Whatever motivated you

to visit the mall, though, you‘re guaranteed to have a good time exploring the establishment‘s different

stores and services (―Reasons Why People Go to Malls‖, 2013). Teens compromise a large segment of
the population and thus have a strong impact on the economy and the retail market. Many teens shop in

malls because they have more free time than other age groups and often see the malls as a social and

cultural destination. (―Teens‘ Mall Shopping Motivations‖, 2003). Since higher income customers have

more choices to evaluate, they tend to have higher expectations of services. This could cause them to be

less satisfied than their lower income counterparts who may have fewer alternatives from which to

choose, and they may take longer to commit to a firm even if satisfied. As a result, it is proposed that: The

relationship marketing impact on satisfaction is greater for lower income customers than for higher

income customers. The impact of satisfaction on loyalty is greater for lower income customers than for

higher income customers (―Relationship marketing management‖, 2008). According to Kuzak (2012),

Customer Service is defined as satisfying customer exceptionally well to make this shopping mall their

store of choice. A positive memorable customer service experience is what it takes in attaining customer

patronage and loyalty. To be the best retail store committed to providing exceptional customer service

for a memorable experience that fosters customer loyalty is their vision. Giving excellent external

customer service is only possible when there is excellent internal customer service. Internal customer

service refers to the wellbeing and positive group dynamics of staff who can work together to help the

shoppers. Service stems from service providers. If staffs are truly happy, they will be motivated and

committed to share the same joy with their external shoppers. Therefore, treating internal staff well

promotes external customer service excellence. Adopting the Servqual model of service quality, an

external survey is conducted to examine the shoppers views on the importance of customer service in

their shopping decision and to track the current service performance of downtown department stores. It

consists of tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy (―Customer Service in

Retailing‖, 2013) . Sriyam (2012) found out that most of their respondents identified tangibility as the

most important factor in determining satisfaction. It includes the personality and appearance of the hotel.

Cleanliness of uniform and appearance of staff both received high ranking. When front office staff are well
dressed and wear smart uniforms, their appearance impresses customers who feel more confident with

hotel services. They found that service quality was related to the tangible behavior and appearance of

employees. The best predictor of overall service quality was the ―tangibility‖ dimension. Furthermore,

Briones (2007) made a study about ―Leadership Styles of Managers and Job Satisfaction of Employees at

Metro Lipa‖ and they noted that good working relationship of the workers with their supervisors is

accompanied by the manner by which the managers handle the workers. More than anything else, a

peaceful relationship with co-workers and superiors can mean more satisfaction. Lucas (2012) claimed

that enhancing customer satisfaction as a strategy for retaining customers is a big factor for many

customers in remaining loyal. In an own organization, efforts could be a deciding factor in customer ratings

for the quality of service rendered. Building good relationship in order to increased customer satisfaction

is valuable, because it can lead to repeat business – the key to keeping a business productivity and

profitable. De Castro‘s (2007) noted that the time it takes for an employee to response to a customer‘s

request is same as the promptness of the employee in entertaining request or help. Moreover, Perdigon

(2008) indicates that in putting up any foodservice or lodging facility, one of the major factors to be

considered is the safety and welfare of not only the guests and customers but also of the employees

working in that establishment. People should be made aware of emergency procedures and safety

measures to prevent accidents and worse, death. Lastly, concern for the environment should be very

much prioritized because the well-being of the people would not mean anything if the environment that

they live in is in poor condition. Moreover, Marasigan, et al., (2010) encouraged the employees of the

company to be more consistent in their behavior, attitude and performance in dealing with customers.

