Expenditures on sport apparel. Creating consumer profiles through interval regression modelling.

Using a heterodox theoretical approach, this article presents sport consumer profiles based on socio-demographic and sport-related lifestyle characteristics. Sport apparel is operationalized as a categorical, hierarchical variable. Given the censored nature of the dependent variable, a two step Heckman-type approach with an interval regression model was used. Data were obtained from a cross-sectional sample of adults in Flanders, Belgium (N=1355). The results indicate that the decision to spend money on sport clothing and shoes is mainly determined by sport-related lifestyle characteristics, confirming the emerging importance of lifestyle in understanding the decision to consume material goods. However, the variability in the amount of money spent on sport apparel is explained by both socio-demographic variables and sport-related lifestyle characteristics. Consequently, both socio-demographic and lifestyle variables are used in the interval regression models, which is introduced as a novel technique to create consumer profiles. These profiles assist sporting goods marketers in refining their strategies to reach specific target markets.