Paradoxes of popularity: between hidden champions and invisible everyday entrepreneurship

Abstract

Media disseminate popular images of entrepreneurship such as unicorns or hidden champions and contribute to popularizing selected types of entrepreneurship. As information intermediary, media play a crucial role in creating images of entrepreneurship. We aim to contribute a differentiated perspective by revealing how media influence popular images of entrepreneurship by analyzing both, the selectivity and social evaluation/assessment mechanisms used. We illustrate how evaluation regimes undertaken by expert bodies impact popularity. Both quantified as well as narrative elements of evaluation regimes underpin the supremacy of firms; partly underlined by linguistic expressions and narrative plots. Through our media analysis, we contribute to a broader understanding of popularity.