Lululemon, an activewear brand known for its athleisure apparel, has taken the world by storm since its establishment in 1998. Within the past few years, the popularity of Lululemon has soared due to social media and continuous marketing from the brand.
Advertising junior Maria Murphy said the brand’s well-thought-out marketing and advertising helped with its increasing popularity.
"They have a lot of really good marketing and advertising initiatives," Murphy said. "They've been around for a while, and they just kind of have like that brand name and essence that people really like and they like to wear."
Marketing professor Rebecca Sullivan said Lululemon’s marketing strategy was deliberately planned to be about more than just the products alone.
"Marketers believe that products are a means to an end," Sullivan said. "So it's not as much about covering your legs and protecting yourself from the elements as (it is about) achieving a higher level goal, and that varies person to person; supporting your values, achieving your goals varies person to person."
Sullivan also said active collaborations with influencers helped the brand accumulate a large following.
"A lot of these brands have done a really good job of working with influencers," Sullivan said. "What influencers do is demonstrate that like, you know, 'I'm, as an influencer, a member of your aspirational group, your symbolic reference group, the group you want to be a part of, and I'm drinking out of a Stanley Cup, and I'm carrying this kind of bag, and I'm wearing this kind of leggings.'"
Business-exploratory freshman Jack Demerse said the popularity directly correlates to the latest fashion trends.
"I think it's a trend," Demerse said. "I think it's human nature to kind of follow what other people do. People will see a large amount of people going to one brand, and they'll immediately flock to that same brand just to match the trends at the time."
With its flashy, high-quality apparel sold at higher prices, many consider Lululemon a luxury sportswear brand.
But why do people choose to buy Lululemon for heftier prices, compared to other non-luxury sportswear brands for less money?
Sullivan said in some cases, purchasing expensive products can demonstrate competence in the workplace.
"Critics of consumerism, critics of the marketing discipline, will say, 'Oh, you know, it's just materialism', 'It's just consumerism,' 'People are just throwing money away,' 'They want to demonstrate to others how rich they are', and that can definitely be part of it," Sullivan said. "But a lot of times, even signaling that you can afford something expensive isn't just showing people you have money. It's demonstrating competence. It's demonstrating that you've achieved a certain level in your profession, and that can be really important for getting people to take you seriously at work."
Additionally, Sullivan said individuals want to feel a sense of social acceptance through purchasing specific brands.
"I think whether you're talking (about) Maslov or you're looking at other psych models, there's a belief that as humans, we need to feel social acceptance," Sullivan said. "We need to feel like we belong in a group. And the clothes you wear can go a long ways to demonstrating that you belong in a group, and they are signals to other people that you belong in their group and they should accept you."
Murphy said individuals may choose Lululemon over other brands because of their genuine love for the product. However, with its ever-increasing popularity and its high prices, is Lululemon becoming a status symbol for those who choose to buy it?
Demerse said it depends on how the topic is viewed.
"I think overall, it's more seen as a status symbol by like society as a whole," Demerse said. "But then, I think by individual groups and people, it can be viewed as more of an investment of your money."
Similarly, Murphy said some individuals purchase Lululemon for the aesthetics and status symbol, while others buy it for its quality and functionality.
"I think it's a mix of both," Murphy said. "I have some Lululemon stuff, and it's actually really, really good, but I think a lot of it is fitting into the American culture, like overconsumption, wanting to have the same stuff as everyone else."
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Lululemon has many different variations of the same product, ranging in color and design. Because of this, many people buy the same product multiple times.
Murphy said this is mainly due to the overconsumption culture present in society, although multiple purchases can be justified if individuals genuinely do enjoy the product and want more to add to their closet.
When it comes to repurchasing items in general from the brand itself, Sullivan said customers may choose to do so because of cognitive bias.
"Anything that led them to buy the first time still matters the second time," Sullivan said. "There's also a lot of cognitive bias that leads us to make the same choices over and over. Our brains can't handle the gajillions of inputs from all of our senses all the time, and so they have to kind of find these rules of thumb, these cognitive biases, these shortcuts to making decisions and choosing something the second time is way easier than revisiting every decision you make. It's why we all buy the same laundry detergent over and over, (and) the same toothpaste."
There are other athleisure brands that sell similar quality and products to Lululemon. The reason people choose items with the Lululemon logo over items from an unpopular brand relates back to status symbols, Demerse said.
"I think it goes back to the fact that the logo is displayed front and center on some of the clothes, and so it's an immediate status symbol," Demerse said. "Same thing as Apple with displaying the logo and all their products. It's automatic advertising without having to do their own advertising, I think it's pretty smart of them."
Similarly, Murphy said it’s in part due to the role that logos play in society.
"Logos mean so much, especially in American culture, and just like, all over the world," Murphy said. "You like to wear it and show it off, and if someone's wearing the same thing, you kind of can feel connected in that way. You can feel your best when you're wearing something with a name brand or a logo on it."
Sullivan also said that by purchasing Lululemon, a reputable name brand, quality and reliability are essentially guaranteed.
"A brand's name is a shortcut to guaranteed quality," Sullivan said. "It's dependable, versus a store brand, (which is) more of a risk. So strong brands reduce the feelings of risk in people's minds, make people more likely to buy (and), of course, that equity that they build allows them to charge more."
