This research explores how the strategy of firms evolves as a result of the imitation of several reference groups. In particular, it analyzes the extent to which firms replicate the strategic behaviors of successful firms, direct rivals and firms from the same category. Additionally, it examines potential variations in the speed of imitation depending on the reference group that is considered. Using a sample of firms of the Spanish retail banking sector from 1994 to 2009, our results show that, over time, firms tend to imitate the strategies of the three reference groups considered. The results also reveal significant variations in the speed of imitation depending on the reference group. We find that imitation to firms from the same category is faster than imitation to successful firms and direct rivals.

这项研究探索了模仿多个参考群体的结果，企业战略如何演变。特别是，它分析了企业复制成功企业，直接竞争对手和同一类别企业的战略行为的程度。此外，它根据所考虑的参考组检查仿制速度的潜在变化。使用1994年至2009年西班牙零售银行业的公司样本，我们的结果表明，随着时间的流逝，公司趋向于模仿所考虑的三个参考组的策略。结果还显示，根据参考组的不同，模仿速度也存在明显差异。我们发现，对同类别公司的模仿要比对成功公司和直接竞争对手的模仿要快。