They also encouraged giving suggestions to the management that they think could help to enhance the

training program. Further, the researcher also encouraged the management of Bench to have a regular

evaluation regarding the customer service training program to maintain its effectiveness. In Hague‘s

(2012) article on ―Customer Satisfaction Surveys and Customer Satisfaction Research‖, he detailed the
factors or attributes of customer‘s points of view on staff and service of a company. It includes courtesy

from sales staff, representative‘s availability, representative‘s knowledge, reliability of returning calls,

friendliness of the sales staff, complaint resolution, responsiveness to enquiries, after sales service and

technical service. Kuang – Jung, et. Al (2007) recommended on his Study of Chain Department Stores

Service Quality in Taipei Chen that the internal service personnel should be cautiously selected and

intensive educational training should be provided too as to solve all kinds of customer‘s problem in very

fast way. Moreover, educational plan for etiquette course should be provided to enhance the affinity of

service personnel and to build the image of excellent service personnel in order to enhance consumer‘s

willing of purchase. Aguba et al. (2008) indicated that efficient and constant supervision of the employee

must be observed to maintain the good impression of the customer. Further, it indicated that customer‘s

evaluation should be considered to obtain service improvement. Food Court operator may encourage

their employees to be more productive and motivate them to attend to customer‘s need, request and

complaints.

Related foreign literatures

Consumer behavior

The history of consumer behavior seems to be highly twisted with the history of thought of marketing.

The purpose of the history is to trace the historical allegiance and dependence of the consumer behavior

on the practice and discipline of marketing. Then the consumer behavior attempts to estimate the

evolving trends in the research and theory of consumer behavior as a consequence of new and evolving

schools of thought of marketing (Foxall 2005)63. Over the years, the marketing has shifted its dependence

on other disciplines as well as in its focus of understanding. For example, the schools of classical of thought

of marketing are depended on the social science such as anthropology, sociology and economics and

focused the 68 aggregated behavior of market (Evans, 2003)64. This gives the way for the managerial
schools of marketing to think in which focused on the understanding and attention shifted to the

individual customers while the disciplines of social science continued to dominate the thinking of

marketing. Even though the marketing kept its focus on the individual customers but started to borrow

more from the behavioral sciences. More recently, marketing has started to shift its attention away from

the individual customers and concentrate in the markets. In the growth process, the consumer behavior

is also depending less on the behavioral sciences and more on the traditional social sciences. So the

evolving trend is known as the adaptive schools of marketing thought (Shankar& Mahesh, 2006)65. It

appears that each era of marketing motivated the particular types of research of consumer behavior and

thereby it shapes its history with respect to the research methodology, consistent body of knowledge as

well as developmental theory.

Buying decision

Source: Kotler et al., 2009, p 254 As observed in the „buying decision process-prototype‟ previously,

consumers experience five phases in their purchasing decision procedure. Consumers do not experience

every phase every time they buy something. In regular acquisitions consumers often bypass some phases.

In a minor acquisition, like daily goods, data search and evaluation are usually bypassed. On the other

hand, the diagram displays all the reflections consumers take when planning to make a novel intricate

acquisition. Need recognition is the initial phase in the prototype. Here the consumers identify a

conundrum or a requirement they need to fulfill. A requirement could be set off by either an intrinsic or

extrinsic incentive. An intrinsic motivation for instance when you are famished enough to require

something to consume. An extrinsic motivation is when consumers witness an advert on television and

after that they assume 71 that the commodity/brand is required. This is why it is so crucial for marketers

to find what motivation most frequently triggers curiosity in the brand. Information search is the phase

when the consumers begin to explore for data. The data can be collected from various sources: individual
sources, industrial sources and empirical sources. As more data is attained, the consumers‟ understanding

and experience of the accessible brands augment. The procedure of the buyer deciding to make a

purchase (particularly if it is a tough decision) involves six phases though the real purchase is just one

phase of the procedure (Vida, and Reardon, 2008)67. Even if a buy is not the outcome of the choice making

procedure, most buyer choice making procedures could end in a purchase. Every buyer choice does not

have to encompass each of the six phases and is usually shaped by the toughness of the choice (Kapferer

and Laurent, 1993) 68.

