Delmestri, Giuseppe, Greenwood, Royston. 2016. How Cinderella Became a Queen: Theorizing Radical Status Change. Administrative Science Quarterly , 1-44.
BibTeX
Abstract
Using a case study of the Italian spirit grappa, we examine status recategorizationthe vertical extension and reclassification of an entire market category. Grappa was historically a low-status product, but in the 1970s one regional distiller took steps that led to a radical break from its traditional image, so that in just over a decade high-quality grappa became an exemplar of cul- tured Italian lifestyle and held a market position in the same class as cognac and whisky. We use this context to articulate theorization by allusion, which occurs through three mechanisms: category detachmentdistancing a social object from its existing category; category emulationpresenting that object so that it hints at the practices of a high-status category; and category sublimationshifting from local, field-specific references to broader, societal- level frames. This novel theorization is particularly appropriate for explaining change from low to high status because it avoids resistance to and contesta- tion of such change (by customers, media, and other sources) as a result of sta- tus imperatives, which may be especially strong in mature fields. Unlike prior studies that have examined the status of organizations within a category, ours foregrounds shifts in the status and social meaning of a market category itself.
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Status of publication | Published |
---|---|
Affiliation | WU |
Type of publication | Journal article |
Journal | Administrative Science Quarterly |
Citation Index | SSCI |
WU Journalrating 2009 | A+ |
Starjournal | Y |
Language | English |
Title | How Cinderella Became a Queen: Theorizing Radical Status Change |
Year | 2016 |
Page from | 1 |
Page to | 44 |
Reviewed? | Y |
DOI | http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0001839216644253 |
Associations
- People
- Delmestri, Giuseppe (Details)
- External
- Greenwood, Royston (University of Alberta, Canada)
- Organization
- Institute for Change Management and Management Development IN (Details)
- Research areas (Ă–STAT Classification 'Statistik Austria')
- 5307 Business and management economics (Details)
- 5324 Organizational research (Details)
- 5333 Business management (Details)