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    Becoming a Cognitive Referent: Market Creation and Cultural Strategy
    11 Mar 2016Working Paper Summaries

    Becoming a Cognitive Referent: Market Creation and Cultural Strategy

    by Rory McDonald
    Rory McDonald describes the making of a "cognitive referent," which is a firm that customers, the media, analysts, and employees automatically associate with a new market category--think Starbucks and coffee.
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    Author Abstract

    Research has examined firms' use of rhetoric and symbolic activities in the process of creating new markets. This study analyzes how entrepreneurial firms use these cultural strategies to position themselves in a nascent market category they are creating.

    Paper Information

    • Full Working Paper Text
    • Working Paper Publication Date: February 2016
    • HBS Working Paper Number: 16-095
    • Faculty Unit(s): Technology and Operations Management
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    Rory M. McDonald
    Rory M. McDonald
    Thai-Hi T. Lee (MBA 1985) Associate Professor of Business Administration
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