PATTERNS OF COMPETITION - THE DIFFUSION OF A MARKET POSITION IN RADIOBROADCASTING

This study examines how existing organizations in an industry come to adopt a new market position in a differentiated market. I argue that t he great uncertainty about the consequences of adopting a different ma rket position does not lead to unchanging positions, as often assumed, but instead leads to mimetic adoption among organizations, as some or ganizations observe others adopting the new position. I test hypothese s developed from this argument in an event history analysis of the dif fusion of a new music radio format, Results show that low organization al inertia, caused by events such as a recent ownership or format chan ge, strongly increases the likelihood of, adoption, while social proxi mity to prior adopters has a weaker effect. The results imply that org anizational populations can become more diverse through this type of o rganizational change..