Structural Innovators and Core-Framing Tasks: How Socially Responsible Mutual Fund Companies Build Identity among Investors

Abstract

Institutional entrepreneurs in organizational fields sometimes adopt collective-action frames that generate subcultural identities among consumers and mobilize them into purchasing goods. This article examines how socially responsible (SR) mutual fund companies use core-framing tasks to shore up the “corporate social responsibility” collective-action frame and to create an “SR” identity among investors. Analyzing the Web sites of thirty-four mutual fund companies that offer SR funds, the author finds that there are two types of entrepreneurs. Generalists attempt building on a universal SR identity and use core-framing tasks similar to social movement innovators. Specialists, on the other hand, nurture a specific SR identity and seem more concerned with values alignment rather than diagnostic, prognostic, or motivational framing. These two innovators stand in contrast to conventionalists, traditional mutual fund companies that respond to the entrepreneurs by offering their own SR mutual funds, yet use little framing or values alignment to attract investors.