The Adidas Futurecraft Loop

: a product innovation challenging the attitude-behavior gap in sustainable footwear consumption

Abstract

Considering the positive impact it can have on the environment, sustainable fashion is yet tofully reach consumers’ minds. Moreover, it is subject to the recently researched “attitudebehaviorgap” among consumers, representing a mismatch between purchase intention forsustainable products and actual purchase behavior. This study took a look at Germanconsumers’ attitude-behavior gap, particularly examining their purchase drivers and barriersconcerning Adidas’ new sneaker innovation “Futurecraft Loop” (FL) launching in Spring 2021.Specifically, the study aimed at revealing drivers and barriers to remedy the gap.Therefore, interviews (N=14) and a survey (N=109) with German consumers were conducted.Thereby, this work found six main results: Although the attitude-behavior gap among Germanconsumers could be verified, they stated to be open for circular fashion models and do notrefuse to adopt sustainable consumption behaviors. Furthermore, this work revealed that thedecision to buy a sustainable innovation like the FL is more emotional than rational. In thislight, the study found out that the sneaker’s inherent innovative character using one materialonly and being able to be fully recycled into a new sneaker can serve as a potential remedy tothe attitude-behavior gap. On the other hand, German consumers perceive Adidas to beengaging in “greenwashing” its image, which represents a barrier.Finally, the study suggests that Adidas should highlight the FL’s innovative character in itsGerman launch campaign, while also taking steps to become more transparent in its actionstowards sustainability to win back lost trust from the customer side.

Date of Award	2 Feb 2021
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Daniel Fernandes (Supervisor)