Authenticity Dilemma

The Authenticity Paradox of Gilmore & Pine

May 1, 2008

The authenticity paradox , as defined by James H. Gilmore and B. Joseph Pine II in their book "Authenticity: What consumers really want" , contains the following axioms: If you are authentic, you don’t have to say you’re authentic. If you say you’re authentic, then you’d better be authentic. It’s easier to be authentic, if [...]

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Can a for-profit business organization that also pursues a social purpose be authentic?

April 24, 2008

There are so many examples of for-profit organizations whose for-purpose actions are suspect that it’s a little scary to bring up the subject. Where do we even begin? We should probably start by acknowledging that the questionable relationship between a ‘for-profit’ organizational identity and ‘for-purpose’ actions (aka: non-profit, socially responsible, charitable, philanthropic, etc.) is one [...]

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The New York Junior League: To be more authentic, practice what you preach

February 9, 2008

If an organization wants to be seen as inauthentic, all it needs to do is to say one thing and do another. When an organization creates a gap between ‘who we say we are’ and ‘how we act’, it creates a common and avoidable authenticity challenge. This authenticity challenge is made even worse when an [...]

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Gilmore and Pine’s Authenticity Paradox

January 12, 2008

The authenticity paradox, as defined by James H. Gilmore and B. Joseph Pine II in their book “Authenticity: What consumers really want”, contains the following axioms: If you are authentic, you don’t have to say you’re authentic. If you say you’re authentic, then you’d better be authentic. It’s easier to be authentic, if you don’t [...]

Read the full article →