Qualitative Analysis of Encouraging Athletes to Purchase Iranian Sporting Goods: A Grounded Theory Study

 Currently, there is a recent issue that has arisen among the Iranian athletes is the perspective of the superiority of foreign goods in Iran. This study aimed to qualitatively analyze the tendency of athletes to purchase Iranian sporting goods. In this study, which was a qualitative study, the data was obtained by relying on grounded theory and based on qualitative in-depth interviews with athletes of Ardabil province. The population included all the elite athletes of the province, who were selected by purposeful sampling and snowball method, and 22 athletes were recruited as the statistical sample. The data were analyzed in three coding levels of open, axial, and selective. In the analysis of five concepts of causal conditions (five categories), intervening conditions (five categories), contextual conditions (five categories), strategies (six categories), and consequences (three categories), the Strauss and Corbin coding framework (2014) was used. In general, the results in the form of a qualitative model showed that according to the causal conditions and the requirement to encourage athletes to purchase Iranian sporting goods, as well as considering the intervening conditions and the context of the study, these beliefs can be developed via some strategies such as combating the smuggling of sporting goods or improving the quality of domestically produced sporting goods. Overall, this study supports the idea that by increasing sports production in Iran, it is possible to boost the trade-in sporting goods, and by neutralizing economic sanctions and creating national solidarity, this trade can be supported to see a tendency in athletes under the title: Preferring to purchase domestic sporting goods, instead of foreign ones.