Entrepreneurial bricolage in the branding efforts of international new ventures

Abstract

This study examines how B2B international new ventures (INVs) develop their brands through bricolage-driven improvisational practices and how these practices influence brand coherence as the ventures progress through different phases of development. Drawing on entrepreneurial bricolage and entrepreneurial branding research, the study employs a comparative, interview-based multiple case design involving eight Finnish B2B INVs. The dataset comprises 19 semi-structured interviews and firm-generated materials, analysed through an iterative and abductive coding process. The findings reveal two practices, namely identity patchworking and improvisational signalling, which show how bricolage shapes branding in resource-constrained internationalisation contexts. These practices are most visible in the transition from early to growth phases and they produce distinctive branding outcomes. Yet coherence drift is most likely when these practices accumulate without stable reference points or strategic anchoring as the venture evolves. This demonstrates that bricolage exerts a double-edged influence on B2B INV branding by fostering brand development under constraint while also producing accumulated improvisations that can erode coherence. This study contributes to B2B marketing and entrepreneurial branding research by developing a retrospective reconstruction of an inferred branding trajectory model and advancing propositions that explain how bricolage influences branding in INVs.