Virtual cycling in sports clubs: innovation adoption within institutional logics

This study investigates voluntary sports clubs' varied beliefs about whether and how virtual sports can be a useful tool to achieve both competitive sports performance goals and sport-for-all goals. For this purpose, this study also explores archetypes' beliefs about virtual sports. We draw on three theoretical concepts: archetypes, institutional logics and innovation adoption categories. Factor analysis, clustering and parametric tests have been used on survey data of 90 voluntary sports clubs in Flanders (Belgium). The results show that clubs believe that there are three overarching goals that may be achieved through virtual cycling: (1) inclusive participation, (2) skill development, and (3) attractiveness of the club's services. Based on the scores across all three goals, five club archetypes are presented: (1) performer clubs, (2) unconvinced clubs, (3) sceptic clubs, (4) hesitant clubs and (5) holistic clubs. These archetypes demonstrate that voluntary sports clubs hold different beliefs about the potential of virtual cycling. The archetypes also show that virtual cycling is believed to hold more potential as a tool to achieve sport performance goals rather than to achieve sport-for-all goals. Our contributions demonstrate how the self-evident use of virtual sports within a result-oriented logic may undermine its potential use within a sport-for-all logic.