Lebron James and Michael Jordan

Ten or more years ago, the thought of purchasing three hundred dollar tennis shoes would never cross an individuals mind. In the economy today, buying athletic wear in that price range seems to be a normal trend, specifically brand named shoes such as Nike. Recently, there has been an uproar about the price of the new Nike Lebron X shoes and different people have different opinions about it.

Since Michael Jordans’ first release of his brand line basketball shoes, the economy has seen a trend in rising sneakers prices. Though Lebron James and Michael Jordan are two different people they have one thing in common, shoes that people want. The highly awaited basketball footwear is set to release September 29, 2012, with prices increasing to two hundred and seventy dollars with new technology in the shoe. It will not be hard marketing this shoe at all. It is being said that the cutting-edge sneakers are a new wave of basketball shoes.

“Nike’s $300 Shoe Has the Marketing Built Right In” (McCarthy 2012). Shoe stores like DTLR, FootLocker, Shoe City and many more are anticipating the delivery of this footwear to there stores. They know it will bring high volumes of business during the period of sale. Majority of the population buying this shoe will be people from the middle class, black communities. Other people looking to buy this pricey shoe with the technology in it, are the people who want to know “how high they can jump or how far they can run” (Banjo 2012), but to the average customer, the colors and style of the shoe are appealing enough.

In Late August of 2012, the Wall Street Journal reported that the state of the art Lebron X shoes would price for over three hundred dollars. “The Wall Street Journal reported that Nike’s LeBron X – the tenth in a series of sneakers bearing the basketball star’s name – will likely break the $300 mark. This means that in the nine years since the company debuted its first LeBron shoe, the price would have jumped nearly threefold from $110 back in 2003” (Bergstein 2012). Nike claims the price jump is due to higher labor cost in China and price in cotton. “The report comes from The Wall Street Journal, which is behind a pay wall, but claims, “Nike attributes the price hike to rising labor costs in China and a jump in cotton prices” (Zaldivar 2012).

In a recent interview given by John Montone, from CBS New York, gave people got a chane to hear how a few average joe’s felt about the price. “I wouldn’t pay more than $40 for a pair of sneakers; if they’re comfortable, they fit, they look good there’s no reason to pay anything ridiculous like that,” one man said. “Do you need a mortgage to buy that?” another man said.” (Motone 2012). Some individuals, on the other hand, said they did not mind paying that much for footwear. “I don’t mind the price at all. You are getting the best of the best here, and not only a premium shoe but a premium EXPERIENCE,” stated Emily B” (B 2012).

Big name individuals, as well as the regular population, belched out there concerns about the amount for the footgear. President of the National Urban League, Marc Morial, had plenty to say about it.”To release such an outrageously overpriced product while the nation is struggling to overcome an unemployment crisis is insensitive at best” (Parker). Dr. Boyce Watkins, founder of Your Black World Coalition, stated, ” its unethical, we are disappointed in the company for exploiting urban America in such a vicious and myopic way” (Watkins 2012). There could be a split with the population on whether they will accept the price of the shoes and pay for them or rebel against the price.

In a world that is rapidly changing everyday, society is looking to keep up with any new trend that is currently “hot.” Based on the business ecosystem, technology is a major factor influencing the marketing ability of these sneakers. With the fly-wire technology being at the palm of your feet, now athletes, specifically basketball players, can test their own speed and jumping abilities without going to a gym to do it. All their readings can be uploaded through apps or some other program to tell them how well they are doing. This is could be the start of an epidemic with basketball shoes.

Another factor influencing the marketing of the shoes is the social and cultural aspect. Basketball has been a large piece in the development of some individuals in America. Young boys and girls even look up to basketball stars as being role models, so it would be easy to market to generation Y and generation Z. Also, many individuals believe that their “shoe game” contributes to their social status in life. Though that may come with some true with some, others do not need to validate themselves by purchasing high priced shoes.

At the end of the day, society is going to either buy the shoes, or they will not . Price is a factor in the consideration of purchasing the kicks, but to some consumers it is not. As the economy is evolving, so are people’s standards, which can impact the economy even more than it does now.