Store Image Factors Influencing Store Choice among Sportswear Consumers: Baseline Findings from South Africa

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine store image factors influencing store selection choice among consumers of sports apparel in South Africa. The study used a two section questionnaire to elicit responses from a total of 489 conveniently selected sportswear consumers based in three shopping malls in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. The respondents’ demographic data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Exploratory factor analysis was used to identify store image factors influencing store choice. The mean score ranking technique was employed to compare the importance of the extracted factors. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to test for the influence of gender differences in store choice. Six factors influencing the store choice of sportswear consumers were identified. These were sales assistance, store atmospherics, store appeal, in-store induced appeals, promotion/brand availability and store accessibility. Among these factors, sales assistance emerged as the most important factor influencing store choice of sportswear consumers. The study also revealed that gender differences do not significantly influence store selection choice. Using the findings of the study, marketers of sports apparel may be able to increase the patronage levels in their stores by expediting the six factors identified in this study.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n14p359