YOU JUMP, I JUMP : A BUNDLE-BASED PERSPECTIVE OF CATEGORY MEMBERSHIP

Extant studies in category research has increasingly focused on the horizontal structure of the category system and incorporated the interconnectedness between categories into their analyses. However, we know relatively little on different types of connections a category can build with other categories and to what extent different types of connections will affect a category’s usage in products. We argue that categories bundle together and form different clusters. We refer to a group of aggregated categories as “category bundle” in this paper. We argue that market participants (i.e., producers, audiences, and market intermediaries) are aware of category bundles, and they utilize the bundle-based approach in their evaluation of products. In this sense, not only the overall position of a category in the category system, but also a category’s fitness in the category bundle, affects its chances of appearing in the description of a product. We find support for the bundle-based perspective in our empirical analysis of feature films produced in Canada and the U.S. Our study enriches the understanding of the structure of category system and its impacts on the product market. We also provide a novel explanation on why category spanning remains ubiquitous although existing studies propose that category-straddling products are prone to be punished harshly."