Celebrity endorsement in the world of luxury fashion – when controversy can be beneficial

ABSTRACT

Can a negatively publicised celebrity endorser ever lead to favourable brand attitudes toward a luxury fashion product (i.e. a perfume)? An online experiment was conducted with a sample of 260 target-relevant female consumers where two factors were manipulated: the brand’s positioning objective (image reinforcement versus revitalisation) and the type of celebrity endorser (naturally versus incidentally controversial). Consumer attitudes towards the luxury fashion brand were generally more positive when the type of celebrity endorser was consistent with the brand’s positioning strategy, that is, when a naturally controversial celebrity endorses a brand with a reinforcement strategy and when an incidentally controversial celebrity endorses a brand with a revitalisation strategy. Furthermore, this effect was mediated by consumers’ appreciation of the celebrity-positioning match-up (i.e. the consistency between the celebrity’s persona and the brand’s strategy) but not by their perceptions of appropriateness (i.e. the traditional match-up hypothesis). Several implications suggested by these findings are developed.     

Nascent Entrepreneurship Research: Achievements and Opportunities

This paper provides an overview of the articles contained in this issue, all of which were presented at a major research conference on nascent entrepreneurship hosted by the Centre for Entrepreneurship, Durham University UK in September 2005. It also sets the papers in their broader research context and identifies some of the achievements made and challenges faced by researchers in this relatively new field.     

Towards understanding who makes corporate venture capital investments and why

This study examines when established firms participate in corporate venture capital (CVC). We build on the resource-based view of interfirm collaboration and emphasize the strategic flexibility of CVC relationships. We use longitudinal data on 477 firms from 1990 to 2000 to test our hypotheses. We find that firms in industries with rapid technological change, high competitive intensity and weak appropriability engage in greater CVC activity. We also show that firms that possess strong technological and marketing resources and resources developed from diverse venturing experience engage in greater CVC activity. Finally, we find that these firm resources moderate the influence of the observed industry effects in paradoxical ways.     

促进贵州省创业风险投资发展的政策思考

完善的法律法规制度是创业风险投资业得以顺利、规范发展的基本保障。通过对国内促进创业风险投资发展的相关政策分析,建议要加快贵州省创业风险投资业发展,贵州省应尽快出台相关促进贵州创业风险投资发展的政策,并提出了政策的具体内容。     

What Happens to Nascent Entrepreneurs? An Econometric Analysis of the PSED

abstract This article follows the progress of a large and nationally representative sample of American nascent entrepreneurs – identified in the initial interview of the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED) – over the next 12 months of the panel. We develop a novel theoretical framework based on maximisation of expected utility and the value of waiting, and estimate it to reveal which personal and economic characteristics are associated with venture start-up – and which are associated with remaining a nascent entrepreneur, or giving up entirely. The value of waiting turns out to play a key role in helping us understand what happens to nascent entrepreneurs. We discuss the implications of our results for entrepreneurs, lenders, business start-up support agencies and policy-makers.*The authors would like to thank two anonymous referees, as well as participants at Imperial College, London; Palm Springs (USASBE 2005); Babson College (BKERC 2005); and Clemson University (2004 PSED Symposium) and in particular Tom Lumpkin and Kelly Shaver for helpful comments on an earlier draft. The usual disclaimer applies.     

Qualitative Insights into the International New Venture Creation Process

This paper adopts a qualitative approach to uncover the experiences of founders of international new ventures or born global firms. The data which are based on in-depth interviews, focus on the major characters, events and surrounding conditions from the time the firm is conceived until it becomes involved with foreign markets. From these data, the major elements contributing to the creation of an international new venture are identified.     

Rise and fall of stars: Investigating the evolution of star status in professional team sports

This article describes an empirical study of the rise and fall of star athletes, using data from the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1987 to 2008. We measure star status by the number and share of all-star votes, and we apply both Tobit regression and hazard models to investigate the determining factors for star status. We find that the attainment of star status begins with the athlete's exceptional individual performance. We also find that having won a championship in the past can have a long-lasting effect on a player's popularity. The popularity of an athlete depends on his team in two ways: the attainment of star status is associated with strong team performance, and star teammates can reinforce each other's popularity. Interestingly, whereas stars can move from a losing team to a winning team to extend their star life, a team change can be very risky for new stars. Our results also suggest that teams with a large fan base, winning records, and star players should leverage these assets in attracting and retaining star players.     

“Fake it until you make it”: business model conceptualization in digital entrepreneurship

Digital business model research spans the disciplines of information systems, marketing and entrepreneurship. Despite the growing research in the area there is a lack of understanding of how digital entrepreneurs identify business opportunities and conceptualize those in a business model. The literature on business models lacks consistent terminology and specification of critical components. Through an explorative study of digital entrepreneurs we examine how entrepreneurs identify business opportunities and how they translate them into a workable business idea. Although entrepreneurs typically have difficulty explaining their business model components we identified that critical features in our simplicity framework include three main modules, transaction/matching, marketing and back-office components, and simplicity in terms of value proposition, conceptualization approach and usability. This research proposes that a parsimonious view of digital business models, aligned with the lean start-up idea, makes sense for theory development and in terms of usefulness for entrepreneurs.     

初创企业的商业模式开发——基于产业价值链的视角

创造并运用与众不同的新商业模式是初创企业实现快速成长的重要手段。本文在分析立思辰公司＂文件管理外包服务＂模式案例基础上,提出了基于产业价值链集成的初创企业商业模式开发方法,企业要获得和维持竞争优势不仅取决于企业内部的价值链,而且还取决于与产业价值链中其他合作伙伴的联结。商业模式开发应注意避免生搬硬套、忽视管理基本功等问题。     

Effects of the Value Chain in International Joint Ventures

Summary

This paper examines differences in the resource profile and experience of Sino-foreign joint ventures located in the two sectors: non-consumer electronics and fast moving consumer goods [FMCG]. It identifies key dimensions along which the two sectors differ and considers the implications for joint ventures. The impact of sectoral differences suggests that the industrial sector of China into which a foreign company invests is of consequence, especially for the business priorities of Chinese partners and for the ease with which a joint venture can be managed through the foreign partner's corporate network. Foreign partners are likely to find more flexibility, and a greater opportunity to influence joint venture management in the FMCG sector compared with non-consumer electronic sector. The physical and infrastructural features of the sectors appear to be particularly consequential for managing an investment in China, and they may be more significant than institutional factors.     

Broadening the Concept of International Entrepreneurship: Internationalisation, Networks and Politics

In this article, the situation where a company internationalises over an extended period without changing operation mode is explored. The focus of the empirical research is the Australian company CSR and its large-scale sugar exporting operations, which developed over a period of about 75 years. Because of the highly politicised nature of the sugar industry in many countries, CSR was called upon to make extensive investments in political networks in order to achieve its global sugar exporting operations. Overall the CSR experience demonstrates that it is possible to stretch the use of a given mode, although this may demand considerable creativity in market, network and policy responses of a kind which illustrate that international entrepreneurship may come in many guises, and may need to be viewed in a broader way.     

International Entrepreneurship Research: What Scope for International Business Theories?

International entrepreneurship (IE) research has commonly neglected significant perspectives applied by international business scholars. Explanations for the emergence and growth of international entrepreneurial firms largely focus on the resource-based view and the network perspective. While these approaches are useful, we suggest that IE would benefit significantly from a greater emphasis on its international nature. Therefore, theories of international business should be employed in conjunction with other approaches in order to appropriately emphasize the international character, holistically study the IE notion, and considerably broaden the scope of IE examination. Suggestions for relevant research directions are discussed.