History and Development of the Athletic Running Shoes - Research Paper Example

It is evidently clear from the discussion that running is one of the most popular leisure sports activities. However proper fitting shoes can enhance performance and reduce injuries. The purpose of a shoe is to protect the foot but innovation and technology have led to rapid changes and evolvement in the running shoe industry. Thus today in the running shoe market there are shoes that cater to pronatory control if required, pressure reduction or improved sagittal plane motion, as per need. The interest in the area of running shoes has grown out of the competition in the industry as sales of running shoes are on the increase.

This is because runners in the US and Europe are willing to pay a premium for the running shoes. The US runners spend an average $14.04 more on their running shoes than on leisure footwear. Surprisingly women runners are the drivers of this trend. However, purchases of running shoes that are ‘used for running’ continue to increase as runners are passionate about their lifestyle. Amongst the most popular brands globally are Nike, Adidas, Puma, and Asics. It is believed that motivation is the driving factor for sports participation but marketers have a vital role to play.

This has prompted brands to develop ‘multi-message’ marketing strategy for different segments. Thus they have one message for the hardcore athletes and another for the causal wearers. However, as the footwear market has grown it has also been observed that advertising for footwear is deceptive and misleading. Firms are known to compete on product offerings, prices, cost of production, customer services and also on marketing expenditures.