Technology stigma and secondary stakeholder activism: the adoption and growth of clean power programs in the U.S. utility sector

Abstract

While researchers have recognized the importance of social movements for market emergence, we know little about the mechanisms through which mobilized secondary stakeholders trigger interest in new markets among incumbent firms. We investigate the possibility that social movements create and amplify a polluting technology stigma that leads incumbents to develop a stigma dilution strategy, which is associated with entering a new market. We also examine the contingent factors that enhance the positive environmental consequences of technology stigma. Our quantitative analyses of the adoption of green power programs by U.S. electric utilities and the subsequent growth in green power consumption allows us to test hypotheses about the effect of technology stigma, secondary stakeholders and moderator effects. The analysis confirms our hypotheses, speaking to the literature on movements, organizations and markets.