Connecting passion: Distinctive features from emerging entrepreneurial profiles

Hence, the main purposes of this paper is to propose the concept of “connecting passion” by identifying a) the factors that combine consumption as self-expression (being consumer) and entrepreneurship (being entrepreneur) through passion and b) the resulting entrepreneurial profiles. Both emerge from an empirical investigation based on the case analysis of emblematic companies. The concept of “connecting passion” is characterized by the following fundamental features: passion as game, passion as self-continuity, the search for uniqueness through self experimentation, and cohabitation with the consumer community. The paper discusses the concept relating it to the existing literature. Finally, it advances the main managerial implications of the research.