Future Study of Influential Forces on Sportswear Brand in Iran with an Emphasis on Uncertainties in the horizon of 2035

Not controlling uncertainties can lead to various problems and risks for leading sportswear brands in the future. Therefore, it is necessary to manage them through future-oriented foresight methods. Hence, the purpose of this future study was to investigate the influential forces on sportswear brands in Iran with an emphasis on uncertainties in the horizon of 2035. This research utilized a qualitative-quantitative data collection method and employed a future study approach. The participants of this study included stakeholders in the sportswear brand domain (manufacturers, distributors, brand marketers, and sportswear brand creators). In the qualitative section, participant selection was carried out using purposive sampling and theoretical saturation, where 18 participants were interviewed. In the quantitative section, the sampling method was criterion-based, and based on the criteria chosen by the research group, 10 out of 18 participants were selected in the first stage as the strategic council for further work. For qualitative data collection, semi-structured interviews were conducted, and for quantitative data, a 51×51 matrix was utilized. To evaluate the validity and reliability of the results, the credibility, transferability, conformability, process audit trail, and within-subject agreement strategies were executed. The findings illustrated that out of a total of 51 external and internal influential forces on sportswear brands in Iran, four forces, namely international competitiveness, access to raw materials, production capacity, and distribution network uncertainties, are the pivotal uncertainties facing sportswear brands. Therefore, the stewards of sportswear brands need to consider the impact of these forces in their planning and goal-setting, as they play the most significant role in shaping the future of sportswear brands in Iran.