Homogeneity or Heterogeneity: An Institutional Theory View on Circular Economy Practices in the Outdoor Sporting Goods Industry

The concept of a circular economy (CE) has recently gained attention within the field of corporate sustainability, including the textile sector. Although CE-related literature often mentions actors from the outdoor sporting goods industry (OSGI) as forerunners, an analysis of their CE implementation is missing. Thus, in this paper, we attempt to identify the structure of the current state of CE activities in this field. To develop the study, we used a qualitative methodology through content analysis of documents as well as expert interviews, taking an institutional theory (IT) view to support that analysis. Our findings indicate that many outdoor brands and retailers are engaged in practices related to the CE and that homogeneity among these practices varies between moderate to high. Thus, we assume that processes of institutional isomorphism are in place and that there will be increasingly uniform CE practices in the OSGI in the future. Our study not only contributes to a more organised understanding of the diverse CE playing field, as it adds an industry-specific perspective to the literature, but it also helps managers to draw practical implications.