Article

Mariane das Chagas; Sílvia Maria Morales Pereira

DOI: 10.22167/2675-6528-202602571

Article derived from a Final Course Work (TCC), with content based on the student’s original work and adapted to the editorial format of the E&S Magazine with the support of the ResumeAI tool, an artificial intelligence solution developed by the Pecege Institute for textual synthesis and organization.

Abstract

Sportswear has consolidated itself as a symbolic language of social distinction in recent decades, driven by the expansion of the wellness market and the reconfiguration of prestige standards in contemporary consumer societies. The study aimed to understand how sportswear symbols influenced the construction of identity and belonging and their association with social prestige among Brazilian consumers who purchased products in the sector in the last 12 months. The research was developed through a bibliographic survey and descriptive research, with a survey of the convenience non-probabilistic type applied to a sample of 445 Brazilian sportswear consumers. The main results indicated that the majority of respondents associated sports brands with perceptions of social status; more than half recognized wellness as a new symbol of prestige; and a significant portion perceived sportstyle as more accepted in formal work environments. In contrast, ostentatious forms of signaling, such as preference for visible logos, social media influence, and willingness to pay a premium, were widely rejected, revealing a dissociation between the symbolic attribution of status and ostentatious signaling behavior. The Brazilian sportswear consumer with high cultural capital operated through subtle and non-ostentatious symbolic signals, compatible with the phenomenon of inconspicuous consumption, in which social distinction manifested in an internalized manner.

Keywords: Inconspicuous consumption; Distinction; Social prestige; Sportstyle; Wellness.

1. Introduction

In contemporary hyperconnected society, identity is shaped by symbolic and performative elements, transcending objective criteria such as profession or social origin (Lipovetsky and Serroy, 2015). Choices of products and lifestyles become public manifestations of individual and collective values, with consumption assuming a central role in the construction of belonging and symbolic differentiation (Akarsu et al., 2025).

The act of consuming goes beyond functional needs, encompassing emotional, cultural, and ideological dimensions that transform goods into signs of status and identity. In this context, appearance and clothing emerge as privileged languages of symbolic capital, communicating values and aspirations that surpass the functional utility of objects (Bourdieu, 2007; Dantas and Abreu, 2020; Silva and Farias, 2022).

The concept of status, derived from the Latin stare, meaning “to position oneself”, refers to an individual’s position relative to others in a socially valued dimension, assessed by the economic, cultural, and social dimensions of capital (Bellezza, 2023; Bourdieu, 2007). The desire for distinction and distance from lower strata is one of the most persistent drivers of consumption behavior (Bellezza, 2023).

Historically, this impulse manifested through conspicuous consumption, characterized by the ostentatious display of high-value goods and brands as signs of wealth and social status, communicating prestige through recognizable logos (Dantas and Abreu, 2020). However, with the popularization of traditional luxury, an opposite and sophisticated strategy emerges: inconspicuous consumption (Bellezza, 2023). This is based on the preference for subtle and difficult-to-imitate signals, such as material quality and construction details, accessible only to groups with high cultural capital, rather than explicit brand markings (Bellezza, 2023).

In this symbolic regime, distinction operates through accumulated refinement and specialized knowledge, rendering the signs practically invisible to those who do not share the same universe of references (Bourdieu, 2007). Distinction, therefore, ceases to be displayed and is only recognized by peers, which confers upon it an even higher symbolic value (Bellezza, 2023).

In parallel, a new imaginary of distinction has consolidated in recent decades: “wellness”. Defined as the active pursuit of activities, choices, and lifestyles that lead to a state of holistic health (Allem, 2024), “wellness” redefines the body as symbolic capital and confers social and identity value on the consumption of products associated with a healthy lifestyle (Giordani and Hoffmann-Horochovski, 2020). The disciplined body, conscious eating, and regular sports practice emerge as markers of merit and individual responsibility, signaling self-control and belonging to high-prestige groups (Giordani and Hoffmann-Horochovski, 2020).

