BUS631: Brand Management

The South African sports footwear market is estimated to be $113 million, amounting to more than 1.6 trillion in South African (ZA) currency. Sports footwear marketers are fighting for a stake in the profitable sports footwear market in South Africa. The most dominating sportswear brands in South Africa include Puma, Nike, Adidas, Reebok, ASICS, Under Armour, Lacoste, Columbia, Decathlon, New Balance, SALOMON, Converse, The North Face, Umbro, FILA, Napapijri, Lotto, Brooks, Lululemon and Gymshark. Among these sports footwear brands, Nike has been at the top of the list brand. In addition, Nike was voted by South African youth as the coolest brand and was named the coolest sports footwear brand in 2021.

The youth of South Africa is referred to as Generation Y or Gen Y in short. The Generation Y cohort is defined as individuals born between 1986 and 2005. These individuals are aged between 17 and 37 this year – 2022. This is the most educated group of all generational cohorts. In addition, the majority of them are university students still pursuing university qualifications and others are graduates and working. Such characteristics make the Generation Y market more attractive to sports footwear marketers in South Africa.

According to Stats SA, Generation Y is made up of about 42% of the population of South Africa. Such a statistic report is making the Generation Y market segment a more valuable segment in South Africa. These individuals are of particular interest to marketers given that a tertiary qualification is associated with a higher earning of income. Generation Y consumers are also characterised as heavy spenders on fashion clothes. Certainly, South African students spend more money than the average South African. Therefore, it is important to understand which factors influence Generation Y university students' brand loyalty toward sports footwear brands.

The term brand loyalty refers to a consumer's persistence in buying a specific brand. Brand loyalty is defined as consumers' commitment to purchasing their favourite brands and repeated purchases over time. In other words, consumers continue to purchase the very same brand within a specific product category. For example, a consumer may continue purchasing AIR MAX sneakers under the Nike brand category. Similarly, many loyal consumers of Jordan sneakers wait in line to buy the newly released Air Jordan sneakers and sometimes the product goes out of stock hours after launching it. These consumer actions could lead to greater market share when they keep buying the same brand. Thereafter, the sales are maximised and the company is generating a greater profit. Brand loyalty is important for a business as it keeps the brand name in the mind of consumers and discourages them to switch to other brands. Thus, differentiating a brand from major competitors.

The are several studies found in the literature presenting many factors as determinants of brand loyalty towards sports footwear brands such as brand image; perceived quality; brand association; style; comfort; colour; brand name; price; and endorsement.

As such, the main purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of brand loyalty of sports footwear brands among the Generation Y cohort in South Africa.