Outdoor as

a human need.
Qualitative research survey by the rheingold institute
in cooperation with OutDoor by ISPO

White Paper 3 out of 7

What role do clothing, devices and equipment play
in the different outdoor-driven experiences?

This white paper is part of the seven­part research series “Outdoor

as a human need”, which analyzes consumer­centric aspects of the
outdoor industry from the perspective of psychology.

#OutDoorByISPO
ispo.com/outdoor
Approach: Equipment is your gateway to the experience
Outdoor adventures are very rarely spontaneous. If you want to conquer waves and mountains you have to get the
right kit together to make sure you return unscathed. In sports like rock climbing, your very survival depends on
it. Quality equipment stands for safety and protection against hazards.

Focus: The existential question: “What should I take with me?”

Too many precautions detract from the experience of unadulterated nature and the pride you feel in having satis­
factorily mastered a mini battle for survival. Just as outdoor requires a certain amount of physical effort to reach
a state where you are in touch with yourself, the equipment also needs a certain amount of lightness and perme­
ability to be open to the elements.

Finding I: Less is more

Whilst everyday life stands for overabundance, roughing it and leaving your comfort zone is a key part of the
outdoor mindset. The rucksacks should really let the air in and definitely not be too big, one participant explained,
so that you aren’t tempted in the first place to pack too much. Consumerism detracts from the quality of the
outdoor experience. Minimizing equipment not only has the practical advantage of minimizing the weight on your
back, it also symbolizes a mindset. The question of “what should I take with me?“ is always ambivalent as a
result – a balancing act between safety and freedom.

Finding II: The appeal of the unpredictable

But this is not the only area where outdoor fans are seeking to strike a balance. Planning often means savoring the
sense of anticipation and ensuring as smooth a trip as possible.

No one wants to be lost at night in the forest or finish a leg of the journey with bleeding feet. But during the planning
phase, too, the explorers find themselves in a latent conflict between not jeopardizing the quality of the experience
of the unpredictable and yet embarking on their adventure well prepared: “Broken bones - No! Grazes and bruises –
absolutely! They are signs that you’re learning all the time.” Retailers and brand manufacturers who understand this
ambivalence between minimalism and the appeal of the unpredictable in all its depth can address and satisfy the
needs of their customers far better.

Review: Methodology and basis

Psychologists from the rheingold institute investigated the emotional core of the outdoor movement on behalf
of OutDoor by ISPO and discovered a recurring three-stage process – a hero’s journey that underlies the outdoor
experience.

1. The challenge: During this stage, a strong urge to head out into the great outdoors and seek tests of endurance
develops.
Link to the future

2. Endurance and reward: Here the outdoor adventurers develop a strong sense of the here and now. Overcoming
dangers produces an amazing sense of happiness at the end of the experience and is the reward for the all the effort.
Link to the present

3. Returning stronger than before: A transformation has taken place. The returning adventurer is confident and
has entertaining stories to tell. The deceleration from the outdoor experience stays with them once they are back
in their everyday lives.
Link to the past

During the stage of the hero’s journey, but also within the different types of sports, equipment fulfills various
practical and also emotional functions. As well as trying to strike a balance between freedom & safety as well as
planning & unpredictability, during the overcoming stage in particular it serves die-hard outdoor enthusiasts as
a mark of their professionalism. The better versed you are in your own field of outdoor, the more specialized and
sophisticated your equipment.

“Food and clothing are always important!”

Study participant, anonymized

Emotional requirements for outdoor equipment
in the context of the four motivation dimensions
 

Civilized
safety net

Equipment as a vehicle to
demonstrate membership of
the community and identity

Humble integration Equipment as the gateway Feisty and heroic

and connection overcoming

Equipment as a hybrid between Equipment as a tool to

protection and permeability overcome challenges
Equipment as the guarantor
of survival

Natural
primitiveness

Reasons and principles for the use of outdoor equipment

Connoisseurship: Details for experts

During the psychoanalytical interview, a climbing expert raves about her harness by the brand Edelrid: “It’s like an
armchair, only it moves with you”, she says. She treasures her harness. “My life hinges on it!“ The equipment clearly
shows who is an insider, who is just riding the trend or tagging along.

Fit-for-purpose: Functionality is a must

The fashion statement is important, but recedes into the background behind safety and quality above all when it
comes to mastering the challenges, although women in particular can definitely imagine more fashionable clothing
from the accepted brands. Functional aspects are more important. The brands that know how to add fashionably
credible accents to their performance-oriented lines will have a competitive edge.
(Detailed insights into this will be provided in the separate white paper 5 of 7)

But this added benefit is not limited to lifestyle and fashion – it also about finding an authentic and relevant expan­
sion of the product or service in line with the motivation and “micro-mindset”.
(Cf. also “micro-mindsets” in the separate white paper 2 of 7)

Away from the Soft landing in everyday life

original purpose: Even after returning back to everyday life, the equipment serves important (emotional) purposes. A good rain jacket
will keep you dry on your bike, too, and also transports a hint of the outdoor feeling into the big city. One participant
uses his tin mug at the office to bring a little bit of outdoor to his everyday life. For him outdoor is about creating brief
“me moments” and a “soft landing”. He does this by eating trekking food from Globetrotter during his lunch break.
Another participant wears his The North Face jacket to showcase his lifestyle (“active & comfortable”), demonstra­ting
his adventurous side at the same time, as someone who “could break out at any time and who is equipped and
ready for it”.

