Org. Legitimation in a Polarized Media Landscape: The Role of Robust Org. Impression Management

Abstract

We conducted a longitudinal case study about the United States (U.S.) electronic vehicle manufacturer Tesla and its spokesperson Elon Musk to investigate how organizations can maintain organizational legitimacy through organizational impression management among a heterogeneous audience, as exemplified by the ideologically polarized U.S. media landscape. We uncovered that Tesla’s spokesperson, Elon Musk, mobilized two different types of what we refer to as ‘robust organizational impression management’ (i.e., chameleon and diplomacy strategies). The ‘chameleon strategy’ portrays Tesla as ideologically open and appeals to different, highly polarized audience demands, while the ‘diplomacy stratgy’ places Tesla in a diplomatic role that serves to de-polarize how the audience views the organization. Together, these strategies enabled Musk to both retain Tesla’s good relations with the leftwing media and to simultaneously reduce its illegitimacy among the rightwing media outlets. In this way, Tesla maintained its legitimacy among a highly heterogeneous audience. Our study contributes to the literatures on organizational legitimation, organizational impression management, robust action, and political ideology.