The Role of Social Influence in Purchasing Sports Apparel

The marketing of sports apparel is competitive with large amounts of advertising dollars spent in influencing consumer choice. The aim of this study is to establish whether a consumer is susceptible to social influence in the purchase of sports apparel. In particular, the study aims to establish if there is any difference between consumers of different genders and levels of sports involvement. A convenience sample of 116 respondents found that consumers are susceptible to informational and utilitarian influence but not value-expressive influence. The findings further suggest that consumers of the male gender and who are highly involved in sports are more likely to be influenced by informational influence as compared to consumers who are female and who are less involved in sports.