Zhongyuan Sun

Reading lists Stream 9Search all readings

Categories, identity and authenticity

Market categories, organizational identity and authenticity.

Of its 94 readings, 29 are assigned in two or more sources and listed first, with the number of sources beside each (in bold for the core readings, in 4 or more); the 65 listed in only one source are folded under each heading.

In the theory tree: grows out of 5 Organizational ecology and demography, 8 Institutional theory and 12 Status and social evaluation.

Drawn from: Maoret (IESE); Zuckerman (MIT); Pollock (Tennessee); Yue (USC); Lu, Li, Park, Yang & Yan (CityU); Lounsbury & Zhao (Oxford Bibliographies); Marquis (HBS); Henisz (Wharton); Clough (UBC); Sullivan (HKUST); Yao (HBS); Fiss (USC); Anteby (Boston University); Amit (Wharton); DiMaggio (Princeton); Glaser (Alberta); Dobbin (Harvard); Martin (Berkeley); Cameron (Wharton); Levinthal (Wharton). Full details of the sources are on the reading lists page.

By decade

Before 1950: 0 readings<19501950s: 4 readings1950s1960s: 6 readings1960s1970s: 2 readings1970s1980s: 5 readings1980s1990s: 11 readings1990s2000s: 16 readings2000s2010s: 47 readings472010s2020s: 3 readings2020s
Most date from the 2010s; half were published in 2010 or later.

Core readings

In 4 or more sources.

  1. Zuckerman, E. W. (1999). The Categorical Imperative: Securities Analysts and the Illegitimacy Discount. American Journal of Sociology, 104(5), 1398–1438. https://doi.org/10.1086/2101789
  2. Hsu, G. (2006). Jacks of All Trades and Masters of None: Audiences' Reactions to Spanning Genres in Feature Film Production. Administrative Science Quarterly, 51(3), 420–450. https://doi.org/10.2189/asqu.51.3.4207
  3. Navis, C., & Glynn, M. A. (2010). How New Market Categories Emerge: Temporal Dynamics of Legitimacy, Identity, and Entrepreneurship in Satellite Radio, 1990–2005. Administrative Science Quarterly, 55(3), 439–471. https://doi.org/10.2189/asqu.2010.55.3.4396
  4. Zuckerman, E. W. (2000). Focusing the Corporate Product: Securities Analysts and De-diversification. Administrative Science Quarterly, 45(3), 591–619. https://doi.org/10.2307/26671105
  5. Pontikes, E. G. (2012). Two Sides of the Same Coin: How Ambiguous Classification Affects Multiple Audiences’ Evaluations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 57(1), 81–118. https://doi.org/10.1177/00018392124466895
  6. Padgett, J. F., & Ansell, C. K. (1993). Robust Action and the Rise of the Medici, 1400-1434. American Journal of Sociology, 98(6), 1259–1319. https://doi.org/10.1086/2301904
  7. Zuckerman, E. W., Kim, T., Ukanwa, K., & von Rittmann, J. (2003). Robust Identities or Nonentities? Typecasting in the Feature‐Film Labor Market. American Journal of Sociology, 108(5), 1018–1073. https://doi.org/10.1086/3775184
  8. Rao, H., Monin, P., & Durand, R. (2005). Border Crossing: Bricolage and the Erosion of Categorical Boundaries in French Gastronomy. American Sociological Review, 70(6), 968–991. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122405070006054

Also assigned

In 2 to 3 sources.

