摘要：Firms within the same industry do not always mutually recognize each other as competitors. Whereas firm A considers firm B a competitor, firm B may not consider firm A a competitor. The causes of such asymmetric competitive relations have not yet been examined and compared to the causes of symmetric competitive relations. This study extends vicarious learning theory to investigate how firms benchmark others to identify competitors in the U.S automobile industry. Although, vicarious learning based on trait similarity explains why firms become mutual competitors, vicarious learning based on outcome and media coverage explains the emergence of asymmetric competitive relations.
