Factors affecting the competitiveness of Iranian sportswear brands to enter international markets

Nowadays, globalization has doubled the importance of competitiveness in the sportswear industry. Many Iranian sportswear brands are not active in international trade because of their inability to compete with foreign brands. Therefore, this research aims to identify and prioritize the factors affecting the competitiveness of Iranian sportswear brands to enter international markets. This study used a mixed-methods (qualitative-quantitative) research design. The statistical population consisted of academics and experts active in sportswear exports. The sample included fifteen people from the first group selected by the snowball sampling method and fifteen people from the second group chosen by the purposive sampling approach. Effective factors were identified by a field study, and the conceptual model was presented after the factors were confirmed in the second round of the Delphi technique. Then, the factors were prioritized using the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) as (1) exports, (2) brand differentiation, (3) brand equity, (4) marketing orientation, and (5) strategic orientation, respectively.The results indicated that exchange rate regulation and inflation control by the government, along with producing exclusive products and creating emotional relations between the brand and customers, increases the firm’s competitiveness. Brand owners should also pay particular attention to competitors’ activities and incorporate product competitiveness enhancement into their organizational goals.