LAUSR

Abstract This paper draws on the resource-based view and risk-related research to examine imitation-related configurations that explain performance outcomes in social trading. The study applies qualitative comparative analysis to examine 16,964 investment observations at eToro , the world's largest social trading platform. The results show that the experience and the imitation of traders, in combination with a low risk level, equifinally explain similar performance outcomes. The findings contribute to the literature on social trading and the resource-based view by exploring imitation as a valuable strategy, conceptualizing and empirically validating the role of risk in social trading, and drawing on qualitative comparative analysis to develop a more complex configurational understanding of the examined phenomenon.