Sportswear Products Research Articles

Role of Bamboo Fabric in Sports Clothing

In the recent era of development, the global market for sportswear textile manufacturing industries has increased in consumption of active sportswear. The performance characteristics of active sportswear directly influence comfort level and athletic performance during sports activities. Different types of sportswear products require different performance characteristics. Appropriate moisture and heat management are the key factors for the endowment of the required physiological comfort level. In highly engineered textile-based sports goods, special characteristics are incorporated in the polymer/fibers/product manufacturing procedures/finishing techniques to obtain the maximum performance and comfort level. The fashion world is constantly seeking new, natural, eco–friendly textile materials. India, after China, is the second richest country in bamboo genetic resources a novel textile material. The bamboo (rayon) fabric was tested for fiber and fabric properties assessing that the sourced fabric was within the minimum expected performance standards. Acceptability and suitability by retailers and sportspersons through another survey was gathered. The use of bamboo knits for sportswear was well accepted showing a high potential for bamboo knitwear in the market. Incorporation of wider color range and surface embellishments will enhance the appearance of sportswear adding more variety.

Advertising Factors Affecting Purchase Intention of Sportswear Products for Batam City People

Purpose – This study aims to verify whether the variables in social media advertising affect the Purchase Intention of sportswear products mediated by the Attitudes toward Advertising variable. Methodology/ approach – This study uses a causal-comparative method. The population in this study is the people of Batam City who actively use social media. The research sample is Batam City people who have watched social media advertisements. The sample collected in this study numbered 305 respondents. The data is then processed using SmartPLS software. Findings – It is found that social media advertising variables, namely Entertainment, Informativeness, Emotional Appeal, and Creativity have a significant positive effect on Attitudes toward Advertising and indirectly influence Purchase Intention mediated by Attitudes toward Advertising. Novelty/value – This study differentiates itself from the previous research not discussing sportswear products during the Covid-19 pandemic in Batam City.
 Keywords: Entertainment, Informativeness, Credibility, Emotional Appeal, Creativity, Attitudes toward Advertising, Purchase Intention

Recent Developments in Materials and Manufacturing Techniques Used for Sports Textiles

In the recent era of development, the global market for the sportswear textile manufacturing industries has increased with the increase in consumption of active sportswear. The sportswear manufacturers not only focused on the market trends but also focused on material diversification with technology enhancement. The performance characteristics of active sportswear directly influence comfort level and athletic performance during sports activities. Different types of sportswear products require different performance characteristics. Appropriate moisture and heat management are the key factors for the endowment of the required physiological comfort level. In highly engineered textile-based sports goods, special characteristics are incorporated in the polymer/fibers/product manufacturing procedures/finishing techniques to obtain the maximum performance and comfort level. In this review paper current market trends, highly engineered polymers, fibers, fabrics, finishes, nanomaterials, and the recent developments in the manufacturing techniques of sportswear are illustrated.

Affordable and Sustainable Cooling Sportswear for Cycling Athletes: A Design Case Study

Cooling sportswear products have been used to improve the comfort of individuals exposed to hot–humid climate conditions; however, these products were not explored adequately in the outdoor sports context. Moreover, it is not known if these products meet the needs of athletes in developing and tropical countries. Therefore, this study presents the design and exploratory evaluation of affordable cooling sportswear (T-shirt). Eight Sri Lankan athletes tested the sportswear prototype over three-weeks, undergoing a 30 min cycling trial that covered 15 km. The results show that the cooling sportswear improved cooling comfort, sweat evaporation, and overall comfort of the athletes by increasing ventilation and reducing body temperature. The developed prototype assisted in identifying suggestions for designing cooling sportswear products, including aesthetic, cost, functional, and sustainability considerations. These suggestions may guide researchers to develop affordable and sustainable cooling sportswear for endurance cycling athletes living in developing and tropical countries.

