Competitive Responses by Art Galleries at Rocky Mountain Resort Destinations: Sufficient to Maintain Sustainability?

Strategic management theory predicts that managers systematically scan their firms’ internal and external environments to identify possible factors that might impinge on their strategic plans and performance. Like many organizations, art galleries have been challenged over the past two decades by digital pressures such as social media and ecommerce. Lately, outfalls from the COVID-19 pandemic have added further to the woes of art galleries. This study examines how art galleries, as small businesses, respond to these significant contextual shifts. It is predicted that art galleries will implement innovative competitive strategies as a means to address the pandemic, ecommerce and digital market pressures. Ingenuity is a companion component of strategy and reflects the extent of creativity associated with innovation. These relationships were analyzed in a sample of art galleries located in resort destinations of the Rocky Mountains including Aspen, Bozeman, Jackson Hole, Park City and Sun Valley. Results from this study underscore the value for gallery owners and managers in instituting innovation as well as the value of ingenuity in creating distinctive competitive strategy. Different resort communities surfaced as leaders in cultivating innovation and ingenuity. Implications for practice and future research are considered.