Research

Publications

Atypicality: Toward an Integrative Framework In Organizational And Market Settings

Co-authored with Simone Ferriani

We conducted a comprehensive review of the literature on atypicality. In our review of 129 articles, we suggest that there are three conceptual lenses through which atypicality has been approached: “cognitive,” “normative,” and “innovative.” Each lens hones in on different notions and facets of atypicality, respectively. Atypicality is conceived as (a) a deviation from category-defining reference points that influence evaluative dynamics within and across organizations; (b) the deviation from shared and accepted norms that describe how social order is constructed, preserved, and challenged; and (c) irregularity in routine patterns that spur competitive advantage and innovation.

We erect an integrative framework around these three lenses that describes the sources, consequences, and boundary conditions of organizational atypicality, aiming at (a) fostering the development of a common language toward a cumulative understanding of how and why atypicality matters to organizational life; (b) facilitating an appreciation of the atypicality literature for organizational and management scholars who are less familiar with the field; and (c) helping bridge conversations within and across disciplines by highlighting areas of complementarity, as well as sites of contradiction. Extending from this framework, we develop a road map for future scholarship and define key areas where inquiry is needed.

Now It Makes More Sense: How Narratives Can Help Atypical Actors Increase Market Appeal

Co-authored with Simone Ferriani

Extensive research shows that atypical actors who defy established contextual standards and norms are subject to skepticism and face a higher risk of rejection. Indeed, atypical actors combine features, behaviors, or products in unconventional ways, thereby generating confusion and instilling doubts about their legitimacy. Nevertheless, atypicality is often viewed as a precursor to sociocultural innovation and a strategy to expand the capacity to deliver valued goods and services. Contextualizing the conditions under which atypicality is celebrated or punished has been a significant theoretical challenge for organizational scholars interested in reconciling this tension. Thus far, scholars have focused primarily on audience-related factors or actors’ characteristics (e.g., status and reputation).

Here, we explore how atypical actors can leverage linguistic features of their narratives to counteract evaluative discounts by analyzing a unique collection of 78,758 narratives from crafters on Etsy, the largest digital marketplace for handmade items. Marrying processing fluency theory with linguistics literature and relying on a combination of topic modeling, automated textual analysis, and econometrics, we show that categorically atypical producers who make more use of abstraction, cohesive cues, and conventional topics in their narratives are more likely to overcome the evaluative discounts they would ordinarily experience.

To Sell an Unconventional Product, Tell a Compelling Story

Co-authored with Simone Ferriani

Selling original or quirky products is often an uphill battle. But research that involved an analysis of quirky products sold by some 7,000 craft entrepreneurs on Etsy suggests that effective storytelling that helps people relate to such offerings can turn them into successes. This article shares three storytelling techniques that work.

Working Papers

The Million Follower Paradox? How fame and ambivalent language affect the evaluation of atypical ideas

Co-authored with Henrik Wesemann and Denise Falchetti

Recent scholarly investigation has suggested that growing a sizeable audience on social media is a valuable asset for entrepreneurs to increase their social influence and gather support for their new ideas, products, or projects. In this paper, we use a dataset of TED talks given by entrepreneurs to explore the conditions under which social media fame, captured by an individual’s audience size on a social media platform (s), may negatively impact entrepreneurial success.

Specifically, we propose that fame generally helps entrepreneurs find support for their ideas, it also ties them to the status quo in ways that make it difficult for them to propose atypical ideas. Additionally, we show that emotionally ambivalent language – i.e., displaying both positive and negative emotions- can break the audience’s preconceived expectations and improve the evaluation of atypical ideas presented by famous entrepreneurs. Our study presents a comprehensive model that explains how the interplay of speaker, idea and linguistic features shapes the evaluation of novelty. This work also contributes to the growing body of research exploring the role of social media activity in entrepreneurial processes by elucidating its potential drawbacks.

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