Can You Hear Me Now? Examining Market Discourse as a Sensemaking Mechanism of Entrepreneurial Actions in the U.S. Wireless Telephone Industry, 1998-2007

Entrepreneurial actions, such as new product introductions, infuse new information and drive the market process by moving the market either toward or away from existing market conditions. These products cause uncertainty for market participants, who engage in discourse as a sensemaking mechanism to reduce this uncertainty and eventually either accept or reject the new product, which is essentially the market process. Central to this process, however, is the oft-overlooked phenomenon of market discourse, or the objective and subjective information exchanged in the marketplace, that can be a key sensemaking mechanism when confronted by uncertainty surrounding new products by firms. However, little is known regarding the impact of entrepreneurial actions and the process of how market discourse moves the market. Using a unique dataset created from the United States wireless telephone industry from 1998-2007, I explore how novelty impacts various aspects of market discourse among market participants and how this discourse impacts subsequent sales of individual cell phones. Results suggest that discourse can act as a sensemaking mechanism when new products are relatively more novel than prior phones, but that reputation and competitive intensity can act as a substitute for discourse as a sensemaking mechanism to reduce uncertainty experienced by the market. In addition, discourse was found to positively influence sales but that this effect diminishes over time. Finally, findings indicate discourse acts to fully mediate the relationship between phone novelty and sales, which highlights the importance of studying discourse when examining firm actions

Novelty Discourse

The novelty of new products creates uncertainty for market participants, forcing them to evaluate the usefulness of new products relative to existing offerings. We theorize market participants engage in discourse – the objective information and subjective opinion exchanged in the marketplace – to determine the usefulness of new products. We develop theory to explain how the degree of novelty of new products impacts market discourse, which is used as a sensemaking mechanism to reduce uncertainty caused by the new products, and test the theory with data from the United States wireless telephone industry from 1998 to 2007. Results suggest a greater degree of new product novelty is associated with a longer duration, higher volume, and higher conflict of discourse. We also demonstrate the moderating effects of firm- and product-level characteristics, such as firm reputation, product price, and the introduction of new products by competitors, on the level and duration of market discourse

Novelty Discourse

The novelty of new products creates uncertainty for market participants, forcing them to evaluate the usefulness of new products relative to existing offerings. We theorize market participants engage in discourse – the objective information and subjective opinion exchanged in the marketplace – to determine the usefulness of new products. We develop theory to explain how the degree of novelty of new products impacts market discourse, which is used as a sensemaking mechanism to reduce uncertainty caused by the new products, and test the theory with data from the United States wireless telephone industry from 1998 to 2007. Results suggest a greater degree of new product novelty is associated with a longer duration, higher volume, and higher conflict of discourse. We also demonstrate the moderating effects of firm- and product-level characteristics, such as firm reputation, product price, and the introduction of new products by competitors, on the level and duration of market discourse

Highly Volcanic Exoplanets, Lava Worlds, and Magma Ocean Worlds:An Emerging Class of Dynamic Exoplanets of Significant Scientific Priority

Highly volcanic exoplanets, which can be variously characterized as 'lava worlds', 'magma ocean worlds', or 'super-Ios' are high priority targets for investigation. The term 'lava world' may refer to any planet with extensive surface lava lakes, while the term 'magma ocean world' refers to planets with global or hemispherical magma oceans at their surface. 'Highly volcanic planets', including super-Ios, may simply have large, or large numbers of, active explosive or extrusive volcanoes of any form. They are plausibly highly diverse, with magmatic processes across a wide range of compositions, temperatures, activity rates, volcanic eruption styles, and background gravitational force magnitudes. Worlds in all these classes are likely to be the most characterizable rocky exoplanets in the near future due to observational advantages that stem from their preferential occurrence in short orbital periods and their bright day-side flux in the infrared. Transit techniques should enable a level of characterization of these worlds analogous to hot Jupiters. Understanding processes on highly volcanic worlds is critical to interpret imminent observations. The physical states of these worlds are likely to inform not just geodynamic processes, but also planet formation, and phenomena crucial to habitability. Volcanic and magmatic activity uniquely allows chemical investigation of otherwise spectroscopically inaccessible interior compositions. These worlds will be vital to assess the degree to which planetary interior element abundances compare to their stellar hosts, and may also offer pathways to study both the very young Earth, and the very early form of many silicate planets where magma oceans and surface lava lakes are expected to be more prevalent. We suggest that highly volcanic worlds may become second only to habitable worlds in terms of both scientific and public long-term interest.Comment: A white paper submitted in response to the National Academy of Sciences 2018 Exoplanet Science Strategy solicitation, from the NASA Sellers Exoplanet Environments Collaboration (SEEC) of the Goddard Space Flight Center. 6 pages, 0 figure

Thanks, but No Thanks: Examining Entrepreneurial Optimism, External Funding, Joint Venture Partnerships, and New Venture Performance

Using a proprietary dataset of entrepreneurs receiving a government technology award, I explore how entrepreneurial optimism can impact the decision to accept external funding , to enter into joint ventures, and on firm performance. Although prior research suggests optimism about the success of a venture might motivate entrepreneurs to seek outside funding and to enter in to joint venture partnerships (with mixed results on performance), how high levels of optimism would instead motivate entrepreneurs to not receive such outside help is explored. Results suggest optimism has a non-linear relationship with accepting outside help, which leads founders to receive less external funding and instead choose to “go it alone.” Further, results show rewards for highly optimistic entrepreneurs, which is contrary to previous findings and has implications for researchers and practitioners alike

Thanks, but No Thanks: Examining Entrepreneurial Optimism, External Funding, Joint Venture Partnerships, and New Venture Performance

Using a proprietary dataset of entrepreneurs receiving a government technology award, I explore how entrepreneurial optimism can impact the decision to accept external funding , to enter into joint ventures, and on firm performance. Although prior research suggests optimism about the success of a venture might motivate entrepreneurs to seek outside funding and to enter in to joint venture partnerships (with mixed results on performance), how high levels of optimism would instead motivate entrepreneurs to not receive such outside help is explored. Results suggest optimism has a non-linear relationship with accepting outside help, which leads founders to receive less external funding and instead choose to “go it alone.” Further, results show rewards for highly optimistic entrepreneurs, which is contrary to previous findings and has implications for researchers and practitioners alike

Novelty Discourse

The novelty of new products creates uncertainty for market participants, forcing them to evaluate the usefulness of new products relative to existing offerings. We theorize market participants engage in discourse – the objective information and subjective opinion exchanged in the marketplace – to determine the usefulness of new products. We develop theory to explain how the degree of novelty of new products impacts market discourse, which is used as a sensemaking mechanism to reduce uncertainty caused by the new products, and test the theory with data from the United States wireless telephone industry from 1998 to 2007. Results suggest a greater degree of new product novelty is associated with a longer duration, higher volume, and higher conflict of discourse. We also demonstrate the moderating effects of firm- and product-level characteristics, such as firm reputation, product price, and the introduction of new products by competitors, on the level and duration of market discourse