What does the term 'Sneaker Head' mean to you?

I'm a student writing my dissertation on sneaker culture and brand ideology answering these question will help with my primary research. Thank- you

1) What does the word ‘Sneaker head’ mean to you?
2) What does sneaker culture mean to you?
3) Do you feel that sneaker represents wealth and high status?
4) Do brands matter when it come to buying sneakers?
5) Do you think Sneakers or brands cause people to be stereotyped?
6) How do you feel consumers within sneaker culture are portrayed in the media?
7) Do you think brands, large Retail chains (Footlocker) and celebrity endorsements have affected sneaker culture over the years. If so, is it in a positive or negative way?

‘The new generation of youth have destroyed, what the Sneaker scene was all about”
8) Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

1. Something you put on your feet.
2. Nothing really, I just buy what I like.
3. In a way, yes.
4. Not really.
5. Yes.
6. Dunno.
7. Both.
8. Agree.

Thank- You!

The word sneaker head to me is synonymous to sneaker coniseur
The aneaker culture to me means that I'm not the only one with an obsession for sneakers
Not at all.
Yes to me brands matter as my shoes are primarily Nike or Jordan. just a preference
Yes especially after crazy releases like the galaxies or the concords. From the outside looking in we look lime a bunch of sneaker fiends with no morals but that's far from the truth
I think the celebrity endorsements effected the culture as far as people wanting to buy what their favorite celebrities have and this has recently lead to lots of hype behind certain shoes and lots of hypebeasts to follow along. The only true negative is the fact that those that have been collecting for a while now find it harder to purchase those shoes they want that were once easy to purchase. However, there is more money In the sneaker culture now than ever before.
I agree with that statement because it seems that all they do is make shoes harder to come by

) What does the word ‘Sneaker head’ mean to you?
2) What does sneaker culture mean to you?
3) Do you feel that sneaker represents wealth and high status?
4) Do brands matter when it come to buying sneakers?
5) Do you think Sneakers or brands cause people to be stereotyped?
6) How do you feel consumers within sneaker culture are portrayed in the media?
7) Do you think brands, large Retail chains (Footlocker) and celebrity endorsements have affected sneaker culture over the years. If so, is it in a positive or negative way?

‘The new generation of youth have destroyed, what the Sneaker scene was all about”
8) Do you agree or disagree with this statement?


1. Sneaker Head is a person interested in sneakers that has love and knowledge of the game.

2. The sneaker culture means nothing especially now. i wear what i want. I don't care what others wear and that's what sneaker heads should do.

3. Some sneakers do represent that because people are always trying to find ways to show off but i have cheap shoes i like and wear more often then some expensive shoes. When people see "heat" they are impressed because of how hard/expensive the shoe was to attain.

4. Brands shouldn't matter but they do to most people. Anything nike/jordan puts out will sell even if it is a worse product than another brands.

5. Yes, people will be associated with groups known for wearing those things.

6. They are always portrayed in a bad way. They try to make us look crazy for paying so much, buying so many, and camping out when a lot of real sneakerheads don't do that. They make us look like stupid kids without their priorities straight.

7. It has effected sneakers. brand because kids always want whats "in style", retailers because they make everything easier to get and people know where to go to get the product. and endorsements because kids want to wear what their idols wore. If you released all the jordan models under someone elses name it wouldn't have been as successful. it is neither positive nor negative. It's depends on your perception. the amount of people in the culture are growing but stuff like price/quality/knowledge has also dropped. Kids are in to resell and people are now killing for shoes.

8. no they have not. resellers/hypebeasts have and people like that have existed for forever. Resellers are just popping up more because they see money in this business with the demand for shoes increasing and kids willing to pay more.

1) What does the word ‘Sneaker head’ mean to you?
Means a person that will go out of their way to obtain a pair that means something to them... either a hobby or something even more special
2) What does sneaker culture mean to you?
Means a lot since it's more then just a sneaker, it's a way of life because its spoken way to often.
3) Do you feel that sneaker represents wealth and high status?
I don't believe so, its based on the person I guess
4) Do brands matter when it come to buying sneakers?
For me I'm personally a nike/jordan guy due to comfort reasons
5) Do you think Sneakers or brands cause people to be stereotyped?
Yes, as a part of a materialistic society brands and "waves" is what sells
6) How do you feel consumers within sneaker culture are portrayed in the media?
Mixed
7) Do you think brands, large Retail chains (Footlocker) and celebrity endorsements have affected sneaker culture over the years. If so, is it in a positive or negative way? Yes, positive just due to helping promote brands etc.

‘The new generation of youth have destroyed, what the Sneaker scene was all about”
8) Do you agree or disagree with this statement?
I agree to an extent, I recently just tried to obtain sneakers as a hobby but I do it for the sport, its the only "drug" that keeps me going in a sense since its always a thrill getting a new pair of sneakers and the part for me is that I earned the dollars to do it, its more of a satisfaction as oppose to others for "hype"

'Sneaker Head doesn't mean jack shit anymore...

Thanks for all the feed back... its been a great help