It is in this intersection between the reconfiguration of status signals and the ideology of “wellness” that sportswear consolidates itself as a vehicle for broad cultural transition (Akarsu et al., 2025). Garments once restricted to physical performance now represent vitality, discipline, and conscious lifestyle, extending to formal professional and social contexts and conferring “sportstyle” the status of a new marker of symbolic belonging (Giordani and Hoffmann-Horochovski, 2020; Akarsu et al., 2025). As these products become more popular, consumers with high cultural capital seek increasingly subtle signals, compatible with the logic of inconspicuous consumption, preserving distinction through non-ostentatious means (Bellezza, 2023).

It is therefore justified to investigate how alternative status symbols are manifested through sports fashion in the Brazilian context, given that this phenomenon reflects contemporary dynamics of symbolic differentiation and belonging that still lack systematic empirical investigation in the country (Bellezza, 2023; Akarsu et al., 2025). Understanding these codes means identifying how values such as authenticity, self-control, and well-being have come to operate as new markers of prestige and identity (Giordani and Hoffmann-Horochovski, 2020; Bourdieu, 2007). Thus, the objective of this study was to understand how sports fashion symbols influence the construction of identity and belonging, as well as how their consumption is associated with status, expressed through social prestige among Brazilian consumers who have purchased products from the sector in the last 12 months.

2. Material and Methods

The present study was designed as an exploratory and descriptive research, seeking to deepen the understanding of the phenomenon in question and analyze the characteristics of social groups. The methodological approach included a bibliographic survey and a descriptive research, according to the guidelines of Gil (2019; 2022) and Marconi and Lakatos (2021). The bibliographic survey consisted of consulting books and scientific articles, while the exploratory research aimed at refining the research problem.

The descriptive research, in turn, enabled the analysis of characteristics of social groups and their behavior patterns, with the objective of identifying connections between the studied variables (Gil, 2019). For the collection of primary data, a “survey” type research strategy was employed, using a structured questionnaire. This approach allowed for the measurement of Brazilian consumers’ perception of sports brands and their association with social status.

The sample used was of the non-probabilistic convenience type, composed of Brazilian consumers of sportswear. The questionnaire was administered online, through the Google Forms platform, and remained available for data collection for a period of thirty days, from February 16, 2026, to March 18, 2026. Initially, 644 responses were obtained.

After the collection phase, the responses were screened. 445 responses were considered valid, meeting the established inclusion criteria. These criteria consisted of accepting the Free and Informed Consent Form (FICF) and confirming, through a filter question, that the participant had purchased sports fashion products in the last twelve months. The survey, being a public opinion poll with unidentified participants, did not require submission to a Research Ethics Committee, in accordance with CNS Resolution No. 510, of April 7, 2016.

The data collection instrument, a structured questionnaire, was developed based on the study by Age (2025) and divided into three thematic blocks. The first block was dedicated to collecting sociodemographic information from the participants, covering age, gender, income, and education level, without any personal identification of the respondents, ensuring anonymity.

The second block of the questionnaire focused on investigating participants’ consumption behavior. It addressed questions related to the frequency of purchasing sportswear items, the brands preferred by consumers, and the main motivations that drove their purchasing decisions, differentiating between functional and symbolic aspects of the products.

Finally, the third block of the questionnaire was designed to examine consumers’ symbolic perception. For this purpose, a five-point Likert scale was used, where one meant “Strongly Disagree” and five “Strongly Agree”. This scale allowed for the evaluation of attributes such as status, exclusivity, belonging, identity, and authenticity associated with sportswear products. A complete copy of the questionnaire applied is available in the Appendix of this work.

3. Results and Discussion

The research results revealed a complex panorama of sportswear consumption among participants, indicating a predominantly functional orientation, but with an undeniable and internalized symbolic dimension. The sample, composed mainly of women (96.0%) aged between 40 and 61 years (69.5%) and with a high level of education (76.0% with complete higher education or more), presented a profile of high cultural capital. This characteristic of the sample is crucial, as inconspicuous consumption and distinction through subtle signs are behaviors frequently associated with segments with a refined symbolic repertoire, as pointed out by Bellezza (2023) and Bourdieu (2007). The female predominance and age concentration, however, restricted the generalization of the findings to all Brazilian sportswear consumers.