Proposed Design of Sewing Process Improvement to Minimize Polyester Technical Sportswear Product Defect at PT. X Based on The DMAIC Method Approach

Various companies want to improve product quality and process speed for customer satisfaction in the current era, including PT. X. Problems at PT. X is the number of defects that exceed the company's tolerance limit. The methodology used is a structured DMAIC method to identify the root causes of defects and resolve them. This study aimed to reduce defects in sportswear products caused by problems in the sewing process. The results showed that the problem in the sewing process was due to the process performance that still did not meet the standard process requirements, so the resulting output did not match the company's specifications. Therefore, it is necessary to design an alarm timer integrated with the sewing machine to minimize the frequency of defects in the sewing process. The design of the alarm timer uses the Reverse Engineering design method, which can minimize defects in the sewing process and increase the capability of the PT. X process.

Design and Implementation of Cloud-Based Collaborative Manufacturing Execution System in the Korean Fashion Industry

Recently, manufacturing companies have been improving quality and productivity, reducing costs, and producing customized products according to Industry 4.0. The global value chain (GVC) is also being reorganized and manufacturing companies are recovering the connectivity of value chains based on, e.g., the regional value chain (RVC) and reshoring. With the advent of Industry 4.0, many manufacturing companies are introducing smart factories. A new type of manufacturing execution system (MES), a core system of smart factories, is necessary, owing to the new technologies and the increase in collaboration between companies. Here, we present the framework, development, and application processes of a “cloud-based collaborative MES System” to support the value chain of “order-design-production-delivery” for the manufacture of personalized sportswear products in the fashion industry in Korea. To this end, first, nine future MES deployment directions and frameworks are presented. Second, we present the UML modeling, conceptual framework, and functional framework for MES system development, considering six future MES establishment directions such as cloud and collaboration. Third, the application and effect of the designed and developed cloud-based collaborative MES system are analyzed for design, fabric, printing, and sewing companies that play a role in each stage of the sportswear value chain.

Influence of Branding Loyalty on Consumer Sportswear: A Case Study on Adidas

Brand loyalty creates long term relationship between customer and brand. As a sportswear brand, to adopt a general customer loyalty to a brand, quality of the product and price are the crucial factors. The purpose of this research is to investigate how the respondents are influenced by factors of brand loyalty towards sportswear products. Previous research adopted seven factors to test in the Malaysian environment. The seven factors of brand loyalty are brand name, product quality, price, style, promotion, service quality and store environment. Brand name has shown strong correlation with brand loyalty. In order to increase customer satisfaction and attach them to be brand loyalists, marketers are encouraged to develop aggressive marketing programs. Questionnaires were distributed to 148 respondents. The research results have shown that there is positive and significant relationship between factors of brand loyalty (brand name, product quality, price, style, promotion, service quality and store environment) with certain sportswear brands. Others study on more focused factors that are appropriate to the Malaysian environment is recommended in order to obtain accurate information.

Criteria for sportswear preference of Turkish runners

Nowadays, while the importance of doing sports for a healthy life is spreading all over the world, consumers expect someperformance and functional properties from sports products. It is expected that the sportswear must be in harmony withthe body, do not create discomfort and do not affect the performance. The comfort of sportswear is an important criterionthat affects the performance and motivates the athlete. There are dynamic and fundamental changes in the preferencesof sports people with the change in the context; type of sports, the geography they live in, season, climate, their cultural,demographic and anthropologic characteristics, etc. While offering sportswear products to the market, brands shouldpay attention not only to quality parameters, but also to these criteria.This article aims to determine Turkish runners’ sportswear preference criteria and expectations that are evaluatedagainst past experiences and present desires. For the study, data were collected from 195 runners and statisticallyanalyzed. With the data obtained from the questionnaires, the runner and running habits were analyzed, the perspectiveof sportswear shopping and purchasing preference criteria, sportswear size and fit issues, evaluation of the fabricproperties, and the demands of the runners for sportswear were determined.This research gives resourceful information for sportswear manufacturers and comfort researchers since the compiledconsumer feedback from runners provide tools for product improvement to enhance utility

