From a Celebrity to a Villain: Organizational Recategorization through Mediated Political Processes

Abstract

We extend research on organizational legitimacy and celebrity status by showing how an organization can become a publicly recognized villain through unfavorable public assessment. Focusing on the role of categorization in legitimacy, we find that the loss of legitimacy following a public outrage leads to organizational recategorization. Drawing on media coverage about a production and R&D site shutdown by Nokia Corporation, we elaborate recategorization as a dialectical process dependent on sustained media attention on a controversial organizational action. By elaborating how infamy leads firms to become seen as villains, we contribute to the understanding of political processes of categorization and legitimation and further expand the celebrity firm perspective.