How Industry Awards Travel: The Ripple Effects Beyond the Winner

The useful part

Drawing on research into awards such as the Swiss Beer Awards and the World's 50 Best Restaurants, Dr. Margarita Cruz explores how awards can influence business ecosystems, industries and even shape future definitions of excellence. What if the true value of an award lies not in the trophy itself, but in how far its legitimacy can travel?

How it works

• Awards shape how an entire category positions itself, how an industry is perceived by external stakeholders, and even which places and products gain recognition.
• They can act as bridges and mechanisms of legitimacy transfer, rather than merely as signals of quality to consumers.
• What is particularly interesting, however, is that the status associated with an award can also create positive spillovers for business partners.
• In this case, the award is no longer only a signal of quality for one restaurant.
• It becomes a signal of excellence for an industry and of the standards of product quality it represents.

What to take from it

In that sense, the value of the award no longer belongs exclusively to the original winner. This matters because awards influence which businesses receive attention, what customers perceive as excellent, and which organizations become reference points for others. This is important because the true value of an industry award may not lie solely in increasing product visibility among customers.

Example or evidence

• From Winner to Wider Impact Awards first create consequences for the winner, most notably increased product visibility and opportunities for building brand reputation.
• Industry awards have the ability to increase both product and brand visibility, shining the spotlight on products and companies.
• Essentially, industry awards provide legitimacy that can be converted into a greater superpower.
• These organizational consequences can subsequently generate spillovers for business partners, industries, other sectors, and even geographical locations.

Details worth keeping

Hospitality Net Skip to main content Reading time: 2% Opinion Article Food & Beverage September 10 By Margarita Cruz, Associate Professor of Corporate Strategy and Entrepreneurship EHL Hospitality Business, EHL © Adobe Stock Winning an industry award is often seen as the culmination of hard work and excellence. Yet the impact of recognition rarely stops with the winner. Their influence can, and should, go much further.

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