An Influence of Advertising on Consumer-based Brand Loyalty: A Case Study on a Sports Shoe Brand in Bhopal India

This study examines the factors that influence advertising on consumer-based brand loyalty focused on a sports shoe brand in Bhopal India which pointed to the advertisement, brand loyalty, brand trust, and perceived quality. The researcher carried out the analysis based on a quantitative approach and applied non-probability sampling as the convenience sampling technique. A total of 400 respondents who experienced the perception of advertising for searching information about sports shoe products were invited to participate in this study. The descriptive statistic was used as frequency and percentile to explain demographic profile meanwhile inferential statistic was used both simple linear regression (SLR) and multiple linear regression (MLR) to explain the causal relationship between advertising, perceived quality, brand trust, and brand loyalty in sportswear products. The results on simple linear regression exposed that advertising has a significant influence on brand trust and perceived quality, while perceived quality has also a significant influence on brand trust and brand loyalty which all the p-value have less than .05. The results on multiple linear regression discovered that brand trust and perceived quality have a significant influence on brand loyalty as p-value has less than .05 as well.

Study on the Colorfastness Properties of the Mainstream Sportswear Products in Hong Kong Market

The properties of colorfastness to crocking and perspiration of sportswear products (OUDIKE, NIKE and an unknown brand bought from the boutique) in Hong Kong marketplace was comparatively investigated in this study. It was found that NIKE performed best in terms of colorfastness to crocking, whereas the unknown brand samples was the best choice in the colorfastness to perspiration.

Consumers’ goal-directed behavior of purchasing sportswear products online

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore Chinese consumers’ behavioral intention to purchase sportswear products online, by applying the model of goal-directed behavior as a research framework. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was administered to Chinese consumers (N=475) who have purchased sportswear products online in the past. Using SmartPLS 3.0 software, a partial least squares modeling analysis was conducted on the data. Findings When it comes to influencing the average Chinese consumer’s desire to purchase a product online, the study indicates that attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and positive anticipated emotion are significant factors. Moreover, desire and frequency of past behavior significantly influenced Chinese consumers’ intention to buy sportswear products online. Originality/value The findings of this study provide a better understanding, through the analyses of Chinese consumers’ decision-making processes, of consumer intention to purchase sportswear products online.

Analysing the consumer behaviour and the influence of brand loyalty in purchasing sportswear products

Brand loyalty is an important term that defines the relationship between customer and it is important for the retailers to have a large loyal customer base. Specifically, sportswear products seem to be one of the most convenient apparel product categories to develop loyalty for the consumers. In this study, it was aimed to analyse the profile of sportswear consumers and their loyalty towards the leading sportswear retailers in Turkey. For this aim, a survey was conducted among 190 participants aged between 18 and 40, and the socio-demographic characteristics of the consumers were explored. The results revealed that more than half of the participants (54.74%) identified themselves as loyal customers in terms of sportswear products. The loyal consumers stated that they would continue to buy from these brands in the future and recommend to others. Expressing the reason for loyalty, the majority of the participant related their loyalty to the satisfying products offered by this brand. However, the participants seem likely to switch to the other brands if the other brands offer attractive promotions.

Analysing Purchasing Intention of Counterfeit Sportswear Products in Klang Valley, Malaysia

Analysing Purchasing Intention of Counterfeit Sportswear Products in Klang Valley, Malaysia

Chinese young consumers’ brand loyalty toward sportswear products: a perspective of self-congruity

