Klein, J., van Burg, E. and Moser, C. (2026). Strategic framing of novel ideas: How contestation shapes the evolution of novelty Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal.

Entrepreneurs use strategic framing to gain support for their novel ventures, products, and services. A key challenge entrepreneurs face is that audiences often contest frames that introduce novel ideas, especially when these ideas disrupt audiences' mental and business models. Such contestation can hinder novel ideas from being accepted, a risk that is amplified when entrepreneurs face contestation from multiple audiences. We lack understanding, however, of how contestation from multiple audiences shapes the strategic framing of novel ideas. We study this question at Tony's Chocolonely, a social enterprise that faced such contestation when introducing “slave-free” chocolate. By showing how the social enterprise reacted to contestation from multiple audiences in different ways, we uncover novel mechanisms of frame change and stability.