This paper aims to empirically investigate the concept of a market driving strategy and to provide concrete evidence of firms that are able to radically transform the market in order to gain a competitive edge. To achieve this aim, we conducted a qualitative study into the market behavior of so called “market drivers” in an emerging market. Depth interviews were undertaken with nine firms in China that were identified a priori as potential market drivers. The results obtained from these interviews revealed a number of distinguishing characteristics of market drivers which are discussed in this paper.