Every era has its fashionable genre and its fashionable actors. Since the beginning of President Mauricio Macri's administration, public discourse has been rife with pronouncements linked to the potential for business growth, promoting entrepreneurs, attracting foreign investment, and implementing an administrative meritocracy. This climate, favorable to a business revival, permeated private sector meetings over the past year. But how was this public discourse received in a broader social circle? What is the opinion of Argentine society regarding the private sector and businesspeople?

From the CECAP (Center for Studies in Applied Communication) of the Universidad Austral We went in search of those answers and conducted extensive research (https://goo.gl/Q2K8M1), qualitative and quantitative, which calls into question the usual portrait that companies and entrepreneurs have of themselves.

The results challenge the optimistic context. One of the most striking features of the research is a persistent negative image, both of the private sector in general and of entrepreneurs in particular. What could be the source of this distrust of entrepreneurs? There are three sources that fuel this image: stereotypes, social objectives, and the country's history.

Stereotypes shape our perceptions of the private sector. In the population we studied, the image of the entrepreneur is tied to a kind of "Wall Street businessman" rather than the owner of a factory in Avellaneda. When people say "entrepreneurs," the image that comes to mind is that of a large, efficient, multinational company. "Corporations," the most critical would say, reinforcing this framework. The final picture evokes impersonal, calculating organizations focused on profit rather than the well-being of their workers.

The result may sound paradoxical, considering that most private sector jobs in Argentina are generated by SMEs, and these perceptions are far removed from the reality of a service company in the capital, an agricultural business in the interior, or an industrial company in Greater Buenos Aires. Although the results are quite clear, the image of the private sector is constructed according to the profiles of a minority group with high public visibility.

The other source of distrust pits the State against the Market. The State, even when associated with low efficiency and a lack of diligence, maintains a good public reputation and remains the ultimate guarantor of a degree of public solidarity. Its purpose is laudable, based not on profit but on the public interest. In contrast, the general perception is that business goals are individualistic. The positive traits of an entrepreneur as a job creator, a generator of social value, or a taxpayer are nonexistent. Entrepreneurs are perceived by what they earn, not by what they contribute; by what they privatize for their private enjoyment, not by what they socialize for the benefit of all.

The final source of rejection has historical roots and relates to the detachment of business owners in the face of the country's economic crises. Here emerges the idea that business owners are actors who jump ship at the first sign of trouble. "Here, at the first sign of a problem, the company abandons you," one interviewee told us. And it is in this context that the State reappears as the antithesis of the private sector. Faced with the country's recurring crises, the State is the refuge that provides shelter.

With this image in mind, who could think that becoming an entrepreneur in Argentina is an aspirational model?

Only a few. The only model that breaks this coldness toward the private sector is the self-employed worker, perhaps the only aspirational hero of the research, a kind of lone wolf of the economy. They embody the idealization of free labor, profit earned through effort, and the pursuit of personal goals. Practically an idyllic state of freedom. But beware of the current language: self-employed worker is not the same as entrepreneur. So, why don't we see a migration toward independence? Independence also represents risks and uncertainties because it activates a framework of instability and distrust regarding the overall situation of the country. Being independent is a desirable goal for many, but a leap into the void for just as many others.

The outlook seems bleak, but the social representations reflected in the study are not natural positions, but rather constructed visions. These contrasting perspectives are now clashing. As a new social consensus seeks to emerge, each segment clings to its comfort zones, reinforces its stereotypes, and gives life to its positions. Redefining the role each sector can play in the country's future is more than an economic or political operation. The first step toward change is understanding, and to understand, we must continue investigating.

* The authors are researchers from CECAP at the Graduate School of Communication of the Universidad Austral.

**Note published on December 27, 2017 in ACDE EMPRESA. The original article can be viewed here. hereImage credit: https://unsplash.com/