Innovation newness shaping venture legitimation strategy choices in the entrepreneurial ecosystem : an empirical analysis based on fsQCA

Abstract

Establishing and sustaining the legitimacy of new ventures is a complex endeavour for entrepreneurs. In this article, we draw insights on ecosystem and legitimacy theories, and we employ a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis approach to study effective configurations of (technological and market) innovation newness influencing the new-venture legitimation strategy orientations of 228 startups in Finland. The results reveal that the startups operating in established markets (existing markets) with incremental technology (as essential [core] conditions) are likely to opt for conformance and selection legitimation strategies. However, a firm's radical technology has been revealed as a supplementary (peripheral) condition in this context. Furthermore, the results show that startups are likely to opt for a manipulation strategy when operating in new markets (as a core condition, with incremental technology as a peripheral condition). We further find that startups can opt for a creation strategy when operating in new markets with radical technology (as core conditions). We conclude by offering the implications of our findings and avenues for further research.