BASKETBALL SHOES: WOMEN’S PREFERENCES AND PURCHASING BEHAVIOUR

Rethinking basketball shoes for the female player

 

Fashion Design and Product Development

2020

Academic

Ontario, Canada

Affiliation: Ryerson University

Author: Kaleigh Morris

Second Author: Dr. Sandra Tullio-Pow

Overview: Women have played basketball since the game was invented over 130 years ago, yet they are overlooked when designing and marketing basketball shoes, which default to men’s styles, fit and sizing. Multiple phases of inquiry were used to determine women’s basketball shoe preferences and purchasing behaviour including: a content analysis of basketball shoes from Nike, Adidas and Under Armour websites, interviews with female basketball players and visual analysis of their personal shoes. Data was categorized according to functional, aesthetic, and expressive attributes. The findings reveal information pertaining to brand perception, product assortment, fit issues, design and colour preferences, shopping challenges and solutions. The results reinforce the need to consider anthropometric data regarding the size and shape of women’s feet and suggest opportunities for improved design, namely, collaboration with professional female athletes to create a signature shoe. The findings are important to product developers, designers, and retailers.

Learnings: The focus of my Master’s research project was on women’s basketball shoes. What I learned completing this project can by applied to design in general and product development. Conducting interviews was new to me, I learned how to interact with participants in a profession manner to get quality answers. I further improved my knowledge about the importance of human centered design. This was my first project focused on apparel design and product development. I was able to learn a great deal about the deign process.

Project Summary

Being a basketball player myself I found that women are overlooked when designing and marketing basketball shoes, this is what inspired my research project.

Research Questions

The goal of this study was to better understand women’s shoe preferences to inform improved design and product development of women’s basketball shoes. The guiding research questions for this study were:

  1. What factors influence the purchasing behaviors of female basketball players in Canada when choosing their basketball shoes?

  2. How does this compare to the selection of basketball shoes being targeted and sold to women?

Research Methods

Multiple phases of inquiry were used to determine women’s basketball shoe preferences and purchasing behaviour including:

  1. a content analysis of basketball shoes,

  1. interviews with female basketball players, who play either College or University basketball and

  2. a personal inventory and visual analysis of their personal shoes.

Content Analysis

The purpose of the content analysis was to get an understanding of the current market of basketball shoes for women. To do this collected both the visual and written data from the women’s basketball shoe sections of the Nike, Under Armour and Adidas websites.

From the content analysis I found that most of the shoes made available to women were:

  • Made by Nike

  • Associated with male NBA players

  • Mid-rise shoes

  • Made of textile with a foam midsole and rubber outsole

  • Have a herringbone traction pattern

  • Offered mainly in men’s sizes

Personal Inventory

Participants provided photographs of two to four of their favourite basketball shoes. The visual analysis of these shoes provided insight into what the women looked for in basketball shoes, which they further elaborated on in the interviews.

Most of the shoes owned by the participants were:

  • Made by Nike

  • Signature shoes (accosiated with male NBA players)

  • Standard lacing

  • Neutral colours (grey, white, or black), some with accents of colours

  • There was an equal number of low-rise, mid-rise, and high-rise shoes.

Interviews

Interviews were conducted to gain further insight into purchasing decisions. The interviews focused on participants’ experiences buying basketball shoes and the design attributes that influenced their purchasing decisions. Themes in the data included purchasing challenges, purchasing criteria, and shopping preferences.

Purchasing challenges

  • Lack of footwear designed specifically to fit women’s feet.

  • Participants recounted how few women’s basketball shoes were available on brand websites.

  • The shoes that participants identified as women’s shoes were described as ugly and lower quality.

  • Instead participants would buy youths’ or men’s shoes.

    • But found kids shoes were not made for how intensely they play and men’s shoes would not fit correctly.

Purchasing Criteria

  • Shoe height chosen based on personal need: 

    • Preference for low, mid and high rise shoes was split evenly

  • Preferences split between neutral shoes with colourful accents and colourful shoes.

  • Participants expressed interest in a female player having a signature shoe

  • Preference for Nike shoes;

    • other brands considered if there was something special about the shoe

Shopping Behaviours

Participants had varying shopping behaviours;

  • Some would shop online and others in-store.

  • Those who shopped in-store preferred to do so because they are able to try shoes on.

  • Participants who shopped online did so because they felt there was a more diverse selection of shoes available.

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Final Shoe Design

The final shoe design was created based of participants preferences. I took in to consideration what needs were not being met by the current selections of basketball shoes for women and created a shoe perfectly designed for them.

Design Features

  • Standard Laces

    Participants preferred standard lacing as apposed to straps.

  • Elastic Opening

    Participants expressed high-rise shoes can be difficult to put on; to mediate this difficulty when donning shoes there is an elastic portion allowing the opening to stretch wider

  • Knit Upper

    Participants looked for shoes with ankle mobility and breathable fabrics.

  • Leather Support

    Prevents foot from sliding around in the shoes, a concern of participants.

  • Plastic Support

    Stretches up the sides to not prevent the ankle from hinging back and forth but offer stability side to side.

  • Rubber Outsole

    Rubber outsole with herringbone traction pattern. The curve of the outsole is accentuated and extends up the sides.