Let’s Get Physical: Investigating How Social Movements Continuously Enable New Venture Creation & Vice Versa : A Theoretical Contribution to the External Enabler Framework for New Venture Creation in the Context of the Fitness Movement

Abstract: This thesis presents an inductive, qualitative approach to exploring the connection between entrepreneurship and social movement theory in the context of the fitness movement. This was achieved by applying the External Enabler Framework for New Venture Creation which looks at how changes to the macro environment, such as sociocultural shifts, enable entrepreneurial processes by activating mechanisms on the venture level (Davidsson et al., 2020). A loop derived from social movement literature is implemented as a contribution to the framework that presents a perspective in which ventures not only are influenced by the social movement but also contribute to the movement's momentum. The loop was found to occur as ventures enlarge the scope of the social movement and thus change its characteristics. This insight provides two theoretical contributions. Firstly, the loop originating from social movement theory is better defined and explained. Secondly, the External Enabler Framework for New Venture Creation has been connected to the loop, which provides a more nuanced view of how social movements and ventures interrelate. This is deemed important since it helps us understand how social movements can grow with the influence of ventures and how this leads to the continuous enablement of new ventures.