Disguise or disclose? How identities of individual entrepreneurs on digital platforms influence their international success

Abstract

This study aims to bridge the research on entrepreneur's identity with the literature on cross-country institutions in a digital platform context. It investigates how cross-country institutions impact the effectiveness of digital identities in influencing individual entrepreneurs' success on digital platforms. We offer a granular approach to understanding the role of digital identity by dividing it into two dimensions: the social and the virtual. The social dimension captures individual entrepreneurs' real faces, while the virtual dimension reflects the interactions with stakeholders through social network sites. We argue that both dimensions contribute to individual entrepreneurs' success on digital platforms, while their effectiveness varies across diverse institutional environments in their target countries. We suggest individual entrepreneurs who emphasize the social dimension are more likely to succeed in countries with low network readiness, whereas those who target a country with high network readiness should attach more importance to the virtual dimension. Our empirical analysis of 405 emerging YouTube channels supports our arguments.