The subproject analyzes the discursive construction and selective popularization of entrepreneurship as well as how non-popular everyday entrepreneurship deals with the images of business that are considered popular. The aim is to identify and understand the narratives, drivers, and mechanisms responsible for the transformation of the non-popular into the pop-ular by means of conceptual and empirical analyses of social discourse using the example of media reporting and the reception and handling of corporate images that are considered popular.
Conceptually, the study examines how popularity, processes of popularisation and their actors in media, politics, economy and society are to be understood in the context of entrepreneurship and economy and which frictions can arise due to the different expectations.
Empirically, analyses of media coverage, surveys with entrepreneurs and employees from the region of South Westphalia as well as focus group interviews with entrepreneurs and representatives from economic policy and SME research to deepen and reflect on the insights gained will be conducted.