Explicating professional boxers' narrative dynamics towards competitive aggressiveness and potential market entry

Abstract

Research on subversive entrepreneurship considers the process in which firms outperform rivals when entering the market. Although the research has recognised that firms try to destroy the existing market while creating a new one, it still does not specify the narrative dynamics of subversive market entry. In this study, the market entry was studied in a non-business context (i.e., professional boxing), which widens the view of who could be entrepreneurial individuals. The subversive attributes were measured (applied both in boxing and business) in pre-event narratives that were then related to the competitive aggressiveness in post-event interview narratives. The results show a U-shaped relationship between the optimism and competitive aggressiveness content in these narratives and a negative linear relationship between these same variables. The result of an event moderates this effect into a positive one. These results contribute to the sport management literature by offering a perspective of sportsmen as entrepreneurial narrative generators and potential future entrepreneurs.