Symbolic Emphasizing: How Entrepreneurs Use Symbolism to Acquire Resources

Based on a two-year field study, the authors have found inductively that entrepreneurs were more likely to acquire resources for their new ventures if they performed "symbolic emphasizing" activities. Symbolic emphasizing refers to the process by which entrepreneurs display and draw the attention of resource holders to the symbolic dimension of their activities over and above the intrinsic, or functional, dimension. They have identified four distinct categories of symbols that facilitate the acquisition of resources: conveying the credibility of the entrepreneur, organizing quality, organizational achievement, and the quality of relationships with stakeholders. Using these categories, they develop a grounded model of symbolic emphasizing which links symbolism with resource acquisition. Our model suggests that the variety, frequency, and sensitivity of symbolic-emphasizing activities help convince various constituencies to contribute their particular resources. It suggests also that they should not expect any single symbolic action or even several of them to be systematically associated with the successful attraction of resources. They also propose several factors that moderate the relation between symbolic emphasizing and resource acquisition.