The effect of prestige on opportunity confidence and venture idea revision: A manipulation-of-mediation study

Martin Wurzer, PhD Student, Department of Management 

Abstract: In recent years, an increasing number of scholars have moved beyond studying idea creation and started to investigate how entrepreneurs revise ideas based on assessments from external actors. Such external assessments shape an entrepreneur’s confidence in their idea. We extend this research by testing how external input changes subsequent revision efforts. Specifically, we tested the effect of exposure to assessments depending on the prestige of the external assessor. 

To investigate these relationships, we conducted two online experiments (total n = 600), following a manipulation-of-mediation design. In experiment 1, we measured the participants' change in opportunity confidence regarding a given venture idea after being randomly exposed to the assessment of either a prestigious or non-prestigious assessor. In the second step, the participants got the chance to revise the given idea. We compared the original version of the idea with the revised version and, using natural language processing and human raters. In experiment 2, we tested the mediating effect of change in opportunity confidence on revision effort by additionally enhancing or diminishing the level of confidence within one base condition (i.e. conditional double randomization). 

We found evidence that prestige influences the participants’ confidence ratings, and we are currently in the process of analyzing their subsequent revisions in detail.

The Role of Pride Branded Representations in Consumer Evaluations

Raian Burgos Razal, PhD Student, Department of Management 

Abstract: The Pride movement has historically originated as a protest against inequalities, claiming equal rights for LGBTQ+ individuals. Alongside, the Pride movement has also emerged as a colorful celebration of identities. Protest and celebration representations are included in brand communication efforts from companies aiming at standing up for such a societal issue. However, the effectiveness of such branding strategies is expected to vary. In this paper, we show that while the proliferation of celebration representations in brand-related content on social media (Twitter) is higher than protest representations, the latter results in higher consumer engagement. Following up with an online experiment by simulating an advertising context, we find that protest representations generate stronger perceptions of identity relevance, which in turn associate with higher attitudes toward the ad. The findings suggest that protest representations overall create higher consumer response, with one explanation instigated by higher identity relevance, especially among non-LGBTQ+ members. We discuss implications for theory and managerial practice, and avenues for future research.   

Alexandra Regina Kratschmer, Associate Professor, School of Communication and Culture, Department of Linguistics 

Abstract: We will present some preliminary results of an interview project with participants from Denmark, Armenia, Brazil and Italy on parents’ attitudes on child vaccination. The informants’ attitudinal range goes from “no trust in vaccines” to “absolute trust in vaccines”. Our analyses focus on the linguistic structures used by the informants in order to make their point.