Managerial levers of market-shaping strategies: An abductive inquiry

Viewing markets as socially constructed, and thus consciously reconstructable value-creating systems, opens interesting avenues for managerial practice. Strategic decisions regarding markets are no longer limited to market selection or positioning in an existing space; for in addition, markets themselves can be shaped for higher value creation, growth and profitability. Based on an abductive research process that was founded on a continuous literature review and involved 63 executives from 16 firms in two countries, we identified 12 distinct levers that a focal firm wanting to shape their markets can focus on. These managerial levers are further categorized into four themes (1) reworking the exchange process by which the focal firm connects with customers, (2) reshaping the network that supports the exchange process and customers’ use practices, (3) revising the representations that are used to symbolize the market, and (4) reforming the norms that guide all interactions in the market. The developed framework provides an organized and actionable overview of the elements that can form the content of market-shaping strategies, thus illuminating the “black box” between previously explored antecedents and outcomes of such strategies.