RHETORICAL JOCKEYING: NAVIGATE NATIONALISTIC HOST MARKETS THROUGH STRATEFIC COMMUNICATION

This study introduces rhetorical jockeying—a communication strategy that aligns foreign firms with host-country cultural, emotional, and nationalist sentiments—to reduce liabilities of foreignness and boost performance. By leveraging machine learning, we develop measurement of rhetorical jockeying based on firms’ public texts and demonstrate that it has a positive impact on sales performance in the host country. Its effect weakens for firms with strong local commitment or where local nationalist rhetoric prevails, but is stronger for subsidiaries led by foreign executives or smaller subsidiaries. The findings underscore rhetorical jockeying as a vital strategy for securing legitimacy in host markets.