ABSTRACT
This article examines perception gaps in the creative industries and the manifold implications for practitioners and policy makers working in and with this sector. This article illustrates how certain belief systems create different realities for entrepreneurs, for business development agencies supporting them and for strategists shaping the political agenda for the creative sector as an engine for wealth generation and employment. Each of the three subsystems has its own specific perception of what it means to manage and sustain a successful creative business. The Trojan horse effect is a consequence of this specific circumstance. It describes why and how creative entrepreneurs mimic the language of business as we know it and what can be done in order to get to more differentiated and more sustainable business-support interventions in the creative sector.