The purchase frequency of sports fashion items showed a moderate pattern, with most respondents acquiring products semi-annually (39.1%) or annually (36.6%). Quarterly purchases accounted for 20.4% and monthly only 3.8%. This less recurrent acquisition behavior can be interpreted as a characteristic of consumption oriented by symbolic value, which tends to involve greater cognitive and affective elaboration, in contrast to purely utilitarian consumption (Akarsu et al., 2025). However, an alternative interpretation suggests that low recurrence may simply reflect the functional replacement cycles of sports products, which have a longer lifespan. Distinguishing between these two readings would require additional data on motivation and acquisition value, which were not captured by the instrument, thus imposing interpretive caution.

Regarding the most consumed sportswear brands, the research identified the leadership of Adidas (43.4%) and Nike (35.7%), followed by Lupo Sport (20.0%), Olympikus (18.0%), and ASICS (15.7%). The prominence of global brands underscores their role in building symbolic capital and representing a lifestyle that transcends the sporting context (Bertami et al., 2023). The significant presence of national brands such as Lupo Sport and Olympikus, in turn, indicated that factors like functionality and price also compete with brand prestige in purchasing decisions, revealing a tension between functional and symbolic value in contemporary sportswear consumption (Bellezza, 2023). The diversity of brands mentioned suggests a fragmented market, although response limitations may have suppressed the mention of lesser-known brands.

For sports footwear, Adidas (41.8%) and Nike (39.8%) also stood out, with Olympikus (29.0%), ASICS (27.4%), and Mizuno (16.6%) completing the following positions. The maintenance of global brands at the top reinforces their position as symbolic benchmarks for Brazilian consumers (Bertami et al., 2023). However, the relatively higher participation of brands specialized in technical performance, such as ASICS and Mizuno, in the footwear segment, compared to apparel, suggests that the functional dimension may carry more weight in footwear purchasing decisions. The research, however, did not directly capture the differentiation between performance use and lifestyle use, which limits a deeper analysis of this aspect.

The use cases of sportswear revealed a wide diffusion beyond the practice of physical exercise, which was still the predominant context (93.3%). Leisure in malls and parks (54.6%) and travel (49.7%) were also frequent contexts. Notably, 24.5% of the sample used sportswear in work activities, and 5.2% in social events. This expansion of use to non-strictly sporting contexts highlights the incorporation of sportswear into daily rituals of social presentation (Giordani and Hoffmann-Horochovski, 2020), and can be interpreted as a status signal associated with an active and productive lifestyle, attributes valued in contemporary times (Bellezza, 2023). The low frequency of use in social events, however, indicated that, for this profile, sportswear did not function as an instrument of display in contexts of high social visibility.

The most decisive factors in the purchase of sportswear were, in descending order, comfort and performance during physical activity (79.1%), quality and durability (65.6%), and price (56.2%). Design and aesthetics (35.7%), online reviews and comments (10.6%), and brand/status (4.7%) had lower declared relevance. The predominance of functional criteria in the purchase decision pointed to an inherent tension in contemporary symbolic consumption. Consumers with high cultural capital tend to reject explicit ostentation in favor of subtle signs of distinction (Bellezza, 2023), which may explain the low salience of brand and status as declared criteria. Furthermore, preferences incorporated throughout one’s social trajectory manifest as apparently natural choices, rendering their symbolic dimension invisible (Bourdieu, 2007). Thus, the declared value of comfort and durability did not exclude the operation of internalized symbolic mechanisms.

The perception of the symbolic dimension of sportswear consumption was evaluated through nine Likert scale statements. When asked if the use of certain sportswear brands was associated with higher perceptions of social status, 71.2% of respondents agreed with the statement (36.9% strongly agreed and 34.4% agreed). This expressive majority confirmed that sportswear operates as a classificatory system, where consumption choices express positions in social space (Bourdieu, 2007). The sporty style can be understood as an alternative status signal, articulating distinction, authenticity, and an active lifestyle in place of traditional ostentatious luxury (Bellezza, 2023). This result was particularly relevant when compared to the low mention of brand and status as a purchasing factor (4.7%), suggesting that respondents recognized the symbolic dimension of brands but did not verbalize it as a conscious purchasing motivation.