Related Studies

Several different approaches have been made to explain factors affecting purchase decisions of the

consumers in Kinondoni district. Most studies examined factors affecting purchase decisions of

the consumer association with demographic and socio economic characteristics. However attitude

and behavioral characteristic are also highlighted as important determinates of store brand

proneness than demographic and socio-economic characteristic (Baltas, 1997). Consumer previous

knowledge and experience have greater extent to process the brand, but it depends on the weight

of consumer prior knowledge and cognitive ability (Bettman,J.R and Park,C.W., 1980).And other

researchers proved that perceptions of quality and products are influencing individuals buying

behavior prior to demographic, psychological and shopping behavior (Szymanski, DM. and Busch

PS, 1987). According to Evans Joel. R. and Bermann Barry (2004), Marketing Sixth Edition,

United States of America, Macmillan Publishing company, wrote that” Purchasing Decision is the

selection of the best alternative in which a consumer is ready for buying act, to make an exchange

of money and product or services, this implies that consumer is willing to give money to the seller
so as to get a products or services. 7 The Consumer behavior study involves how an individual or

groups select, purchase, use or dispose of products, services ideas, or experience to satisfy their

need and desires. The consumer environment influences how the consumers feel, consider and act.

The environmental features are, for instance, comments taken from other customers, advertising,

packing, price, and product appearance etc. (.Paul& Jerry C, 2005) The consumer behavior is

related to the physical action of a consumer, which can be measured straight. Frequency of visiting

stores or shopping malls can be measured. To select a specific store then to go there is very difficult

to choose and observe directly. Where different types of behavior can be measured including a

shopping pattern in stores. This kind of measurement is very hard. The behavior can be analyzed

in different ways, by offering lower price, better service and good quality (Papanastassiu and

Rouhani, 2006) Consumer behavior mainly sheds light on how consumers decides to spend their

various resources like time, money etc. on various products so as to meet their needs and

requirement. Consumer behavior encompasses study of what, when, why and where the consumers

will buy their products. It also focuses on how often the consumers use the products. Furthermore,

it also sheds light on how the consumers evaluate the products after the purchase and the effect of

evaluations on their future purchases. (SchiffmanKanuk, P.08) To give an example of how

consumer behavior evolves while buying a handset, he will start with recognizing his or her need

for a handset. Then come the information collecting and processing stage. After making up his

mind to buy one specific brand, for instance Samsung galaxy s6, the consumer makes the purchase.

In the post-purchase stage, the consumer evaluates the performance of the handset against the

expectations he or she had before buying the handset. In this stage, the consumer is either satisfied

or dissatisfied. So, it is evident that study of consumer behavior involves lot of things
Relevance to the Present Study

Brands are deeply concerned with the loyalty of their customer(athlete). What can they do to

generate and maintain brand loyalty amongst consumers? How is this achieved? Can widespread

brand loyalty allow a brand to survive and even flourish in when confronted by obstacles, what

factors affect the decision of customers to choose a brand and remain loyal to the same brand?

Marketers must ask these questions if they desire to use tendencies in consumer behavior to their

competitive advantage. The Studies above have provided a few different approaches to

establishing a solid base of loyal consumers.

Theoretical Framework

According to a theory called the Consumer behavior Theory by Alfred Marshall. It states that

“consumers buy their goods and services based on what offers the most personal satisfaction”. If

a product’s price is lower, the sales of the product will be higher. When the income of the consumer

is higher, sale of a product will therefore be higher, provided the product not an interior one. When

there is a product and substitute of the product, sales of the substitute will be greater if its price is

lower the price of the original product. According to the theory personal satisfaction, price,

substitute goods, and income of the athlete will be a big factor to consider cos they will affect the

decision of the athlete-respondent.

Conceptual Framework
ATHLETE - RESPONDENT BEHAVIOUR

INTERNAL EXTERNAL

PSYCHOLOGI CAL SOCIAL

Motivation Reference groups
Perception Roles and Status
Beliefs Roles Buying process

PERSONAL CULTURAL
Age and Life Cycle Culture
Occupation Social Class
Economic Situation