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Publication
Why am I so successful? Self-presentation and deliberative attributions of success in entrepreneurship
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
This study explores the complexities of causes of success mentioned in entrepreneurs’ narratives
in a broadcasted context. Building on strategic self-presentation and attribution theories, we
employed inductive methods to map the configurations of public narratives explaining entrepreneurial success. The data analyzed were gathered from 173 reflective interviews featuring
entrepreneurs on the United States’ National Public Radio, using machine learning techniques for
semantic content analysis. The results show that entrepreneurs can adopt three strategic presentation narratives to explain success in entrepreneurship. Significantly different patterns
emerge in the three strategic narrative configurations. First, “lucky charming” narratives reflect
an ingratiation strategy, mentioning external and uncontrollable causes of success to increase the
entrepreneurs’ likability for the audience. Second, “work striving” narratives use self-promotion
strategies to push for recognition of accomplishments, efforts, and intellectual abilities. Third,
“social connecting” narratives simultaneously make use of ingratiation and exemplification
strategies, including capitalizing on the positive signals given by the social support attracted
during their entrepreneurial journey. These three discourse patterns have implications for
influencing reputation and driving business- and personal-related outcomes. The findings provide
a better understanding of deliberate appearances by entrepreneurs in broadcast contexts and tools
for nascent entrepreneurs to leverage their role models among those with acclaimed entrepreneurial success.
Description
Keywords
Self-presentation strategies Causal thinking Attribution of success Broadcast context Semantic content analysis
Citation
Santos, S. C., Caetano, A., & Brochado, A. (2023). Why am I so successful? Self-presentation and deliberative attributions of success in entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Venturing Insights, 19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbvi.2023.e00396
Publisher
Elsevier Inc.