Customer loyalty. Once footwear shoppers begin purchasing a particular company’s brand of
athletic footwear, they are inclined to give that same brand fairly strong consideration in making their
next purchases. While it is by no means certain that buyers will return to the same brand, there is
indeed a modest brand loyalty effect among a meaningful number of footwear buyers. The loyalty
effect is strongest for brands that have proven buyer appeal and a strong brand image because of
their relatively attractive competitive offerings (based on price, S/Q rating, model selection, rebates,
and so on). Recent studies of the behavior of athletic footwear buyers indicate that customer loyalty is
very weak for brands that are perceived as substantially over-priced or unfashionable or otherwise
less appealing. In other words, footwear buyers are more likely to be repeat-purchasers of those
brands with leading market shares than of those brands that have sub-par market shares