Design Attributes of Smart Fitness Apparel Influencing Consumers’ Attitudes and Purchase Intentions: Environment and Well-being Concerns

smart fitness apparel, sustainability, well-being, consumer attitude, design attributes

Research Mentor: Dr. Changhyun Nam , Lyon
Department, College, Affiliation: Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship , Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship
Contact Email: cn12@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 2
Relevant Majors: open to all majors
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required: No, the project is remote
Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 10 hours, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Not participating in the Roundtable

Project Description

Smart apparel, often referred to as wearable technology, wearables, electronic textiles (e-textiles), smart clothing, smart footwear, or smart wearables (such as garments, fabrics, and textiles), is enriched with functionalities and communication capabilities (Paret & Crégo, 2019; Stephenson, 2020). According to Markets and Markets research (2021), the smart fabrics market was valued at US$ 2.3 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach US$ 6.6 billion by 2026. Trends involving smart fabrics, characterized by advanced technology, multi-functionality, and higher costs, are propelling the smart apparel market. The advancement of smart fabrics necessitates interdisciplinary approaches that encompass understanding functional designs, and wearable technologies, as well as profound knowledge of textile properties, application techniques, and fabrications (Yanfen & Pu, 2011). Given the escalating demand and the fashionable trend of wearable devices (such as Apple Watch, Fitbit, Samsung Gear Watch) and fitness apparel (including Lululemon, Gymshark, and Alphalete), consumers are increasingly interested in cultivating a healthy lifestyle and well-being. Consequently, conducting interdisciplinary studies on the impact of wearable technologies on smart clothing, as well as soft or hard goods made of smart textiles that incorporate electronic elements, becomes essential (Ferraro, 2015).

Recently, wearable technologies (devices) have been focusing on consumers' well-being and fitness applications, monitoring healthy eating habits (such as consumption of food calories), regular exercise patterns (for determining fitness levels or optimizing performance), body health (stress levels, sleeping patterns, heart rate), and other metrics (e.g., for entertainment purposes) (Weinswig, 2017). Moreover, a large number of wearable devices are integrated into fashion and fitness apparel (smart footwear and smart clothing), ranging from fitness trackers to highly advanced sportswear. Wearable technologies are aimed at enhancing individuals' lives, not only helping consumers achieve their goals, such as maintaining fitness and losing weight through the use of electronic activity monitors but also managing individual mental and physical health (Smith, 2019). Thus, smart fitness apparel should be created with consideration of consumers' judgments, environmental and communication objectives, reactions or thoughts from other consumers, and designed to be easily used and accessed.
Despite the growing attention towards the development and interaction of smart fitness apparel, recent studies have primarily focused on aspects like design approaches, garment usage, and materials incorporated in smart sportswear (Memarian et al., 2019; Sultana & Bashir, 2019; Talukder et al., 2019). However, there is a limited body of research that delves into the purchase intentions linked to wearable technology concerning fitness apparel. Consequently, there exists a research gap in the literature concerning consumers' acceptance of wearable apparel, particularly in the context of fitness apparel encompassing smart clothing and smart footwear. Understanding potential wearers' perceptions and attitudes towards smart fitness apparel is crucial for marketers, as these clothing and footwear items are expected to be integral to the future of the fitness industry. Further research is needed to address this gap comprehensively.

Theoretically, research on fitness wearable apparel is essential to comprehend consumer behaviors. By constructing and validating an integrated framework encompassing the determination of consumers' social acceptability of wearable technology, environmental concerns, well-being considerations, and reasonable actions, this study aims to offer a more comprehensive understanding of consumers' acceptance of smart fitness apparel. Consequently, the objective of this study is to expand the wearable acceptability model to include attributes specific to smart apparel and explore the factors that influence consumers' attitudes and purchase intentions toward smart fitness apparel. In relation to the environmental and well-being considerations linked to smart fitness apparel, this study provides pragmatic insights to address the following three research questions:
RQ1: What attributes contribute to purchase intentions for smart fitness apparel?
RQ2: How do consumers perceive smart fitness apparel in terms of environmental concerns, well-being considerations, or both?
RQ3: To what extent do the social acceptability attributes of wearables influence purchase intentions for smart fitness apparel?


Research Tasks: literature review, data collection (interview and survey)

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: It would be perfect to have research experience for academic papers. Also, If students know how to operate NVivo software, it would be great (additional skill)