The good, the bad, and the unfamiliar: The challenges of reputation formation facing new firms

How do new firms first develop reputations among their stakeholders? Past studies offer insights on positive signals that a new firm can send, but say little about how stakeholder group members process such signals and come to share beliefs that a new firm possesses a desirable set of attributes. This process is particularly important to understand given that both negative and positive signals are often received about new firms. Our article draws on social cognition theories to develop insights regarding the process by which stakeholder groups develop reputational beliefs about new firms and to identify factors that facilitate or impede the development of reputations.