Abstract
This report offers in-depth discussion of the following topics:
- How product innovation in styles, colors and materials has worked to keep the market fresh for younger consumers- especially since this segment is more likely to buy, and buys more).
- How the growth of premium men' s apparel in general has impacted the types of underwear offerings on the market.
- How the availability of low-cost foreign imports has kept consumer prices low and has impacted how U.S. companies are run.
- The significant role age plays in the market, with younger men being more willing to experiment (behavior that starts in their teens, according to Mintel' s consumer research); and older men being more set in their style preferences and motivated largely by comfort.
- Why women play a key role in the men' s underwear market, not just as a motivation behind purchases, but as purchasers in their own right.
- The direction in which the men' s underwear market is heading.
Estimated at $4.5 billion in 2006, the men' s underwear market registered just 2% growth at constant prices over the review period (2001-06). Consisting of men' s briefs, boxers, boxer-briefs, thermal underwear and T-shirts, purchases are largely driven by necessity (as opposed to the luxury that frequently characterizes the women' s underwear market). Although some consumers have gravitated toward more expensive performance items in the men' s market, a widening array of choices at any price point has made it more difficult for manufacturers to convince the average consumer to spend more.
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