1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910790953403321

Autore

Podolny Joel M

Titolo

Status signals [[electronic resource] ] : a sociological study of market competition / / Joel M. Podolny

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Princeton, N.J., : Princeton University Press, 2008, c2005

ISBN

1-4008-3787-1

1-282-96499-2

9786612964992

Edizione

[Course Book]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (304 p.)

Collana

A Princeton University Press e-book

Classificazione

83.05

Disciplina

658.8/02

Soggetti

Economics - Sociological aspects

Markets - Social aspects

Social status

Social networks

Social values

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [267]-277) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Tables -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction. An Emergent Perspective from an Emergent Field -- Chapter 1. Status, Reputation, and Quality -- Chapter 2. The Matthew Effect (Un)Bounded -- Chapter 3. Getting More for Less in the Investment Banking Industry -- Chapter 4. To Mingle or Not to Mingle with the Hoi Polloi: That Is The Question -- Chapter 5. The Medium, the Message, and the Signal -- Chapter 6. Status And Invention -- Chapter 7. Embeddedness And Entry -- Chapter 8. An Evolutionary Perspective On Status Segregation -- Chapter 9. Uncertainty Reconsidered -- Chapter 10. Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Why are elite jewelers reluctant to sell turquoise, despite strong demand? Why did leading investment bankers shun junk bonds for years, despite potential profits? Status Signals is the first major sociological examination of how concerns about status affect market competition. Starting from the basic premise that status pervades the ties producers form in the marketplace, Joel Podolny shows how



anxieties about status influence whom a producer does (or does not) accept as a partner, the price a producer can charge, the ease with which a producer enters a market, how the producer's inventions are received, and, ultimately, the market segments the producer can (and should) enter. To achieve desired status, firms must offer more than strong past performance and product quality--they must also send out and manage social and cultural signals. Through detailed analyses of market competition across a broad array of industries--including investment banking, wine, semiconductors, shipping, and venture capital--Podolny demonstrates the pervasive impact of status. Along the way, he shows how corporate strategists, tempted by the profits of a market that would negatively affect their status, consider not only whether to enter the market but also whether they can alter the public's perception of the market. Podolny also examines the different ways in which a firm can have status. Wal-Mart, for example, has low status among the rich as a place to shop, but high status among the rich as a place to invest. Status Signals provides a systematic understanding of market dynamics that have--until now--not been fully appreciated.