Footwear as product‐service systems: Toward sustainable alternative consumption scenarios

Abstract The existing footwear ecosystem is not environmentally friendly and thus poses a threat to sustainability. In this article, our objective is to take a product‐service systems approach to propose alternative footwear consumption scenarios from a sustainability viewpoint and investigate the perspective of Indian consumers toward the proposed scenarios. To this end, we initially conducted a comprehensive literature review to explore alternative consumption scenarios in the realm of fashion products. This step led to the development of 10 alternative footwear consumption scenarios that focus on maintenance and repair, takeback, assembly, customization, personalization, advice and consultancy, rent, sequential share, swap, and functionality. Next, we adopted the focus group interview methodology to investigate the perception of Indian consumers toward the 10 alternative footwear consumption scenarios, which can inform the footwear industry's product development, marketing strategies, and sustainability initiatives. Our results indicate that while the participants found the consumption scenarios to be interesting and practical, they feel that the proposed scenarios may prove to be more feasible for comparatively expensive footwear products because of the associated logistics costs. Furthermore, the participants pointed out a few cultural as well as hygiene‐related issues that may hinder the adoption of certain alternative footwear consumption scenarios.