Regarding the proposition that displaying a healthy lifestyle through clothing or footwear constitutes a new symbol of prestige, 58.9% of respondents agreed (35.1% agreed and 23.8% strongly agreed). For most, the visibility of healthy practices through clothing was recognized as symbolic capital, aligning with the broader movement in which well-being ceased to be a private condition and began to function as a marker of individual value and social distinction (Jackson et al., 2022). The healthy and disciplined body has become a legitimate language of contemporary prestige, where body care signals self-control and belonging to valued groups (Giordani and Hoffmann-Horochovski, 2020). Sportswear, in this context, acts as a visible support for this narrative. However, the percentage of agreement was lower than that of the association between brands and social status (58.9% versus 71.2%), indicating greater hesitation, possibly due to explicitly associating body care with a logic of distinction that the well-being culture itself tends to present as non-competitive. The expressive proportion of neutrals (19.8%) reinforced this interpretation.

The statement about feeling part of a specific social group when using certain sportswear brands was largely rejected, with 51.7% disagreeing (28.1% strongly disagreed and 23.6% disagreed). This result contrasts with studies that document the strong identifying function of sports brands among young people in urban peripheries (Bertami et al., 2023). The difference is interpretable in light of the sample’s profile, where middle-aged women with high education may favor more subtle forms of differentiation, in which distinction is expressed in an internalized manner, a pattern compatible with inconspicuous consumption (Bellezza, 2023). The contrast with the perception of social status (71.2% agreement) revealed an analytically relevant dissociation: respondents perceived the symbolic dimension of brands but did not use them as mediators of explicit group belonging. The finding suggested that symbolic distinction, for this profile, operated through individualized and non-tribal mechanisms, with the consumer positioning themselves socially through the brand, but without publicly identifying with a group through it. The proportion of neutrals (25.8%) imposed caution in generalizing the finding.

The assertion that sportswear says a lot about who the respondent is and their values was largely rejected, with 46.1% disagreeing (25.4% totally disagreed and 20.7% partially disagreed). The majority did not consciously recognize sportswear as a vehicle for explicit identity expression. Combined with the fact that 71.2% recognized the symbolic weight of brands, this suggested that symbolic consumption operated in an internalized and non-reflective manner, consistent with the mechanism by which preferences incorporated into the social repertoire tend to be experienced as natural choices, without verbalization of their symbolic dimension (Bourdieu, 2007). The proportion of neutral respondents (23.8%) tempered this interpretation, indicating that, for part of the sample, this identity mediation was not unequivocally rejected.

The preference for items with easily identifiable logos was met with significant rejection, with 72.8% disagreement (51.5% totally disagreed and 21.3% disagreed), representing one of the most relevant findings. Consumers with high cultural capital tend to prefer subtle status symbols, legible only by peers who share the same symbolic repertoire (Bellezza, 2023), a pattern also documented in the Brazilian economic elite, which favors perceived quality and discreet belonging over brand display (Alcoforado, 2025). The rejection of logos did not imply an absence of brand awareness, as evidenced by the recognition of the symbolic weight of sports brands (71.2%), but indicated that the symbolic consumption of the sample operated on a more refined level, where distinction is achieved through the choice of fabric, cut, and perceived quality, rather than ostentatious brand display. The intensity of rejection, with more than half of respondents totally disagreeing, lent interpretive clarity to the finding, aligning it directly with the study’s objective, although measurement by self-declaration does not allow for a confident assertion that this rejection translates into actual purchasing behavior.

