Behavioural Analysis of Athleisurewear Consumers: A Systematic Literature Review and Future Research Agenda

Can a piece of cloth influence the way we live? Athleisurewear, a portmanteau of the words "athletic" and "leisure" has emerged as fashionable activewear which is worn for both exercising and as everyday casual wear. Athleisurewear consumers are inspired by the "fitspiration" movement where their intentions are to appear fit and healthy to the society they inhabit. Athleisurewear sales are forecast to surpass all other forms of casual apparel in the coming years. Motivated by these intriguing discussions, this report systematically reviewed 39 studies involving the athleisurewear trend which consisted of 9 journal articles, 5 conference papers, 2 book chapters, 1 thesis, 2 industry reports and 20 online fashion blogs/news. Commercially published academic literature on athleisurewear was scarce and identified the trend as under-researched. Yet much literature exists in gray literature sources which were fashion blogs/news. We suggest three main themes derived from these literatures: (1) Athleisurewear and fit-inspired lifestyle; (2) Enclothed cognition and athleisurewear; (3) Athleisurewear and the need for sustainability.