A growing body of literature has shown that categorical affiliation affects industry dynamics.
However, little is known about what drives the adoption of category labels in emerging …

What's in a name? Although Shakespeare claimed that a rose “by any other name would
smell as sweet,” over the last five to ten years, significant research on category labels has …

The literature on technology management has increasingly focused on the sociocognitive
elements of the industry life cycle. One of these elements, category labels (words, in most …

This paper reviews several streams of research on market category formation. Most past
research has largely focused on established category systems and the antecedents and …

Research across disciplines presumes that market categories will have strong boundaries.
Categories without well-defined boundaries typically are not useful and so are expected to …

Abstract Research Summary This study investigates category innovation, when firms
introduce a new label to pioneer a market category. I propose two antecedent pathways. The …

How does the viability of a product category shift over time? Studies abound on how
categories emerge and become established, or fall out of use. Yet, extant research has often …

In this paper we make a case for the roles of producers as strategic actors in the process of
category emergence through their involvement in label emergence; we focus specifically on …

Have you ever bought a snurfer? Probably not, although in 1966, the snurfer was advertised
as “the greatest word in downhill fun” and described as combining the “thrills of skiing” and …

Why would an organization pursue membership in an organizational category, yet forego
opportunities to subsequently promote that membership? Drawing on prior research, we …