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Shan Hai Jin: Cross-media Integration
Based on the cross-media effect research in 2023, GMK has initiated a cross-media integration study of category consumption this year, aiming to assist brands in allocating media budgets effectively and formulating resource deployment combinations. This issue will focus on the sportswear industry, the main consumption groups with different demand drivers and cross-domain decision paths.
The Chinese sportswear market is stable and showing positive momentum, with hopes to be boosted by 2024 sports events. In 2023, the market size of sportswear reached 385.8 billion, with a year-on-year growth of 14%. Consumers are becoming more rational while also seeking experiences and emotional compensation. As brand awareness becomes more fragmented and consensus is diverging, the decision-making are becoming increasingly complex and diverse.
Key Takeaways
The sportswear industry is experiencing orderly growth driven by national fitness initiatives and large-scale events, undergoing structural changes
In 2024, the industry continues to destock and enters a period of stable growth, with hopes of improving sales through the marketing opportunities of the sports events
With the resumption of offline activities, sportswear is not only suitable for specific sports but also finds expanded usage scenarios
Consumers' brand awareness is becoming more fragmented, with diverging consensus. They expect effective decision-making processes, and varied paths to decision-making
Four major consumer groups of sportswear
They are different in demand drivers, usage scenarios, brand awareness, and decision-making
There are mainly five types of cross-domain decision paths, with omni-chain and online cross-domain being the main ones. Each group owns typical paths
Sportswear Market Overview
The sportswear market is stable and orderly, with hopes to be boosted by the 2024 sports events
The Chinese sportswear market is stable and showing positive momentum, reaching 385.8 billion in 2023, and saw 21% increase compared to 2019. In 2024, brands continue to destock and enter a period of stable growth, with hopes of boosting sales through the sports events marketing. For example, the highly anticipated Paris Olympics Games, tennis opens, swimming, women's volleyball, table tennis, badminton, and other World Championships will be held in 2024.
The sports consumption are closely aligned with life scenarios
Since offline activities have resumed in 2023, outdoor fitness and leisure activities garnered significant attention, such as camping, frisbee, cycling, hiking, yoga, fishing, marathons, skiing, and more. Compared to 2019, the participation rate in national sports activities reached 91%. Since then, sportswear has not only been suitable for specific sports activities but has also seen its usage scenarios expand further, including daily commuting, leisure entertainment, and outdoor travel scenes.
Brand consensus is becoming fragmented, and decision paths are complex and varied
Shifted Demand
Divided Purchase
Consumers pursue integrated experiences and emotional compensation while practicing rational consumption. They flock to urban outlets and discount stores, compare prices on e-commerce platforms; queue up for collaborative collections with luxury brands; and willingly engage in activities of interest communities.
Distributed Cognition
Segmented Consensus
The proportion of brands consumers are heard of and purchased decreases year by year (see footnote). Brand competition is intensifying, with leading brands maintaining relative stability, while their internal positions may continue to shift.
Effective Conversion
Diverse Paths
Consumers expect effective decision-making. The length of the media chain before conversion is shortened, and the concentration level of touchpoints used is lowering. The number of media touchpoints used for decisions is also decreasing, indicating that users tend to choose high-efficient media that are suitable for themselves, leading to a more diverse consumer decision path.
*Note: 2023 VS 2021，the number brand heard of decreased 17%, the number of brand purchased decreased 16%.
Four Consumption Groups
Differentiated demand drivers and brand consensus
Based on the comprehensive analysis of consumer demand drivers, usage scenarios, brand awareness, and decision-making, the consumer groups for sportswear are categorized into four types: price-oriented, brand-oriented, function-oriented, and experience-oriented.
（Connect us to inquire more detailed information on category consumption, brand preferences, sports activities via GMK Helpdesk and WeChat.）
Cross-domain Decision Paths
Mainly five cross-domain decision paths, Omni-chain and Online cross-domain are the main ones
With the restructuring of online and offline traffic, consumer scenarios are undergoing a profound transformation, and consumers are expecting new marketing scenarios and experiences. As the media touchpoints used is becoming more targeted. Brands need to connect them in consumer journey to achieve comprehensive cross-domain integration and enhance effective conversions.
Each consumer group owns typical path
The four consumer groups each have their own characteristics and preference pathways. Both function-oriented and experience-oriented groups prioritize the omni-chain decision path. Additionally, the former emphasizes the online cross-domain decision path, while the latter also leans towards the cross online and offline activation & sales path. Overall, price-oriented and brand-oriented groups are more focused on the latter part of the chain. The former requires both online and offline coordination, while the latter is primarily driven by media touchpoints in an individual domain.
Source: GroupM Shan Hai Jin, Euromonitor, Online public information
To be continue…
In next issue, we’ll take function-oriented group as an example to analyze how different types of consumers make decision by using cross-media. What’s the difference between them? Is there any discrepancy of indirect value on decision and conversion among the media touchpoints? What’s the differences in purchase conversion paths?
Zoe Zou
GroupM Knowledge Analyst
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