Hoka One One

Kailey Wilson, Caroline Stearns, John Wind, & Fisayo Oni

Table of Contents

Executive Summary 1

Background Info 2

Methodology 3

Research Findings 4

Demographic/Lifestyle 5

Design Elements 8

Pricing 11

Advertising 15

Recommendations 22

Future Research 34

Appendices

Appendix A 35

Appendix B 42

Appendix C 43

Executive Summary

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• People wear tennis shoes for non-exercise based reasons
• 83.8% of respondents said they wear tennis shoes while shopping/running errands
• 80.1% of respondents said they wear tennis shoes while going to class/school
• Based on our findings, we recommend Hoka One One create a new product line of tennis shoes for leisure, everyday activities
• There were several design elements that were liked and disliked by consumers in Hoka One One shoes
• 58.1% of respondents disliked the colors shown on a female Hoka One One tennis shoe; 40.4% disliked the colors shown on a male Hoka One One tennis shoe
• 61.8% of respondents said they strongly disagreed or disagreed with preferring bright colored tennis shoes over neutral ones
• Comfort, Color, and Price were the most desired attributes in tennis shoes by respondents
• Based on our findings, we recommend that Hoka’s new tennis shoe include more neutral colors in their product design
• People were willing to pay less for the current design of Hoka One One shoes than for other tennis shoes
• Respondents were willing to pay $28.18, on average, for a non-Hoka tennis shoe
• Based on our findings, we recommend Hoka One One conduct more research into finding an acceptable price range for a new Hoka shoe
• All respondents use Social Media and recommend using Instagram as a channel for advertising
• 100% of respondents use social media;over ½ of respondents use it for 2-3 hours on average every day
• 50.7% of respondents ranked Instagram as their #1 social media channel for Hoka to most effectively advertise
• Based on our findings, we recommend that Hoka One One uses social media, especially Instagram, to advertise the new Hoka shoe

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Background and Objectives

Background. Hoka One One currently designs and markets their products to athletes with a focus on functionality. In efforts to capture a larger share of the market, they are looking to introduce a new shoe line targeted towards an audience who wears tennis shoes for trendy, leisurely use. This report will be used to assess the new target market and their preferences in the launch of a new shoe.

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Objectives. This type of research is designed to achieve the following objectives:

• Describe what demographic profile makes up the new target market
• Describe the lifestyle profile of the new target market
• Identify features and design elements of tennis shoes preferred by the new target audience
• Define an acceptable price range that consumers will be willing to pay for this new product
• Identify which members of the target audience are more price sensitive
• Identify how often the target market uses social media platforms and which platforms they use most often
• Identify if the target market engages with social media ads. If yes, what made them interact with the ad
• Identify which social media platforms resonate the most for our target audience
• Define characteristics that contribute to the target market remembering certain advertisements

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Methodology

Focus Group Methodology

• Conducted on October 12, 2020
• Start: 9:05 End: 9:40
• Recorded on Zoom
• No Incentive Given
• Profile of Participants
• Marinna Dorolek- roommate to Caroline Stearns, Junior
• Kyra Tennyson- roommate to Caroline Stearns, Junior
• Neal Ostrowski- friend to Caroline Stearns, Junior
• Thomas McMullen- friend to John Wind, Senior
• Samantha Cruzado- friend to Kailey Wilson and John Wind, Senior
• Savannah Thorne- roommate to Kailey Wilson, Senior
• Leslie Lynn- friend to John Wind, Senior
• Trinity Choo- roommate to Kailey Wilson, Senior

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Survey Methodology

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• Coded on Qualtrics Software
• Pre-test
• Email link sent to 10 people
• Sent on November 12th
• Post-test
• 136 total responses collected
• Link published on social media November 14th
• Respondents include high school students, college students, and adults

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Full details found in Appendix A

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Research Findings

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Over 90.37% of Respondents Were Ages 18-25 but 71.32% Were Female

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• The majority of those responding to the survey are in the age range between 18 and 34 that were shown to be proponents of shoes being an important part of an outfit
• Only 28.68% of survey respondents identified as Male