  1. Douglas, M. (1966). Purity and Danger: An Analysis of the Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. Routledge & Kegan Paul.3
  2. Rosa, J. A., Porac, J. F., Runser-Spanjol, J., & Saxon, M. S. (1999). Sociocognitive Dynamics in a Product Market. Journal of Marketing, 63, 64. https://doi.org/10.2307/12521023
  3. Hsu, G., & Hannan, M. T. (2005). Identities, Genres, and Organizational Forms. Organization Science, 16(5), 474–490. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1050.01513
  4. Kennedy, M. T. (2008). Getting Counted: Markets, Media, and Reality. American Sociological Review, 73(2), 270–295. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122408073002053
  5. Ruef, M., & Patterson, K. (2009). Credit and Classification: The Impact of Industry Boundaries in Nineteenth-Century America. Administrative Science Quarterly, 54(3), 486–520. https://doi.org/10.2189/asqu.2009.54.3.4863
  6. Dutton, J. E., & Dukerich, J. M. (1991). Keeping an eye on the mirror: Image and identity in organizational adaptation. Academy of Management Journal, 34(3), 517–554. https://doi.org/10.2307/2564052
  7. Porac, J. F., Wade, J. B., & Pollock, T. G. (1999). Industry Categories and the Politics of the Comparable Firm in CEO Compensation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(1), 112–144. https://doi.org/10.2307/26670332
  8. Brubaker, R., & Cooper, F. (2000). Beyond “identity”. Theory and Society, 29(1), 1–47. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:10070687144682
  9. Tripsas, M. (2009). Technology, Identity, and Inertia Through the Lens of “The Digital Photography Company”. Organization Science, 20(2), 441–460. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1080.04192
  10. Jones, C., Maoret, M., Massa, F. G., & Svejenova, S. (2012). Rebels with a Cause: Formation, Contestation, and Expansion of the De Novo Category “Modern Architecture,” 1870–1975. Organization Science, 23(6), 1523–1545. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1110.07012
  11. Kennedy, M. T., & Fiss, P. C. (2013). An Ontological Turn in Categories Research: From Standards of Legitimacy to Evidence of Actuality. Journal of Management Studies, 50(6), 1138–1154. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.120312
  12. Negro, G., & Leung, M. D. (2013). “Actual” and Perceptual Effects of Category Spanning. Organization Science, 24(3), 684–696. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1120.07642
  13. Kovács, B., Carroll, G. R., & Lehman, D. W. (2014). Authenticity and Consumer Value Ratings: Empirical Tests from the Restaurant Domain. Organization Science, 25(2), 458–478. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2013.08432
  14. Sharkey, A. J. (2014). Categories and Organizational Status: The Role of Industry Status in the Response to Organizational Deviance. American Journal of Sociology, 119(5), 1380–1433. https://doi.org/10.1086/6753852
  15. Wry, T., Lounsbury, M., & Jennings, P. D. (2014). Hybrid Vigor: Securing Venture Capital by Spanning Categories in Nanotechnology. Academy of Management Journal, 57(5), 1309–1333. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2011.05882
  16. Hsu, G., & Grodal, S. (2015). Category Taken-for-Grantedness as a Strategic Opportunity: The Case of Light Cigarettes, 1964 to 1993. American Sociological Review, 80(1), 28–62. https://doi.org/10.1177/00031224145653912
  17. Goldberg, A., Hannan, M. T., & Kovács, B. (2016). What Does It Mean to Span Cultural Boundaries? Variety and Atypicality in Cultural Consumption. American Sociological Review, 81(2), 215–241. https://doi.org/10.1177/00031224166327872
  18. Wry, T., & York, J. G. (2017). An Identity-Based Approach to Social Enterprise. Academy of Management Review, 42(3), 437–460. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2013.05062
  19. Gehman, J., & Grimes, M. (2017). Hidden Badge of Honor: How Contextual Distinctiveness Affects Category Promotion among Certified B Corporations. Academy of Management Journal, 60(6), 2294–2320. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2015.04162
  20. Pontikes, E. G. (2018). Category Strategy for Firm Advantage. Strategy Science, 3(4), 620–631. https://doi.org/10.1287/stsc.2018.00702
  21. Hahl, O., Kim, M., & Zuckerman Sivan, E. W. (2018). The Authentic Appeal of the Lying Demagogue: Proclaiming the Deeper Truth about Political Illegitimacy. American Sociological Review, 83(1), 1–33. https://doi.org/10.1177/00031224177496322

