What’s Fueling the “Revolution” in Undergarment Marketing

SOURCE: BOMBAS.COM

Socks and undergarments seem to be in the midst of revolutionary change, if you can call it that – with brands like Bombas, Tommy John, and Thirdlove taking to the airwaves and digital channels to sell their life-changing, technologically advanced, most-comfortable-in-the-world products.

Who’d a thunk it … boxer briefs or wool socks selling for $30+ a pair. So, what’s behind this skivvy sensation?

Sure, one could argue that the undergarment category has been ripe for disruption. For the longest time, visions of decrepit factories in NYC’s garment district could easily come to mind when thinking socks and underwear. Today, the narrative is that innovators in modern R&D labs are imagining products with unique materials that get manufactured in apparel’s Foxcom equivalent.

But we all know that a truly life changing undergarment or sock is really quite hard a promise to live up to.Yet, as so often is the case, people are willing to believe it and buy into it.  (As did yours truly.)

Given the nature of the products we’re discussing today, it would be easy to (jokingly) assume that it is the Endowment Effect. But this describes our tendency to place a higher value on items we own because we own it. For example, on a used car that sits in our garage vs. a similar one on the lot.

So, no, the Endowment Effect doesn’t explain the rise in undergarments. (Ba dum.) Perhaps what does is the confluence of affordable luxury(also referred to as accessible luxury), pursuit of comfort and what we’ll call the commodity expectation bias.

Affordable luxury is defined as “an alluring good or service with a steep but affordable price,” according to yourdictionary.com. For today’s Millennial consumer – who is a prime candidate for online brands like the ones mentioned earlier – it feels like a perfect match: a premium undergarment is a way to “splurge responsibly.” (Interestingly, according to a study appearing on Bloomberg,“Millennials feel better about their future earnings than older consumers and spend more on luxury goods.”)

The pursuit of comfort is well documented in the apparel industry – with trends like casual wear in the workplace and “athleisure” leading the way.

And though there is no published research on a commodity expectation bias I’m going to introduce the idea here anyway. By definition, a commodity item is one that is difficult to distinguish beyond the branding (where applicable). So, when a claim of superiority (oftentimes given the application of “new” technology) is introduced to a category believed to be commoditized, the reaction is prone to be suspended disbelief in those claims. The bias is in wantingto believe that something personal and mundane can be made better … or even superior.

You buying it? Well, if you’ve purchased a “revolutionary” new sock or undergarment online welcome to the club: you unwittingly have already.