This paper studies a new group of entrepreneurs which has emerged on social media platforms, i.e., social media entrepreneurs. Arguing that followers are critical stakeholders in social media platforms, we examine how they respond to the monetization efforts of social media entrepreneurs. We draw on self-determination theory to explore how the authenticity of social media entrepreneurs is affected by their commercialization activities and to explore mechanisms that can help them address the authenticity penalty imposed by their followers. We use the Tanya Burr YouTube beauty and fashion channel as our empirical setting to show that sponsorship is associated with followers imposing a penalty, whereas affiliation links and own-brand promotion do not lead to a negative follower response. Our findings show that the negative effect of sponsorship on follower responses can be mitigated by revealing and concealing strategies. We discuss the contribution in terms of the digital media entrepreneurship literature and self-determination theory.

This article aims to understand how organizations can simultaneously manage their business model innovation and replication processes. Using an exploratory qualitative approach, we analyze Airbnb’s business model innovation and replication processes when the company launched its new value proposition labeled “experiences”. Our findings show that innovation and replication processes are designed, tested and implemented simultaneously. We underline the role of the platform in standardizing the key elements of the different stages of the processes. Through its digital platform, Airbnb can standardize its value creation and value capture processes to drive replication at scale. We discuss the contributions of our study to the replication strategy literature and to research on the Airbnb business model.

Various cognitive factors can influence managerial decisions about business models; in particular, this article reveals how time representation affects entrepreneurs business model choices over time. By studying four start-ups pursuing emerging Internet-of-Things applications in real-life contexts, this article reveals that when the entrepreneurs perceive time urgency, they rely on information and knowledge from their personal backgrounds and adopt single-sided business models. Conversely, when no perceived time urgency exists, entrepreneurs devote more time to exploring their environments and can develop alternative business model configurations. This research contributes to debates about the relationship between technology and business models and reveals that the type of technology affects an entrepreneurs time perception, which influences business model choice. The findings then can help entrepreneurs select a business model by acknowledging how their unconscious mental representation of time influences their choice.