Entrepreneurial identity framing and staging through self-categorization and self-regulation

Many now have an opportunity to present, re-create or transform their identities in digital platforms, and in doing so, create entrepreneurial opportunities. Yet, juggling multiple identities is not easy, so we study this by looking at how over 13,000 public speakers frame and stage their profiles in the digital platform Speakerhub. Findings from an initial quantitative analysis show that there is a positive relationship between public speaker’s experience, publicity and pricing. This relationship between their professional experience and projections of self-worth leads us to consider framing and staging theories for a qualitative analysis of their identities by looking at their profile narratives. Findings suggest a revised version of Goffman’s staging theory by considering framing as a process of self-categorization and self-regulation. In practice, this helps us understand how the curtain between the backstage professional identity and the front stage public speaker identity is replaced by an entrepreneurial identity that helps to pursue opportunities.