Further readings

65 more, listed in one source
  1. Goffman, E. (1952). On Cooling the Mark Out: Some Aspects of Adaptation to Failure. Psychiatry, 15(4), 451–463. https://doi.org/10.1080/00332747.1952.11022896
  2. Slater, P. E. (1955). Role Differentiation in Small Groups. American Sociological Review, 20(3), 300. https://doi.org/10.2307/2087389
  3. Merton, R. K. (1957). The Role-Set: Problems in Sociological Theory. The British Journal of Sociology, 8(2), 106. https://doi.org/10.2307/587363
  4. Goffman, E. (1959). The Moral Career of the Mental Patient. Psychiatry, 22(2), 123–142. https://doi.org/10.1080/00332747.1959.11023166
  5. Goode, W. J. (1960). A Theory of Role Strain. American Sociological Review, 25(4), 483. https://doi.org/10.2307/2092933
  6. Goode, W. J. (1960). Norm Commitment and Conformity to Role-Status Obligations. American Journal of Sociology, 66(3), 246–258. https://doi.org/10.1086/222876
  7. Goffman, E. (1961). Role Distance. In Encounters: Two Studies in the Sociology of Interaction. Bobbs-Merrill.
  8. Merton, R. K. (1968). Continuities in the Theory of Reference Groups and Social Structure. In Social Theory and Social Structure. Free Press.
  9. Turner, R. H. (1968). Role: Sociological Aspects. In International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (Vol. 13, pp. 552–557). Macmillan and Free Press.
  10. Becker, H. S. (1973). Labelling Theory Reconsidered. In H.S. Becker, Outsiders: Studies in the Sociology of Deviance. , New York (2nd ed.). NY: The Free Press.
  11. Stryker, S., & Macke, A. S. (1978). Status Inconsistency and Role Conflict. Annual Review of Sociology, 4(1), 57–90. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.so.04.080178.000421
  12. Caplow, T. (1982). Christmas Gifts and Kin Networks. American Sociological Review, 47(3), 383. https://doi.org/10.2307/2094994
  13. Faulkner, R. R. (1983). Music on Demand: Composers and Careers in the Hollywood Film Industry. Transaction.
  14. Albert, S., & Whetten, D. A. (1985). Organizational Identity. Research in Organizational Behavior.
  15. DiMaggio, P. (1987). Classification in Art. American Sociological Review, 52(4), 440. https://doi.org/10.2307/2095290
  16. Leifer, E. M. (1988). Interaction Preludes to Role Setting: Exploratory Local Action. American Sociological Review, 53(6), 865. https://doi.org/10.2307/2095896
  17. Baker, W. E., & Faulkner, R. R. (1991). Role as Resource in the Hollywood Film Industry. American Journal of Sociology, 97(2), 279–309. https://doi.org/10.1086/229780
  18. Friedman, R. A., & Podolny, J. (1992). Differentiation of Boundary Spanning Roles: Labor Negotiations and Implications for Role Conflict. Administrative Science Quarterly, 37(1), 28. https://doi.org/10.2307/2393532
  19. Lopes, P. D. (1992). Innovation and Diversity in the Popular Music Industry, 1969 to 1990. American Sociological Review, 57(1), 56. https://doi.org/10.2307/2096144
  20. Zerubavel, E. (1996). Lumping and splitting: Notes on social classification. Sociological Forum, 11(3), 421–433. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02408386
  21. Cerulo, K. A. (1997). Identity Construction: New Issues, New Directions. Annual Review of Sociology, 23(1), 385–409. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.23.1.385
  22. Espeland, W. N., & Stevens, M. L. (1998). Commensuration as a Social Process. Annual Review of Sociology, 24(1), 313–343. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.24.1.313
  23. Polos, L. (2002). Foundations of a theory of social forms. Industrial and Corporate Change, 11(1), 85–115. https://doi.org/10.1093/icc/11.1.85
  24. White, H. C. (2002). Markets from Networks: Socioeconomic Models of Production. Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691187624
  25. Zuckerman, E. W., & Kim, T. Y. (2003). The Identity Trade-Off: Market Mediation and Success in the Film Industry. Industrial and Corporate Change (forthcoming).
  26. Zuckerman, E. W. (2004). Structural Incoherence and Stock Market Activity. American Sociological Review, 69(3), 405–432. https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240406900305
  27. Hannan, M., Negro, G., Rao, H., & Leung, M. D. (2007). No Barrique, No Berlusconi: Collective Identity, Contention, and Authenticity in the Making of Barolo and Barbaresco Wines.
  28. Fleischer, A. (2009). Ambiguity and the Equity of Rating Systems: United States Brokerage Firms, 1995–2000. Administrative Science Quarterly, 54(4), 555–574. https://doi.org/10.2189/asqu.2009.54.4.555