As one of the key components of outdoor is the meditative experience, putting on and wearing the equipment
becomes a ritual exercise to get ready to enter a spiritual world. People used to put on their Sunday best to go to
church, nowadays you don your soft shell jacket to make your pilgrimage to the mountains to meditate.
Compensation: The reward principle
Food, on the other hand, is the reward after overcoming the challenge – be it a hearty meal around the campfire
or chocolate bar after a successful ascent. Everyday life is now peppered with taxing dietary requirements and
ideologies. During the outdoor experience by contrast, you don’t have to hold back or feel guilty: freedom from
constraints as oppose to control! High-calorie, sweet, canned food …. in the great outdoors, you can really dig
in and enjoy. With your fingers of course.

“For a mountain hike I need T-shirts made of merino wool because they
absorb sweat and dry quickly, a rain jacket, a cap, sunglasses, for the
hut I need tracksuit bottoms, a change of underwear, a sweater, a slee-
ping bag and of course some provisions, a drink pack with water and
an energy bar.”

“I wouldn’t queue up for anything, that’s something for absolute fanatics

of a brand, like Apple, but there is no such thing for outdoor. There all
you have is the feeling of freedom and that doesn’t come from the product,
it comes from the experience.”

Study participants, anonymized

What this means for brands and retailers in the outdoor sector

Lesson: Four dimensions of requirements

To reflect the four dimensions of requirements outdoor equipment has to meet, products need to match their
typical characteristics.

Humble integration and connection

For this area, this means that the equipment has to fit in as seamlessly as possible in the process of becoming
part of the surroundings. So the equipment has to both protect against uncontrollable elements (e.g. waterproof)
and allow the user to experience nature (e.g. tactile stimuli). Experiencing the surrounding environment is the
priority. The equipment has to make sure it does not detract from this experience. Discrete tracking devices in jack­
ets, integrated lamps but also small batteries or power banks meet these specifications for instance. The senses
must not be impaired: it should be possible to keep your ears warm without blocking out the babbling brook in the
background.

Feisty and heroic overcoming

The more a product is characteristic of the dimension of heroically overcoming challenges, the more features there
should be allowing consumers to cultivate this image. The strength displayed in defying nature has to be trans­
lated into brand images – with powerful performance materials and resistant properties from endurance tests and
competitions. Aspects like complete reliability and legendarily long life spans harbor a particularly high potential
in this dimension to produce lastingly cult product lines which can emotionally defend their ground as undefeated
champion against supposedly better newcomers.

Civilized safety net

Here, product marketing has to cater to the requirements of the “urban jungle” or the easy-to-reach local country­
side. Here, protection against uncontrollable elements is seen as a basic function of secondary importance. In this
context showcasing outdoor as a lifestyle with symbolic functionality and fashion is more important. Karabiners
as key rings, multi-purpose tools like small Leathermen reference the great outdoors – even if the corkscrew only
comes to the rescue during a pick nick in the park.

Natural primitiveness
The more a product is supposed to represent natural primitiveness, the more it needs equipment that can protect
the consumer in an emergency. The consumer is also prepared to invest more in this. Natural materials like leather,
wood and metal boost this connection.
 Subjects like sustainability are relevant to all the motivations in principle, as this is a cultural trend we are seeing
in other product areas, too. However, the openness towards and need for such equipment features in the motivation
dimension natural primitiveness is noticeably higher here.

Ultimately, four fundamental requirements for outdoor equipment can be derived from the motivation dimensions:

Less Protection
is more and safety

The four basic

requirements for
equipment

Identity/
Perme-
membership of
ability
a community

Outlook: OutDoor by ISPO

The brands and producers of outdoor equipment should embrace these four basic requirements holistically
and incorporate them into the development of their products and the communication campaigns for these. Levers
like sustainability, authenticity or fashion consciousness offer many opportunities and can be maximized in
communication activities.

Naming is framing
Above all when it comes to product naming there is still a lot of untapped potential. It makes sense to proceed
in line with people’s motivations and moods, already including an emotional trigger in the name of the product.
Some sectors are already harnessing this principle (for instance Kneipp shower gel “Lebensfreude” (“zest for
life”)). The name of the snowboard “Goliath” by the Bataleon brand is built completely on the motivational needs
of “battling and conquering”. An approach that harbors great scope for creativity.

So depending on the characteristics of the products, certain key features should be accentuated to carve out
a distinct position. This applies not just in terms of setting yourself apart from other brands. Carving out a
distinct identity by getting the name of the product lines or sub-brands right can also lead to strong identification
and emotional loyalty from a wide range of different target group types towards one and the same brand.