Configurational Approaches to Optimal Distinctiveness: Exploring Signal Sets and Originality for Entrepreneurship Legitimacy

Abstract

For entrepreneurs, the legitimisation process in the early stages is crucial for acquiring essential resources and ensuring the viability and growth of their new ventures. Drawing on signalling theory and optimal distinctiveness literature, the article investigates the configurations of signals that entrepreneurs can send in the early stages of their original entrepreneurial project to attain various thresholds of legitimacy. The study is based on a Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) analysis of 145 crowdfunding projects. The findings reveal that original projects require more intricate signal configurations than non-original projects to achieve high levels of legitimacy. The present research advances the ongoing discourse by unveiling the dynamic interplay between distinctiveness, legitimacy, and signal configurations.