  29. Sauder, M., & Espeland, W. N. (2009). The Discipline of Rankings: Tight Coupling and Organizational Change. American Sociological Review, 74(1), 63–82. https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240907400104
  30. Negro, G., Hannan, M. T., & Rao, H. (2010). Categorical contrast and audience appeal: niche width and critical success in winemaking. Industrial and Corporate Change, 19(5), 1397–1425. https://doi.org/10.1093/icc/dtq003
  31. Hsu, G., Negro, G., & Koçak, Ö. (Eds.). (2010). Categories in Markets: Origins and Evolution. Emerald. https://doi.org/10.1108/s0733-558x(2010)31
  32. Khaire, M., & Wadhwani, R. D. (2010). Changing Landscapes: The Construction of Meaning and Value in a New Market Category—Modern Indian Art. Academy of Management Journal, 53(6), 1281–1304. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2010.57317861
  33. Hannan, M. T. (2010). Partiality of Memberships in Categories and Audiences. Annual Review of Sociology, 36(1), 159–181. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-021610-092336
  34. Fourcade, M. (2011). Cents and Sensibility: Economic Valuation and the Nature of “Nature”. American Journal of Sociology, 116(6), 1721–1777. https://doi.org/10.1086/659640
  35. Smith, E. B. (2011). Identities as Lenses: How Organizational Identity Affects Audiences' Evaluation of Organizational Performance. Administrative Science Quarterly, 56(1), 61–94. https://doi.org/10.2189/asqu.2011.56.1.061
  36. Navis, C., & Glynn, M. A. (2011). Legitimate Distinctiveness and the Entrepreneurial Identity: Influence on Investor Judgments of New Venture Plausibility. Academy of Management Review, 36(3), 479–499. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2011.61031809
  37. Bitektine, A. (2011). Toward a Theory of Social Judgments of Organizations: The Case of Legitimacy, Reputation, and Status. Academy of Management Review, 36(1), 151–179. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2009.0382
  38. Crilly, D., & Sloan, P. (2012). Enterprise logic: explaining corporate attention to stakeholders from the ‘inside‐out’. Strategic Management Journal, 33(10), 1174–1193. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.1964
  39. Durand, R., & Paolella, L. (2013). Category Stretching: Reorienting Research on Categories in Strategy, Entrepreneurship, and Organization Theory. Journal of Management Studies, 50(6), 1100–1123. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2011.01039.x
  40. Granqvist, N., Grodal, S., & Woolley, J. L. (2013). Hedging Your Bets: Explaining Executives' Market Labeling Strategies in Nanotechnology. Organization Science, 24(2), 395–413. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1120.0748
  41. Jay, J. (2013). Navigating Paradox as a Mechanism of Change and Innovation in Hybrid Organizations. Academy of Management Journal, 56(1), 137–159. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2010.0772
  42. Bhanji, Z., & Oxley, J. E. (2013). Overcoming the dual liability of foreignness and privateness in international corporate citizenship partnerships. Journal of International Business Studies, 44(4), 290–311. https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2013.8
  43. Hahn, T., Preuss, L., Pinkse, J., & Figge, F. (2014). Cognitive Frames in Corporate Sustainability: Managerial Sensemaking with Paradoxical and Business Case Frames. Academy of Management Review, 39(4), 463–487. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2012.0341
  44. Lehman, D. W., Kovács, B., & Carroll, G. R. (2014). Conflicting Social Codes and Organizations: Hygiene and Authenticity in Consumer Evaluations of Restaurants. Management Science, 60(10), 2602–2617. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2014.1903
  45. Kovács, B., & Johnson, R. (2014). Contrasting alternative explanations for the consequences of category spanning: A study of restaurant reviews and menus in San Francisco. Strategic Organization, 12(1), 7–37. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476127013502465
  46. Leung, M. D. (2014). Dilettante or Renaissance Person? How the Order of Job Experiences Affects Hiring in an External Labor Market. American Sociological Review, 79(1), 136–158. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122413518638
  47. Leung, M. D., & Sharkey, A. J. (2014). Out of Sight, Out of Mind? Evidence of Perceptual Factors in the Multiple-Category Discount. Organization Science, 25(1), 171–184. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2013.0828
