Category currency: The changing value of conformity as a function of ongoing meaning construction

In markets, audiences generally discount offerings that fail to fit established product categories, but when misfit offerings change category meaning, the effects of conformity and deviation can reverse so that previously overlooked or unappealing offerings become popular while previously appealing products fall into disfavor. After introducing the idea of category currency to explain how the value of conformity changes with ongoing meaning construction, we use it to make sense of the emergence of nanotechnology. In conclusion, we argue that category currency is useful for explaining the changing value of conformity both in and beyond markets.