Understanding Public Perceptions of Entrepreneurial Success: The Role of Different Performance Indicators and Observers’ Self-Categorization
Entrepreneurs depend on favorable societal evaluations to build legitimacy and succeed. While we know that these evaluations typically depend on observers’ perceptions of an entrepreneur’s performance, prior research has neglected the possibility that they may also be shaped by how observers perceive themselves. Drawing on self-categorization theory, we develop and test a social evaluation model of entrepreneurial performance, arguing that different performance indicators are valuated differently by observers with high or low entrepreneurial intentions (EI). Using 10,496 assessments from 328 observers in a metric conjoint experiment, our study reveals that entrepreneurs who perform well personally (high income and large societal influence) are evaluated more positively by observers with higher EI, while entrepreneurs whose ventures perform well (high profit and growth) are evaluated more positively by observers with lower EI. These insights highlight the multifaceted nature of entrepreneurial performance from an external observer’s perspective and advance the understanding of how observer heterogeneity influences the evaluation of successful entrepreneurs.
Holger Patzelt
Professor Patzelt conducts research in the fields of entrepreneurial decisions, strategic entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurial failure. While part of his research examines the cognition and decision-making of entrepreneurs from a psychological perspective, the second strand of research tries to understand the behavior and success factors of entrepreneurial companies from a business perspective.
After studying chemistry at TUM and the University of Karlsruhe, Patzelt earned his doctorate in molecular biology at the University of Heidelberg. At the same time, he studied business administration at the University of Hagen and then completed a doctorate in business administration at the University of Bamberg. He was then Associate Director at the Max Planck Institute of Economics in Jena and habilitated at the European Business School EBS in Oestrich-Winkel. Research stays have taken him to ETH Zurich and the Leeds Business School of the University of Colorado in Boulder, USA. Patzelt has been at TUM since 2010.
https://www.professoren.tum.de/patzelt-holger/
Zoom Meeting: https://ivey-uwo.zoom.us/j/97426278494?pwd=xD3K2Z1l4d77CijwJXsZQL2W3hMy98.1
Meeting ID: 974 2627 8494
Passcode: 514441