While the popularity of athletic footwear or “sneakers” has been widely assessed within academic literature, few studies to date have examined the influence of a specific sneaker subculture called “Sneakerheads”. Moreover, the brand preferences and brand identities that may exist within the Sneakerhead subculture have not been extensively examined. To address this gap in the research, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 male, self-identified Sneakerheads. The main goal of the research was to explore the Sneakerhead culture, while gaining an understanding of brand preferences, practices, and group identity factors. The Social Identity Theory was employed as the theoretical framework for this research. Qualitative analysis of the interviews revealed the following three topical areas: (1) Back in the Day, (2) All About the Jumpman, and (3) For Members Only. Findings regarding the unique culture of Sneakerheads indicate a clear sense of group identity as it relates to motivations, behaviors, and brand identity within the Sneakerhead community. Moreover, the findings of this study further define the lifestyle of a Sneakerhead and shed light on their unique behaviors and practices within the culture.

中文翻译：

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我穿，所以我要穿：调查男子的运动鞋文化，社会认同感和品牌偏爱

虽然运动鞋或“运动鞋”的受欢迎程度已在学术文献中得到了广泛评估，但迄今为止，很少有研究检查一种称为“ Sneakerheads”的特定运动鞋亚文化的影响。而且，尚未对Sneakerhead亚文化中可能存在的品牌偏好和品牌认同进行广泛研究。为了弥补研究中的这一空白，对12位自我识别的男性Sneakerheads进行了半结构化访谈。该研究的主要目的是探索Sneakerhead文化，同时了解品牌偏好，做法和群体认同因素。社会认同理论被用作本研究的理论框架。对访谈的定性分析揭示了以下三个主题领域：（1）回顾过去，（2）关于Jumpman，（3）仅供会员使用。关于Sneakerheads独特文化的发现表明，与Sneakerhead社区内的动机，行为和品牌标识有关的群体认同感明显。此外，这项研究的发现进一步定义了Sneakerhead的生活方式，并阐明了其在文化中的独特行为和习俗。