摘要：In order for marketers in the growing sporting goods market to compete,they need to understand their customers’ behavior patterns.This article aims to determine the significance that a select group of factors play in influencing customer purchase choices of sporting goods.A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to a conveniencebased,non-probability sample of 90 individuals at a health club in Pietermaritzburg,South Africa.Through the adoption of a five-point Likert scale,individual responses were obtained on the importance that factors such as brand name,quality,price,athlete or sport’s team,the brand sponsors,and country of manufacture play in influencing the purchase choice of sporting goods.The results indicate that quality is regarded as being the key factor that influences the purchase choice of sporting goods.Forty-six percent of the respondents placed no significant value on 'brand name and price as influencers of their purchase choice’.However,although the study results cannot be generalized beyond the sample used,the conclusion from the results suggests that due to quality being a predominant influence on purchase choices of sporting goods,marketers need to focus more on this variable in order to take advantage of the numerous opportunities in the growing sporting goods market.
关键词：In order for marketers in the growing sporting goods market to compete,they need to understand their customers’ behavior patterns.This article aims to determine the significance that a select group of factors play in influencing customer purchase choices of sporting goods.A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to a conveniencebased,non-probability sample of 90 individuals at a health club in Pietermaritzburg,South Africa.Through the adoption of a five-point Likert scale,individual responses were obtained on the importance that factors such as brand name,quality,price,athlete or sport’s team,the brand sponsors,and country of manufacture play in influencing the purchase choice of sporting goods.The results indicate that quality is regarded as being the key factor that influences the purchase choice of sporting goods.Forty-six percent of the respondents placed no significant value on 'brand name and price as influencers of their purchase choice’.However,although the study results cannot be generalized beyond the sample used,the conclusion from the results suggests that due to quality being a predominant influence on purchase choices of sporting goods,marketers need to focus more on this variable in order to take advantage of the numerous opportunities in the growing sporting goods market.