68.89% of Tennis Shoe Users Wear Tennis Shoes 5+ Days in A Week

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• Over half of the respondents are wearing tennis shoes for a majority of the week in a typical week
• 0% of respondents said they never wear tennis shoes

Going For A Run Is Not the Most Highly Selected Reason For Wearing Tennis Shoes

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• Going to the gym (74.3%), shopping/running errands (83.8%), and going to class/school (80.1%) are the top 3 most selected reasons for wearing tennis shoes
• Almost ½ of respondents wear tennis shoes for social events
• Only 65.4% of respondents said they wear tennis shoes to go on a run

Comfort, Color, and Price are the 3 Most Desired Shoe Attributes

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• Comfort was the number 1 rated attribute by respondents followed by Color and Price
• When shown an image of a Hoka One One tennis shoe, 58.10% of respondents disagreed that they liked the colors of the shoe
• 86% of respondents agreed that the Hoka One One shoe looked comfortable; 75% of respondents agreed that the shoe looked multi-purposeful

90.4% of Respondents Liked Neutral Colors; Only 36.8% Liked Bright Colors

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• Less than half of respondents said they liked chunky tennis shoes
• 75.7% of respondents agreed that they liked trendy tennis shoes
• 86.8% of people said they liked lightweight shoes
• Neutral Colors, Lightweight, and Trendy were the top shoe attributes

Color, Sole Thickness, and Trendy Were Most Disliked By Respondents For Both Female and Male Hoka One One Shoes

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• For both men and women styles of Hoka One One shoes shown to respondents, Color, Sole Thickness , and Lack of Trendiness were disliked most by respondents
• For the Female Hoka Design, only 4.4% of respondents strongly disagreed or disagreed that the shoe looked comfortable; Male Hoka Design only 3.6% strongly disagreed or disagreed that the shoe looked of high quality

Mean of $115.11 vs $86.93 for Maximum Price Consumers Willing to Pay for Average Shoe vs Hoka One One Shoe

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• For average tennis shoes, respondents were willing to spend on average $28.18 more than for Hoka One One shoes
• 5.9% of respondents said they spend $0 on a Hoka One One Shoe

There Was Not Evidence to Conclude There Was A Significant Difference In Maximum Price for a Tennis Shoe Based On Gender

• There was not enough evidence to conclude that there was a significant difference in the willingness to pay for general tennis shoes between males and females (Appendix C; P-value: .242)

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Both Males and Females Would Pay More on Average for Regular Tennis Shoe than Hoka One One Shoe

• Males would pay on average $30 more for a tennis shoe than the Hoka brand tennis shoe
• Females would pay on average $27 more for a tennis shoe than the Hoka brand tennis shoe
• Evidence suggests that there is a statistical difference for both genders between what each gender is willing to pay for a tennis shoe vs a Hoka One One tennis shoe (Appendix C; P-value [male]: .003; P-value [female]: .000)

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Of Those That Have Heard Of Hoka One One, 76% Of Respondents Haven’t Purchased a Pair

• 63.24% of respondents either didn’t know or weren’t sure they knew of the brand Hoka One One
• Less than half were aware of the brand
• Of the 36.76% that were aware of the brand, only 24% have purchased a Hoka One One tennis shoe

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MRO 7

100% of respondents said they did use social media

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95.55% of Respondents Spend More Than 2 Hours on Social Media In a Day

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• Only 4.44% of respondents spend an hour or less on social media
• 1/3rd of respondents spend 4-5 hours on social media
• Over half of respondents spend 2-3 hours on social media daily

82.40% of Respondents Have Purchased A Product From A Social Media Ad; Clothing, Food/Drink, and Shoes Are Most Purchased

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• Only 17.6% of people were unsure or have not purchased a product advertised to them on social media

• Almost 1/3rd of respondents have bought shoes after seeing it in a social media ad
• Clothing was the most highly purchased product after viewing it in a social media ad (74.3%)