The perception of the growing social acceptance of sportswear in formal or work environments received a predominantly positive response, with 64.9% agreement (40.0% agreed and 24.9% strongly agreed). This result reflected the semiotic expansion of sportswear, where the active, productive, and efficient body has come to represent a status emblem in contemporary times (Bellezza, 2023), and disciplined body presentation functions as a sign of competence and self-control in professional contexts (Giordani and Hoffmann-Horochovski, 2020). Articulated with the declared use of sportswear in work activities (24.5%), this data indicated that the transition of sportswear to formal contexts was not only perceived as a trend but was already practiced by a portion of the sample. The divergence between the two percentages (64.9% social acceptance versus 24.5% effective use) suggested that the social acceptance of the phenomenon surpassed its effective incorporation into professional daily life, which may reflect institutional or cultural barriers in certain work environments.

The statement about the influence of social media and the desire to be seen in photos on sportswear choices was rejected by the expressive majority, with 74.4% disagreement (49.2% totally disagreed and 25.2% disagreed). This result allows for two complementary interpretations. The first considers that the age profile of the sample, concentrated between 40 and 61 years old, naturally shows less adherence to the digital mediation of consumption (Becheri et al., 2023). The second suggests that the declared rejection may reflect social desirability, where the influence of digital image on fashion consumption tends to be underestimated by consumers themselves, especially among individuals with higher education, for whom admitting this influence could be perceived as a sign of vulnerability to external pressure (Dantas and Abreu, 2020). The self-declaration measurement did not capture the real influence of social media on purchasing decisions, a gap that future research could fill with behavioral tracking methods.

The willingness to pay more for a brand that represents a lifestyle, even when more accessible options of equivalent quality exist, showed high rejection, with 72.8% disagreeing (50.3% strongly disagreed and 22.5% disagreed). The low willingness to pay a premium confirmed the pattern observed in the purchase factors, where only 4.7% attributed relevance to brand or status. For the majority of the sample, the symbolic function of sportswear did not justify an explicit surcharge, which is consistent with contexts in which distinction tends to operate through the subtlety of choices and not necessarily through ostentatious financial investment (Bellezza, 2023).

The assertion about the preference for recognized brands, especially by people who share the same lifestyle, was rejected by the majority, with 65.4% disagreeing (40.7% strongly disagreed and 24.7% disagreed). The rejection of brand tribalism distinguished the profile of this sample from the young segment identified in other studies (Bertami et al., 2023), in which belonging to a consumer group acts as a driver of choice. For the sample profile, the preference for brands valued for quality and authenticity prevailed, rather than for declared tribal exclusivity (Bellezza, 2023). This pattern, articulated with the rejection of visible logos (72.8%) and symbolic surcharges (72.8%), conferred empirical solidity to the interpretation of inconspicuous consumption as a structural disposition of the studied profile. The proportion of neutrals (18.7%), however, signaled that this rejection was not unequivocal for the entire sample.

The thematic categories of open-ended responses about the main message that sportswear conveys in today’s society revealed that “health and healthy lifestyle” was the most frequent category, mentioned by 33.0% of respondents, followed by “comfort and practicality” (27.4%) and “status and style” (13.0%). The prevalence of health and comfort as the perceived message confirmed that sportswear was primarily associated with well-being and not explicit status. This result is consistent with the perspective that, when the ideology of well-being is internalized as a genuine value, it tends not to be perceived as a prestige signal by the individuals who practice it (Jackson et al., 2022). The low frequency of the response “status” did not contradict the result that 71.2% recognized the association of sports brands with social status, but reinforced the interpretation that the symbolic mechanism operated in a non-reflexive way, compatible with the naturalization of incorporated social dispositions (Bourdieu, 2007). Comparative analysis between the results

In the comparative analysis of the perception of social status associated with sports brands according to gender, women presented an average of 3.92, indicating clear agreement, while men registered an average of 3.28. The more intense perception of the symbolic dimension of brands by female respondents is compatible with the literature that identifies clothing as a privileged language for distinction and identity affirmation among women (Giordani and Hoffmann-Horochovski, 2020). However, this difference should be interpreted with caution, as the male subgroup corresponded to only 4.0% of the sample, approximately 18 respondents, which compromised the statistical stability of the male average and made robust inferences about gender differences in the symbolic behavior of sports fashion consumption unfeasible.

