Emotional arousal and entrepreneurial outcomes: Combining qualitative methods to elaborate theory

• This qualitative study elaborates nascent theory about interpersonal emotional arousal during the entrepreneurial process
• It features longitudinal, multi-source data pertaining to innovative products and processes within the superyacht industry
• We adopt a ‘second-order grounded approach’ to the data, combining content analysis with narrative case vignettes
• The findings support previously-theorized contributing factors while also surfacing hitherto overlooked considerations
• The case vignettes, in particular, illustrate the effects on various outcomes related to innovation

This qualitative study of innovators in the superyacht industry blends longitudinal content analysis with narrative case vignettes to extend nascent theorizing about the antecedents and consequences associated with the arousal of entrepreneurial emotion. The empirically grounded framework induced through our research offers two key theoretical elaborations. First, it extends the existing set of theorized antecedents by highlighting the overlooked roles played by dramatic performances (staged or improvised) and ambient conditions (project, actor and venue considerations). Second, it calls attention to the consequences of emotional arousal for such entrepreneurial outcomes as generating novel solutions to specific problems encountered during the creation process, developing innovative end products, and fostering a general context for innovation.