Using Humor and Displaying Product Information Was Liked By Well Over ½ Of Respondents

• 41.2% of respondent agreed with the statement “I enjoy social media ads”
• 69.9% of respondents said they liked advertisements that made them laugh
• 83% of respondents said they liked advertisements that displayed info about the product

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78.70% of Respondents Have Selected Social Media To Be The Most Effective Advertising Channel for Hoka One One

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• 78.7% of respondents selected Social Media to be the most appropriate advertising medium for Hoka

• Only 29 out of 136 respondents make up the 21.3% that chose an option other than Social Media

50.70% of Respondents Have Selected Instagram To Be The Best Social Media Platform for Hoka One One Advertisements

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• 50.7% of Respondents selected Instagram as the #1 Best Social Media Platform

• Tiktok and Facebook were tied for the 2nd best Social Media Platform, with 10.30% of respondents choosing the channels for the best Social Media for Hoka

Only 23.5% of Respondents Would Describe Hoka Shoes As Trendy In An Advertisement

• Comfort (86%), Colorful (39.7%), and Unique (34.6%) were the top 3 words respondents expected to see in an ad
• Trendy (23.5%), Young (4.4%), and Chunky (26.5%) were the least expected words to see in an ad
• Bold, Design, and Innovative were expected by around 1/3rd of respondents

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Recommendations

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The Age Range of 18-25 Should be Targeted

• 90.37% of Respondents fall between the age range of 18-25, and 71.32% of respondents were female.
• According to secondary research, 30% of consumers aged 18-34 feel that shoes make up the most important part of an outfit.

Given this data, Hoka One One should target Females specifically, along with people in the age rage of 18-25. This should be the demographic profile for Hoka’s new target market.

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Hoka One One Should Create A New Line of Tennis Shoes Designed For Leisurely, Everyday Activities

Given the data, Hoka One One should create a new shoe line that focuses on a leisurely, everyday shoe for shopping/running errands, going to social events, traveling, and other non-exercise based activities.

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The New Line of Tennis Shoe Should Feature Trendier Design Elements

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Given the data, Hoka One One is recommended to include Trendier Design Elements in the New Shoe Line, since it is one of the top 3 most liked shoe attribute.

Based on the data of Dislikes of Hoka Design Elements, Hoka should do further research on what makes a trendy shoe

Neutral Colors Should Be Utilized in the New Shoe Line

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61.80% of respondents either Somewhat Disagree (41.20%), or Strongly Disagree (20.60%) with the statement, “I typically Prefer Tennis Shoes That Have Bright Colors Over Neutral Colors.”

Given this data, Neutral Colors should be utilized in the New shoe line.

The Price Range For The New Hoka One One Shoe Should Be Between $50-150

• The mean price of the maximum price respondents were willing to spend on Hoka Shoes was $86.93
• A large amount of respondents were concentrated around $50-150
• Based on this data, we recommend Hoka One One price their new shoe between $50-150
• Further research is suggested to select the correct price

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Hoka One One Should Use Different Pricing Strategies to Target Males and Females

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• Based on the evidence found, males, on average, were willing to spend more on both general tennis shoes and Hoka tennis shoes than females
• Because of this, Hoka One One should consider pricing their tennis shoes at a higher price for their male lines
• Because females, on average, were not willing to spend as much on shoes, Hoka One One should consider pricing their female lines at a lower price

Social Media is Recommended To Be a Channel Used For Advertising

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We recommend using social media as a tool to advertise based on the evidence of the high usage rate and consistency of usage

• 100% of respondents use social media
• 94.9% of respondents use social media for greater than 2 hours on average every day.

