In addition to perfecting a prototype and taking steps to move a product or service to market, startups often pursue validation and publicity. While there are many benefits to media attention, Junbeom Park notes that too much early attention can actually have an adverse effect.

Park, a PhD student at Gies Business, and his advisor, Michael Bednar, an associate professor of business administration, presented their findings at the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management.

Their presentation, “The Myth of Media,” looks at both the benefits of early-stage media attention and highlights the potential costs that arise from early media attention, which can lock startups into more static and inertial positions, potentially constraining their ability to grow in the future.

As the paper indicates, “the myth of media attention being a universally positive driver is false, as its ultimate impact on strategic change is contingent on factors that influence investor credibility and judgment.”

“We argue that there is an inverted U-shape relationship,” Park explained. “As the media visibility increases, at first, startups build legitimacy from visibility, which can enhance their access to critical resources such as alliance partners and skilled employees, and can leverage these resources to pursue strategic change and experiment with riskier decisions. However, after surpassing that threshold, the tendency to change starts to decrease. Startups commit to the product or service they have instead of continuing to modify it.”

Using data from Pitchbook, Park studied early-stage startups (ones that were within the first three years after founding) from 2013 to 2020 and compared the number of media mentions each received. While nearly half of those startups never received a mention, those that had more than 54 began to see a reduction in implementing strategic changes to their core technology.

The study notes that media attention can increase a startup’s legitimacy in the market, which in turn can lead to an uptick in sales performance while attracting high-quality employees, alliance partners, and venture capitalists. However, the study argues that as media attention increases, startups become rigid and less likely to change, which is most often necessary in the early stages.

“We are not arguing that media attention is bad at all,” Park said. “Some of the attention is necessary for startups to take off. Raising capital is often very difficult, and once they gain some media visibility, it enhances their legitimacy and gives them more power to reach out for better human resources and capital. We are arguing that after surpassing a certain threshold of media visibility, some other negative effects might kick in. We call it the escalation of commitment effect.”

The study found that as some investors buy into the company’s early vision, they believe they are supporting a specific product or service, which makes it more difficult for startups to make necessary pivots to grow. 

The study suggests that building a strong, authentic story and shaping a narrative that aligns with the long-term brand vision is more important than simply getting media attention. 

“They ultimately need a balance between making appropriate adjustments to their existing strategies and managing their visibility in the media space,” Park said. “By doing that, they can bring in the resources they need, like human capital as well as investment capital. They can also drive those resources into making strategic change (without sentiment) and stay competitive in the market.”

In addition to the inverted U-shaped relationship between the amount of media attention startups get and the tendency to change, the study found that less experienced entrepreneurs (such as those founding a company for the first time) had a greater sensitivity to media coverage.  Startups with venture capital affiliation—those receiving backing and support from VC investors—also tend to be more sensitive to media attention and exhibit greater shifts in their propensity for strategic change.

 “Both can cause an escalation of commitment,” Park said. “Once there is significant media buzz, then entrepreneurs might believe this product is working, even though it could be an inferior product or service compared to the market.  It also falsely shapes the expectations of the consumers and shareholders. At that point, the threat of pushback from both investors and consumers might increase the rigidity to change.”

Park said that he has received interest in his data, which hadn’t previously been gathered so comprehensively, and is planning to interview several early-stage entrepreneurs to provide more qualitative evidence.