Millennials’ perceived value and intention to purchase athleisure products: the mediating role of desire for conspicuous consumption

Purpose As Millennials consist of most of the world’s population, there is a growing body of research understanding their consumption patterns in sport. We examined the relationship among Millennials’ various perceived values, their desire for conspicuous consumption, and their intention to purchase athleisure products. Design/methodology/approach We used a web-based survey through Amazon Mechanical Turk ( n = 348) to test our research hypotheses and model. Findings Our findings revealed that perceived price, quality, and emotional value were positively associated with both the desire for conspicuous consumption and purchase intention towards athleisure products among Millennials. Perceived emotional and social value of athleisure-related products was positively associated with their purchasing intention via the desire for conspicuous consumption. Originality/value This is the first study examining the association among perceived value, conspicuous consumption tendencies, and purchase intention among Millennials. Our study suggests that Millennials have unique desires and preferences in what they wear in both sporting and casual settings, which in turn, contributes to their self-presentation strategies. These findings have implications for both sport scholars and professionals.