TY  - CHAP
AB  - Abstract Despite ample research on the topic of business model innovation, little is known about the cognitive processes whereby some innovative business models gain the status of iconic representations of particular types of firms. This study addresses the question: How do iconic business models emerge? In other words: How do innovative business models become prototypical exemplars for new categories of firms? We focus on the case of Airbnb, and analyze how six mainstream business media publications discussed Airbnb between 2008 and 2013. The cognitive process whereby Airbnb’s business model became the iconic business model for the sharing economy involved three phases. First, these publications drew on multiple analogies to try to assimilate Airbnb’s innovative business model into their existing system of categories. Second, they developed a more nuanced understanding of Airbnb’s business model. Finally, they established it as the prototypical exemplar of a new type of organization. We contribute to business model research by providing an elaborated definition of the notion of the iconic business model which is rooted in social categorization research, and by theorizing the cognitive process that underpins the emergence of iconic business models. Our study also complements research on the role of analogical reasoning in business model innovation. Finally, we complement the market categorization literature by documenting a case of the emergence of a prototypical exemplar.
VL  - 33
SN  - 978-1-78560-462-1, 978-1-78560-463-8/0742-3322
DO  - 10.1108/S0742-332220150000033024
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/S0742-332220150000033024
AU  - Mikhalkina Tatiana
AU  - Cabantous Laure
PY  - 2015
Y1  - 2015/01/01
TI  - Business Model Innovation: How Iconic Business Models Emerge
T2  - Business Models and Modelling
T3  - Advances in Strategic Management
PB  - Emerald Group Publishing Limited
SP  - 59
EP  - 95
Y2  - 2024/04/25
ER  -