Exploring the motivation and structural barriers of women’s sports consumption from the perspective of the “She-Economy”

Against the backdrop of consumption upgrading and growing gender consciousness, the “She-Economy” has emerged as an important socio-economic phenomenon driving market transformation and consumption restructuring. Women’s participation in sports consumption has continued to increase, making women a significant consumer group within the sports industry. However, women’s sports consumption is a contradictory field in which empowerment, identity formation, market discipline, gender norms, institutional neglect, and structural inequality coexist. Therefore, this study adopted a descriptive phenomenological design and employed literature review and semi-structured in-depth interviews with nine Chinese women who had sports consumption experience. Colaizzi’s seven-step method was used to conduct thematic analysis of the interview data in order to explore the motivations and structural barriers underlying women’s sports consumption within the context of the “She-Economy”. The findings reveal that women’s sports consumption is driven by multiple motivations, including health management, social interaction, self-realization, and market-driven incentives. Sports consumption not only reflects women’s pursuit of physical health and emotional well-being, but also demonstrates the growing awakening of female subjectivity and lifestyle autonomy. However, women continue to face structural constraints in the process of sports consumption, including time pressure, economic costs, gender-role expectations, male-dominated sports spaces, and insufficient institutional support. These findings reflect a paradoxical coexistence between strengthened consumption motivation and restricted behavioral practice. The findings extend current understanding of women’s sports consumption under the “She-Economy” by showing that women’s sports consumption is a socially negotiated practice in which individual agency and structural constraints continuously interact. The study also provides exploratory, context-specific insights into women-centered sports products and services, supportive socio-cultural environments, and more gender-responsive sports services, offering qualitative evidence for future research and practice.