The short history and long future of research on market categories

Abstract

The market categories literature is reaching the adolescent stage. In order to “look forward” and chart the next stages of this literature’s growth, we first need to “look back” at what we have learned so far. We thus begin with a systematic review of the literature on market categories from the 1990s to the present. Our search of leading management and sociology journals yielded 100 empirical papers, which we group into eight themes. We then discuss in more detail the findings under the top three of these themes: category spanning, new category construction, and category change. Based on our review, we then “look forward” and offer suggestions for future research on market categories. Specifically, we call for more explicit attention to 1) agency, particularly in studies of category spanning, 2) market categories at the intersection of multiple institutional logics, 3) market categories as an outcome rather than antecedent, and 4) construct clarity and consistency. We hope these recommendations will ensure a long and healthy future for this burgeoning literature.

SO! Far, SO! Good: Strategic Organization at 20

“…Thus, Henrich Greve and Cyndi-Man Zhang (2022) review insights derived from the behavioral theory of the firm, and argue for building on these to investigate the role of organizational structure, decision makers, history, and organizational environments in strategy making. Robert David (coeditor 2016–2019) and Yoojin Lee (2022) review scholarship on market categories, and propose greater emphasis on agency in category spanning, and more attention to the links with institutional logics, and categories as organizational outcomes, rather than inputs. Linda Rouleau and Charlotte Cloutier (2022) review work associated with the strategy-as-practice stream of research and argue that it could enhance its impact by taking more seriously the practice-based theories that initially underpinned its development, building on the notion of knowledgeability as central to strategic practices.…”

Putting categories in their place: A research agenda for theorizing place in category research

“…They are both “shaped by perceptions and in return shape cognition, thereby helping individuals to quickly and efficiently process vast amounts of information” (Vergne and Wry, 2014: 58). Considerable research at the intersection of strategic management and organization theory has focused on how membership in a category (or lack thereof) affects organizational outcomes (for a recent review, see David and Lee, 2022). For the most part, this research focuses on established categories—categories that reflect a shared understanding about the inclusion of objects into the category (Durand and Boulongne, 2017: 647)—and on how a product or organization’s positioning within an existing category system affects its performance (Durand and Khaire, 2017; Granqvist et al, 2013; Kovács and Johnson, 2014; Zuckerman, 1999).…”

“… 2. The category literature is flourishing and has reached “adolescence” (David and Lee, 2022: 709), as evidenced by the numerous literature reviews published in the last 10 years or so: Negro et al (2010), Durand and Paollela (2013), Glynn and Navis (2013), Kennedy and Fiss (2013), Vergne and Wry (2014), Anand and Croidieu (2015), Durand and Khaire (2017), Durand et al (2017), Durand and Boulongne (2017), Durand and Thornton (2018), Hannan et al (2019), Delmestri et al, (2020) and David and Lee (2022). …”