Somatosensory Perception of Running Shoe Mass may be influenced by Extended Wearing Time or Inclusion of a Personal Reference Shoe, Depending on Testing Method.

Consumers may purchase running shoes on the basis of their masses, yet little is known about shoe mass perceptual abilities. In this multi-part experiment, four groups of twenty-five young adult males (total n = 100) were challenged to gauge the relative masses of five unfamiliar running shoes. The four groups differed by the length of time they were given to wear the shoes (up to 1 minute versus 5 minutes) and whether or not they were able to...