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Nike's Influence on the Conformation of Society

           There are many products of today that people tend to buy in order to “conform” themselves with the rest of society. Whether it’s the lower class, middle class, or upper class, there is always one product that strikes the mind of individuals. The product that I decided to focus this study on is NBA Nike brand shoes. Nike brand shoes can apply to all people but are most commonly found amongst the younger crowd of today. The other large competing brand, Air Jordan, resembles the exact same level of demand as Nike.

There are multiple reasons why Nike appeals to the younger generation of today. The company is known highly for its inner connection with super sport athletes everywhere. Almost every commercial that Nike airs on television includes a well-known athlete wearing the clothing or shoes. From Basketball and Football to Soccer and Baseball, Nike always finds a way to make a name for themselves in every sport. This would attract people to buy the shoe because well-known athletes have a lot of fans that support the work they do in that sport.

For example, basketball players like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Kobe Bryant were all sponsored by Nike when it came to shoes. Each player had a shoe designed, inspired, and named after them. For Kobe Bryant, it was the “Nike Kobe 11’s” and the “Nike Kobe Mentality 2’s”. For Kevin Durant, it was the “Kevin Durant Nike KD 5’s” all the way to “Nike KD 9’s”.For LeBron James; it was shoes like “Nike LeBron Soldier 10’s”, “Nike LeBron XIII’s” and the “Nike Zoom Soldier 9’s”.

        The company expects these basketball players to wear the shoes whenever they have a game, which catches the attention of basketball fans both young and old, thus causing them to buy the shoe and “conform” with the other basketball fans. According to Forbes.com, “Nike sold $340 million worth of James signature shoes in the last 12 months through January, up 13% from the prior year”. LeBron James and his designed shoes dominated the shoe category when it came to Nike. With that, Kobe Bryant accumulated $105 million and Kevin Durant accumulated $195 million. Aside from the shoes being bought because of pure fandom, others might buy the Nike brand shoes because of the people around them.



Some might perceive buying an NBA Nike brand shoe as having money or a sense of style to their demeanor. In my opinion, shoes from Nike are nowhere near cheap, ranging in prices from the upper $100’s to $1000’s. For example, the NBA Nike brand shoe “foamposites” for Penny Hardaway are one of the high pricing models, with the lowest price for one colorway being $230.00. Purchasing one of these shoes in solitude would more than likely be a way to connect with other people in the social group. From experience, I can say that the newest shoes were never given to me during my middle school years because my parents would never be willing to pay such a high amount for shoes.


            Whenever I needed a new shoe growing up, my parents would take me to places like Payless and Wal-Mart. One thing I had to face was the negative perceptions that I received at school from my friends. When I started making money on my own I was finally able to buy the shoes that I wanted as a kid. Even though I’m a fan of the NBA, my purpose of buying the shoes was more along the lines of conforming reasons.


REFERENCES

Badenhausen, Kurt. “LeBron James is NBA’s Top Shoe Salesman with $340 Million For Nike”. www.forbes.com. 18 March 2015. Web. 23 September 2016. http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2015/03/18/lebron-james-is-nbas-top-shoe-salesman-with-340-million-for-nike-in-2014/#654d20f72859

www.footlocker.com. Footlocker.com, Inc. Web. 23 September 23, 2016, http://www.footlocker.com/_-_/keyword-Nike+Air+Foamposite+One?Nr=AND%28P%5FRecordType%3AProduct%29

www.dtlr.com. Web. 23 September 2016. http://www.dtlr.com/blog/1969-12-31-history-of-the-nike-foamposite.html


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