Mathilda Molokwane, Tinashe Chuchu
Abstract
In recent years marketing influencers have made a notable impact on how consumers make purchase decisions and these influencers can range from Celebrities, Industry experts, Bloggers and Vloggers. This study was inspired by the impact that global footwear brands have made on society transcending across sports and popular culture. More specifically the present research sort to investigate factors that impact consumers’ willingness to purchase branded sneakers in South Africa. In order to achieve this, a hypothesised model was proposed. The study was quantitative in nature adopting a non-probability approach to determine appropriate participants. Fieldwork was conducted where 372 willing participants completed and returned the questionnaire for processing. The collected data was analysed in SPSS 27 and Amos 27 for descriptive statistics and hypotheses testing respectively. Key findings indicated that brand attitude and purchase intention were the most closely associated constructs after hypotheses were tested with expertise, and brand loyalty having the weakest relationship. The study presented a picture of how local consumers’ perceived brands produced for their communities.