An investigation into the product attachment between athletes and their sports equipment.

Abstract

This study investigated the product/user relationship between a sample of 186 athletes and their racing bicycles. These participants completed a product relationship questionnaire that utilised a five-point Likert scale that investigated five pre-validated determinants of a product/athlete attachment. The questionnaire obtained an internal consistency using Cronbach’s Alpha with a range of 0.73-0.89 of the sub sections. The results of this study achieved generally supportive responses for all five determinants of the product/user attachment. The data therefore supported that a positive product attachment can exist between athletes and this particular form of sporting equipment. By acknowledging that a product attachment can exist – even in the performance orientated biases of a competitive sport, offers the possibility of a new potential form of design-based ergogenics that warrants further exploration in the future.