It wouldnt come as a surprise to many that U.S. teens purchase more of their athletic footwear and apparel in mall specialty stores than the U.S. population as a whole, but teens are also far more likely to purchase those items in sporting goods stores than older consumers. Those conclusions are based on the latest Brand Strength Report Teen Edition produced by The SportsOneSource Group. The report covers teens 12 to 17 years old.
In assessing the brand preferences of the U.S. population in the broader 2009 Brand Strength Report, SportsOneSource also specifically assessed the purchasing habits of the teen consumer and built a Brand Strength Index using the same criteria of the overall Index in the broader report. SportsOneSource developed the formula for assessing brand strength using elements of the broader survey that assessed brand awareness, brand purchases, the intent to purchase a brand again and a consumers unwavering commitment to purchase a brand. A perfect BSI score would be 1,000 points.
Nike and Adidas took the top two spots on the Brand Strength Index for both the teen respondents and for the overall Index, scoring even higher with teens than on the overall, but things shifted quite a bit after those initial listings.
Showing that Under Armour might very well be correct when it says it is the Nike for the next generation, the brand placed third on the teen Brand Strength Index, more than 80 points higher than the overall. This jump can be attributed to a 5% increase in the number of respondents that were extremely likely or somewhat likely to purchase the Under Armour brand again in the future.
Also of note was Speedo jumping to fourth among teens while taking the #21 spot on the overall index. Speedos jump can likely be attributed to a pair of factors. First, more teens swim competitively than do adults-by a large margin-which gives them more exposure to the brand. Second, Speedo also probably benefited from more than a few crushes on Michael Phelps following last years Beijing Olympics.
Puma jumped into the top five for teens, displacing New Balance from the top ten, and jumped the most when comparing the overall index to the teen index, scoring 85.2 points higher among teen respondents compared to the overall rating of the brand.
New Balance dropped from third in the overall rankings to seventh on the teen consumer list and Columbia fell from #7 on the overall list to #21 on the teen Brand Strength Index list.
The Jordan brand, was another brand that received a significantly higher BSI score for teens. The teen BSI score was 71.5 percentage points higher than the Jordan score for the overall survey population. Teens also had a higher percentage of respondents who said they would repurchase the brand in the future, with 78% of teens suggesting they would purchase the brand again in the future compared to 70% of the overall survey population.
Wilson is the only brand that does not focus primarily on footwear or apparel to be rated by the respondents overall in the top ten with teens. Other equipment brands such as Rawlings, Spalding, Mizuno, and Louisville Slugger fell just outside the top ten for teenage respondents.
Nike sits atop the BSI rankings for both males and females in the teen report, with teen males rating the brand 61 points higher that their female counterparts. Likewise, teenage males rated Under Armour almost 100 points higher than teenage females. Awareness of the Under Armour brand ran thirteen percentage points higher in teen males than teen females. The males also gave significantly higher scores when asked their likelihood to purchase the brand again in the future. Furthermore, 91% of teenaged males, who have purchased the Under Armour brand, said that they would be at least somewhat likely to purchase the brand again in the future. The introduction of cleats and running shoes by Under Armour will most likely continue to pay dividends as teens across the board appear to connect with the Under Armour brand name.
Teens Also Differ by Sub-Age Group in Preferences
Puma jumped into the top five for teenage females while teenage males rated Puma sixth. Puma was able to jump into the top five for the females with 82% percent of the female respondents reporting they would be at least somewhat likely to purchase the Puma brand again in the future. This compared to 72% of teen male purchasers who said they would repurchase the brand in the future. Teenage females also had a higher awareness level of the Puma brand than their male counterparts. Eighty seven percent of teenage females were aware of the Puma brand, while males had an awareness level of 81%.
Not surprisingly, brand preferences also differ by age groups within the teen segment, with 12 to 14-year-olds making different brand decisions than 15 to 17-year-old respondents, likely due to influence from peers.
Not surprisingly, brand preferences also differ by age groups within the teen segment, with 12 to 14-year-olds making different brand decisions than 15 to 17-year-old respondents, likely due to influence from peers.
Looking at where teens shop for sporting goods, the mall was clearly the place for athletic footwear purchases. About 51% of teen respondents said they had purchased athletic footwear at a mall specialty store in the last year while only 39% of the overall respondent group did so. A similar gap occurred for athletic apparel, with 35% of teens making softgoods purchases in the mall versus just 22% of the overall group. Full-line sporting goods stores were right behind the mall for footwear for teens, with 50% indicating they had made a footwear purchase at a sporting goods store in the last year, compared to 39% of the overall. Apparel saw a similar delta.