The relationship between age group and the perception of well-being as a symbol of prestige showed that consumers between 29 and 39 years old registered the highest average (4.05), indicating clear agreement. They were followed by those over 62 years old (3.49), respondents aged 40 to 50 years (3.46), those aged 51 to 61 years (3.36), and those aged 18 to 28 years (3.14), age groups whose averages fell within the ambiguity zone of the scale. The greater adherence to well-being as a symbol of prestige among consumers aged 29 to 39 years can be understood in light of the relationship between this age group and intensified exposure to the well-being ideology on social media and in the competitive work environment (Jackson et al., 2022). This group is in a phase of professional consolidation and public identity construction, which can intensify the perception of a healthy body as symbolic capital. The relative position of the group over 62 years old, close to the intermediate age groups, suggested that the redefinition of well-being as a marker of prestige was not restricted to younger generations, also reaching the elderly. The clear differentiation between the 29 to 39 years age group and the others provided consistency to the identified pattern, allowing the finding to be associated with literature on the intensification of the well-being ideology in age groups undergoing professional consolidation. The comparison between age groups, however, should be interpreted with caution, especially regarding the 18 to 28 years age group, whose average was calculated with only seven respondents (1.6% of the sample), which compromised the statistical stability of this specific comparison.

The average of the responses regarding the influence of social media on sports fashion choices by age group indicated that consumers aged 18 to 28 years registered the highest average (2.71), followed by those aged 29 to 39 years (2.14), 40 to 50 years (1.87), over 62 years (1.84), and 51 to 61 years (1.79). The age gradient confirmed that the declared influence of social media decreased with advancing age. Although no age group presented an average higher than 3.0, which characterized a generalized rejection of digital mediation, the 18 to 28 year-old group distinguished itself from the others by positioning itself in an ambiguity zone, while the other groups concentrated in a disagreement zone on the scale. Digital platforms, especially “Instagram”, function as a market infrastructure capable of shaping consumer preferences more effectively among younger users (Becheri et al., 2023). The generalized rejection in the other age groups reinforced the hypothesis that, for the predominant profile of the sample, digital mediation was not recognized as a determinant of consumption choices, a reading consistent with the 74.4% rejection observed in the entire sample. The convergence between the aggregated data and the age breakdown provided robustness to the reading of declared consumer autonomy regarding digital mediation, at least within the studied profile. The average for the 18 to 28 year-old group, however, was calculated with only seven respondents (1.6% of the sample), which compromised the statistical stability of this specific comparison and prevented robust conclusions about the behavior of this subgroup in relation to social media.

The relationship between monthly family income and respondents’ willingness to pay more for brands that represent their lifestyle revealed that the group with income above BRL 24,315.00 registered the highest average (2.44), followed by the ranges of BRL 4,864.00 to BRL 8,105.00 (2.07), BRL 16,211.00 to BRL 24,315.00 (2.03), BRL 8,106.00 to BRL 11,347.00 (approximately 2.00), BRL 11,348.00 to BRL 16,210.00 (approximately 2.00), BRL 1,622.00 to BRL 4,863.00 (1.74), and up to BRL 1,621.00 (1.62). Although there was an upward gradient from the lowest to the highest income bracket, all averages were in the disagreement zone of the scale, which characterized a transversal rejection of the surcharge for symbolic value across all income brackets in the sample. Symbolic distinction through consumption tends to be more accessible to those with greater economic capital (Bellezza, 2023), a theoretical expectation that, in this sample, did not translate into an expressive willingness to pay a surcharge even in the highest income bracket, whose average (2.44) remained below the agreement zone. This pattern converged with the 72.8% rejection of the surcharge observed in the entire sample and reinforced the hypothesis that, regardless of income, the profile studied resisted the idea of paying more for exclusively symbolic value. The consistency of rejection to the surcharge across all income brackets lent solidity to the finding and indicated that the logic of inconspicuous consumption operated transversally to the economic capital of the sample, a characteristic that broadens the interpretative scope of the result. The extreme income brackets, however, were composed of a reduced number of respondents, which partially compromised the statistical stability of the comparisons in these two specific groups.