Purpose – This study aims to investigate Chinese young consumers’ brand loyalty toward sportswear products from a self-congruity perspective. With different performance observed between global and domestic sportswear brands in the Chinese market, this study also aims to examine the impact of country of origin on Chinese young consumers’ behavior toward sportswear brands. Design/methodology/approach – A survey with street intercept method was conducted in Shanghai to collect data for this study. Multiple independent t-tests and structural equation modeling (SEM) with bootstrap method were used to test the hypotheses. Findings – The SEM results indicate a significant influence of brand self-congruity on consumers’ brand association and perceived quality, which, in turn, influenced consumers’ brand loyalty. The multiple t-test results suggest a significant difference between Chinese and global sportswear brands in terms of consumers’ brand association and attitudinal brand loyalty. No significant difference was found in terms of consumers’ behavioral brand loyalty. Research limitations/implications – The main limitation of this study comes from the convenience student sample. Practical implications – First, brands need to strategically design the brand image to represent the largest segment of the target market. Second, while global brands could focus on their pricing strategies, domestic brands need to focus more on maintaining a positive brand association in consumers’ mind. Originality/value – This study contributes to the growing research on the self-congruity perspective of brand loyalty by empirically confirming the indirect effect of brand self-congruity on brand loyalty via the mediation effects of brand association and perceived quality in the context of the ever-growing Chinese sportswear market.

Executive summary of “Chinese young consumers’ brand loyalty toward sportswear products: a perspective of self-congruity”

Executive summary of “Chinese young consumers’ brand loyalty toward sportswear products: a perspective of self-congruity”

Exploring the personality of sportswear brands

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the personalities that are associated with sportswear brands and tests the applicability of Aaker's brand personality framework in the context of sportswear brands. Design/methodology/approach – This study employed Aaker's brand personality framework to empirically investigate the personality of sportswear brands based on data collected from 420 college students. Findings – Results revealed that consumers perceive seven distinct personality dimensions and 53 personality traits in sportswear brands: Competence, Attractiveness, Sincerity, Innovation, Activity, Excitement, and Ruggedness. Originality/value – This research developed a valid and reliable scale that measures personality for sportswear products and confirms that consumers do associate particular brand personality dimensions with sportswear brands. The findings would help managers in the sportswear market better understand the image of their brand in the minds of consumers and better distinguish their brand from competing brands.

Fuzzy-integrative judgment on the end-use performance of knitted fabrics made with polytrimethylene terephthalate blended yarns

Polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT) fiber is a new kind of synthetic fiber that has outstanding thermal, chemical, and mechanical properties and has widely been used in leisure wear, underwear, sportswear, and other textile products in the recent years. In this study, five different PTT blended yarns were used for the development of weft knitted fabrics for sweaters, which are traditionally produced with wool and acrylic fiber yarns. Three fuzzy-integrative judgment methods, that is, the fuzzy Borda method, osculating value method, and fuzzy clustering analysis, were used to evaluate the end-use performance of these fabrics. The results have shown that the fuzzy-integrative judgment is an effective way for the evaluation of this kind of fabric product and that the fabrics with the best end-use performance among the five fabrics developed are those knitted with PTT/wool/Tencel and PTT/bamboo blended yarns. These results can be used to help knitting companies for the development of new products using PTT material.

Measuring customer‐based brand equity: empirical evidence from the sportswear market in China

PurposeThis study seeks to examine the practicality and applications of a customer‐based brand equity model in the Chinese sportswear market.Design/methodology/approachBased on Aaker's well‐known conceptual framework of brand equity, this study employed structural equation modeling to investigate the causal relationships among the four dimensions of brand equity and overall brand equity in the sportswear industry. The present study used a sample of 304 actual consumers from China's two largest cities, Beijing and Shanghai.FindingsThe findings conclude that brand association and brand loyalty are influential dimensions of brand equity. Weak support was found for the perceived quality and brand awareness dimensions.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research needs to be done if the results are to be expanded into other regional Chinese markets in light of the significant gaps between different regions. Further research also could strengthen this analysis by adding performance measurement into the model.Practical implicationsThe paper shows that sportswear brand managers and marketing planners should consider the relative importance of brand equity in their overall brand equity evaluation, and should concentrate their efforts primarily on building brand loyalty and image.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the scant literature testing the applicability of consumer‐based brand equity in the sportswear industry. Since China is the world's fastest‐growing market for sportswear products, this study also provides important insights about the understanding of Chinese consumers' perceptions of overall brand equity and its dimensions.