Marketization,’ i.e., the spread of market logic through the introduction of new market practices, is a pervasive phenomenon that can cause discomfort and sometimes prompt active resistance among actors in the field. It is puzzling why market logic is gaining ground in many fields, even though it violates values that are important to many actors.
In an article recently published in the Journal of Management Studies, Moritz Gruban and Aurélien Feix develop a conceptual explanation of why stakeholders continue to engage with an organization that introduces a market practice that violates values that stakeholders hold dear. Drawing on insights from organizational legitimacy research and social psychology, the authors theorize that four socio-cognitive mechanisms operate in stakeholders’ minds and lead them to judge an organization as sufficiently legitimate to maintain their relationship with it.
Using soccer fans as an example, the authors show that the theory can help to explain the seemingly puzzling empirical observation that many fans who are critical of the marketization of their sport nevertheless remain loyal to a club that advances this marketization.
Reference
Gruban, M., & Feix, A. (2024). Facilitating Marketization à contrecœur: Why stakeholders may continue to support organizations that introduce market practices violating their values. Journal of Management Studies. https://doi.org/10.1111/JOMS.13158