The purchase frequency and the perception of social status associated with sports brands showed a positive relationship. Consumers who purchase quarterly registered the highest average (4.18), followed by those who purchase monthly (4.12), semi-annually (3.86), and annually (3.75). All ranges were within the clear agreement zone of the scale, with a moderate gradient of 0.43 points between the lowest and highest values, suggesting that the symbolic perception of sports brands was distributed relatively homogeneously across different consumption rhythms. The positive relationship between purchase frequency and symbolic perception suggested a process of mutual reinforcement between consumption practice and the subjectification of symbolic values, as the dispositions incorporated throughout the social trajectory function simultaneously as a product and as producers of social practices (Bourdieu, 2007). Consumers who purchase more regularly tend to have greater familiarity with the symbolic codes of the segment, which amplifies their sensitivity to the status dimension of brands. This result complemented the finding that 71.2% of respondents recognized the symbolic load of brands, by demonstrating that symbolic recognition occurred transversally across purchase frequency patterns, intensifying among more frequent buyers. The convergence between the aggregated data and the breakdown by frequency provided interpretive consistency to the reading of sportswear as a classificatory system, even among consumers with distinct acquisition patterns. However, the average for the monthly purchase range was calculated with only 17 respondents (3.8% of the sample), which partially compromised the statistical stability of this specific comparison.

In summary, the results indicated that the consumption of sportswear among participants was predominantly driven by functional criteria, although the symbolic dimension was unequivocally present. The majority acknowledged that certain sports brands convey perceptions of social status and that the healthy lifestyle displayed through clothing constitutes a new symbol of prestige. Furthermore, the sporty style was perceived as more accepted in formal settings than in the past. In contrast, ostentatious forms of symbolic signaling, such as a preference for visible logos, social media influence, and a willingness to pay a premium, were largely rejected. The discrepancy between the recognition of the symbolic dimension of brands and the declared rejection of ostentation and premium pricing constituted empirical evidence of the phenomenon of inconspicuous consumption in the Brazilian context of sportswear, aligning with recent international literature on alternative status signals (Bellezza, 2023) and investigations into the behavior of the Brazilian economic elite (Alcoforado, 2025). The data suggested that the profile studied operated through subtle and non-ostentatious symbolic signals, compatible with discreet consumption, where social distinction manifested in an internalized manner, anchored in the valuation of well-being, authenticity, and self-control, thus responding to the objective of understanding how the symbols of sportswear influence the construction of identity and belonging and their association with social prestige.

4. Conclusion

This study sought to understand how sports fashion symbols influence the construction of identity and belonging, and how their consumption is associated with social prestige among Brazilian consumers. It was found that most respondents associated sports brands with perceptions of social status and recognized well-being as a new symbol of prestige. It was also observed that the sporty style is perceived as more acceptable in formal work environments. In contrast, ostentatious forms of symbolic signaling, such as the preference for visible logos, the influence of social media, and the willingness to pay a premium, were widely rejected. This dissociation between the symbolic attribution of status and ostentatious signaling behavior highlighted the phenomenon of inconspicuous consumption in the Brazilian sports fashion context, where social distinction is manifested in an internalized way, anchored in the valuation of authenticity, self-control, and well-being. The study’s main contribution lies in the empirical evidence of this dynamic, aligning with international literature on alternative status signals and offering insights for brand positioning in the segment.

However, the study presented important limitations, such as gender bias and the age concentration of the sample, which was predominantly female and middle-aged, restricting the generalization of results to other demographic segments. Furthermore, the data were based on self-reported perception, without direct measurement of actual purchasing behavior, which may be subject to social desirability bias. For future investigations, it is recommended to expand the sample with greater gender and age representation, incorporate complementary methods for measuring consumption behavior, and develop qualitative research to deepen the understanding of the symbolic motivations underlying sportswear consumption choices, considering the intersectionality between gender and generation.

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