Trade fairs as relational network spaces: catalysing sustainable innovation. A study in the footwear industrial network

Purpose This paper aims to investigate how trade fairs (TFs), conceptualised as relational network spaces (RNS), catalyse sustainable innovation (SI) through changes in business relationship dynamics. It investigates how interactions at TFs stimulate SI at three analytical levels: firm, relationship and network, within the context of an industry facing increasing sustainability pressures. Design/methodology/approach Anchored in the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing perspective, this qualitative case study draws on semi-structured interviews and secondary data from the Portuguese footwear industry. A multi-level analysis is used to trace how TF-driven interactions reshape firms’ capabilities, inter-organisational ties and network dynamics in ways that support SI. Findings The study reveals that TFs act as multi-level catalysts for SI through three interrelated change processes: learning and reorienting at the firm level, accessing and connecting at the relationship level and collaborating and acting collectively at the network level. As temporary RNS, TFs create structural, relative and relational conditions that intensify interaction, enable access to sustainability-oriented actors, reshape existing relationships and support collective mobilisation around sustainability goals. SI emerges as a co-constructed and cumulative process unfolding across multiple actors and levels over time. Originality/value This study contributes to business network research by integrating space, process and time to explain how temporary interaction contexts generate enduring relational and innovation outcomes. It advances SI literature by conceptualising SI as a co-constructed, emergent, multi-level process shaped through business relationship dynamics. It also extends TF research by reframing TFs as relational infrastructures that actively support sustainability transitions.