The New Kid in Town: Investigating Virtual Stakeholder Mobilizations

Abstract

Stakeholder mobilizations are long identified by their structured formal organization, considerable resource requirement, strong collective identity and centralized leadership that aligns and coordinates the movement. These characteristics do not apply to the emergent phenomenon of virtual stakeholder mobilizations; the actions conducted by individuals who target a plight through social media and other virtual platforms only, and thus our models need to be updated to capture the current ways stakeholders take action to protect their interests and to recognize new stakeholder types emerging as consequences of technology advances not available when many stakeholder models were developed. We contend that the logic underpinning virtual mobilizations is fundamentally different, as social media platforms take the place of brick and mortar organizations in such movements. The distinguishing characteristics of virtual mobilizations include the ascension of self expression, replacing the collective identity, as well as their low level of resource requirement, eliminating the free-rider dilemma. We also propose that in comparison to their traditional peers, virtual mobilizations are faster and can appear with larger turnouts, but have limitations in tackling dynamic and complex issues and have a shorter longevity. We finally suggest that several dynamic mobilization types may appear along the continuum made by traditional and virtual stakeholder mobilizations. The plurality and dynamism of the mobilizations reduced the predictability of their characteristics and salience and opens the gates to new horizons for future studies.