“A show of good taste” – How creative individuals can employ signal observability strategies to influence their reputation among experts: Evidence from French gastronomy

Abstract

Answering the call for a clearer understanding of how experts assess the reputation of those in the creative industries, our paper investigates how creative individuals can enhance their reputation among experts through greater application of signaling theories. We draw on a qualitative study of five gastronomic French chefs to demonstrate the various types of leverage they can employ in order to be noticed by experts. Our findings suggest that chefs can influence their reputation among experts by enhancing the observability of their signals through four types of managerial leverage. These findings allow us to develop a model that encourages creative individuals to take action and employ these leverages to positively influence their relationships with experts and, therefore, their reputation.