  48. Lo, J. Y.-C., & Kennedy, M. T. (2015). Approval in Nanotechnology Patents: Micro and Macro Factors That Affect Reactions to Category Blending. Organization Science, 26(1), 119–139. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2014.0933
  49. Bode, C., Singh, J., & Rogan, M. (2015). Corporate Social Initiatives and Employee Retention. Organization Science, 26(6), 1702–1720. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2015.1006
  50. Carnabuci, G., Operti, E., & Kovács, B. (2015). The Categorical Imperative and Structural Reproduction: Dynamics of Technological Entry in the Semiconductor Industry. Organization Science, 26(6), 1734–1751. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2015.1011
  51. Paolella, L., & Durand, R. (2016). Category Spanning, Evaluation, and Performance: Revised Theory and Test on the Corporate Law Market. Academy of Management Journal, 59(1), 330–351. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2013.0651
  52. Delmestri, G., & Greenwood, R. (2016). How Cinderella Became a Queen: Theorizing Radical Status Change. Administrative Science Quarterly, 61(4), 507–550. https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839216644253
  53. Hahl, O. (2016). Turning Back the Clock in Baseball: The Increased Prominence of Extrinsic Rewards and Demand for Authenticity. Organization Science, 27(4), 929–953. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2016.1072
  54. O'Connor, K., Carroll, G., & Kovacs, B. (2017). Disambiguating authenticity: Testing for patterned choice among authentic items. PLOS One.
  55. Botelho, T. L., & Abraham, M. (2017). Pursuing Quality: How Search Costs and Uncertainty Magnify Gender-based Double Standards in a Multistage Evaluation Process. Administrative Science Quarterly, 62(4), 698–730. https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839217694358
  56. Zuckerman, E. W. (2017). The Categorical Imperative Revisited: Implications of Categorization as a Theoretical Tool. In From Categories to Categorization: Studies in Sociology, Organizations and Strategy at the Crossroads, Research in the Sociology of Organizations (Vol. 51, pp. 31–68). Emerald Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/s0733-558x20170000051001
  57. Smith, E. B., & Chae, H. (2017). The Effect of Organizational Atypicality on Reference Group Selection and Performance Evaluation. Organization Science, 28(6), 1134–1149. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2017.1154
  58. Kovács, B., Carroll, G., & Lehman, D. (2017). The Perils of Proclaiming an Authentic Organizational Identity. Sociological Science, 4, 80–106. https://doi.org/10.15195/v4.a4
  59. Askin, N., & Mauskapf, M. (2017). What Makes Popular Culture Popular? Product Features and Optimal Differentiation in Music. American Sociological Review, 82(5), 910–944. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122417728662
  60. Durand, R., & Khaire, M. (2017). Where Do Market Categories Come From and How? Distinguishing Category Creation From Category Emergence. Journal of Management, 43(1), 87–110. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206316669812
  61. Hsu, G., Koçak, Ö., & Kovács, B. (2018). Co-Opt or Coexist? A Study of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries’ Identity-Based Responses to Recreational-Use Legalization in Colorado and Washington. Organization Science, 29(1), 172–190. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2017.1167
  62. Beck, N., Swaminathan, A., Wade, J. B., & Wezel, F. C. (2019). Industry Clusters and Organizational Prototypes: Evidence From the Franconian Brewing Industry. Journal of Management, 45(7), 2978–3008. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206318773411
  63. Lashley, K., & Pollock, T. G. (2020). Waiting to Inhale: Reducing Stigma in the Medical Cannabis Industry. Administrative Science Quarterly, 65(2), 434–482. https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839219851501
  64. David, R. J., & Lee, Y. (2022). The short history and long future of research on market categories. Strategic Organization, 20(4), 709–721. https://doi.org/10.1177/14761270221134287
  65. Cudennec, A., & Durand, R. (2023). Valuing Spanners: Why Category Nesting and Expertise Matter. Academy of Management Journal, 66(1), 335–365. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2020.0042