‘Fit-to-transform’: An institutional perspective on the empowerment of clothing product-service systems

Abstract

Innovative product-service systems (PSS) are to play an important role in the transition to the circular economy. While PSS break with consumer ownership and hold potential for sustainability, scholars identified dominant consumer preferences as obstacles to widespread diffusion. Therefore it remains unclear how these myriad emerging niches are trying to gain foothold in dominant regimes. This paper develops a micro-oriented framework for studying niche empowerment to provide an "insider" view on the empowerment process of clothing PSS. The analytic framework centers on tracing various forms of institutional work (relational, symbolic, material) that niche actors perform in relation to dominant institutional logics of the regime. Based on the results, this study proposes a pattern of "fit-to-transform" empowerment and substantiates it through three micro-dynamics: discursive hybridization, valued preference amplification, normative camouflaging. As such this paper contributes to understanding the micro-level processes involved in actor's attempts to make innovations competitive in regime environments.