Stakeholders’ justifications in innovation: the case of cell-based meat

Abstract

Cell-based meat (CBM) is a novel technology that employs the cultivation of animal cells in bioreactors to produce edible meat, representing a breakthrough innovation in the meat production chain. However, innovations are embedded in uncertainty and ambiguity; thus, several stakeholders shape their development and legitimacy. Stakeholders attempt to set their priorities by employing and disseminating justifications when facing novelty situations. This study builds on stakeholder and justification theories to explore the justifications employed by stakeholders and their impacts on innovations such as CBM technology. To this end, interviews with representatives of five stakeholder groups were conducted - startups, NGOs, investors, researchers, and conventional animal-based meat processing firms - and triangulated with secondary data from websites and news. Public Justification Analysis was applied to analyze the data. The results indicate that the analyzed stakeholders converge toward CBM legitimacy and development by sharing similar purposes and values. On the other hand, disputes and justifications contrary to CBM legitimacy are mainly related to traditional values, which can raise obstacles to product development. Hence, by analyzing stakeholders’ justifications, we can understand their behaviors and demonstrate how they shape innovation and a nascent high-tech industry.