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80.90% of Respondents Would Look Into an Unknown Brand After Seeing It An Ad; Hoka One One Should Increase Advertising to Increase Brand Awareness

• 61% of respondents said they strongly agree that they would buy a product seen in a social media ad
• Because of the data showing low brand awareness and the possibility of increasing it due to social media, Hoka One One should increase its advertising on social media

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Humor Should Be Used In Hoka One One Advertisements

• 69.9% of respondents strongly agreed or agreed with the statement “I Like Ads That Make Me Laugh”
• Only 2.2% of respondents stated that they strongly disagreed with this statement

Based on this evidence, we recommend that Hoka One One includes humor in their advertisements

• Future research should be done to identify what aspects of humor are liked by consumers

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Social Media Platform Recommendation

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Investigation of how Hoka One One’s target audience ranked various social media platforms uncovered evidence in the data that found Instagram and TikTok to be the two social media platforms that resonated most with the target audience.

• Of the 136 respondents, 69% ranked Instagram as the #1 best platform for Hoka to advertise on, while the remaining 31% ranked it as the 2nd and 3rd best platform out of the 5 other platforms listed (TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, and Other). We recommend using Instagram as a platform for advertising Hoka One One Shoes
• We also recommend using TikTok to advertise as TikTok was the second social media platform to receive the greatest value of rankings from #1 - #3 (77% of respondents).

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Comfort, Colorful, Unique Should Be Words Used in Hoka One One Advertisements

• 86% of respondents felt that the word “Comfort” should be included in a Hoka One One ad
• Bold, Innovative, and Unique were popular words selected by respondents to be included in ads

Based on this data, we recommend Hoka One One includes the words “Comfort”, “Colorful”, and “Unique” in their advertisements

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Future Research

• Limitations
• Mostly college kids as respondents
• Coronavirus prevented any face-to-face interaction including the conducting of the focus group
• Next time, a more diverse group of respondents should be selected for more exhaustive results
• Ideas for Future Research
• Conduct surveys on:
• preferences for types of ads (banners, videos, etc)
• what aspects make a shoe “trendy”
• preferences for shoe colors
• reasonable price ranges for a new shoe line
• See if similar results would occur with a more diverse group of respondents
• Research whether Hoka One One should continue to focus on mainly tennis shoes or branch out into other shoe categories
• Research the effectiveness of discount codes, in relation to willingness to pay between genders

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Appendix A

Discussion Guide Introduction:

• Moderator introduces themselves and has everyone introduce themselves
• Explain that the focus group will be about a possible new product (tennis shoes)
• Get consent for audio and video taping and explain that no one outside of the professor and group members will see the focus group
• Ask if there are any questions, comments or concerns
• Make sure someone is recording the time and date as well as any other crucial notes

General Discussion Followed by Specific Questions General:

• Ask how often respondents wear tennis shoes and explore what causes them to wear tennis shoes over other shoes
• What activities do respondents do in tennis shoes (casual vs nicer vs only for exercise)
• Where do the respondents typically buy tennis shoes? -
• How much do respondents typically spend on tennis shoes?
• Activity to have respondents list the best qualities in a tennis shoe

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Focus Group Discussion Guide

Specific:

• See how many recognize the name Hoka and if they have ever purchased from Hoka (if they have also note how they came about knowing about Hoka) -
• Show product and ask what they like/dont like compared to other athletic tennis shoes
• What is the products leading “pro” that could appeal to all consumers
• What could be the biggest obstacles to the new product's success
• Brainstorm specific design elements and features that are liked by respondent
• Identify price range respondents would find reasonable to price new product and if a discount offer would incentivize a purchase -
• Delve into various platforms on social media and usage of platforms
• Start conversation about advertising on social media (words and images to describe this product in an advertisement, social media channels used to promote this product in ad, who should be wearing this product: celebrities, athletes, etc)

Conclusion:

• Flow off any ideas mention earlier to see if people agree or disagree with suggestion
• Stimulate any last conversation about ideas or thoughts
• Final activity: asking respondents how would you separate this product from all other similar products on the market -
• Have note taker record ending time

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Focus Group Summary

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Appendix B

Questionnaire

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Kkshn2ml3JwwgadnAKKjkbZiVFEuuKVDQKig6uRsyew/edit?usp=sharing

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Appendix C

Independent Samples T-Test

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SPSS Outputs

Paired Samples T Test- Males

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Paired Samples Test- Females

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