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Celebrity And Infamy? The Consequences Of Media Narratives About Organizational Identity

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The Academy of Management Review

Published online on

Abstract

Research on organizational celebrity is in its nascence, and our understanding of the process through which this asset is gained, maintained, and lost remains incomplete. We extend this research by examining which information is the primary catalyst of the celebrity process, how and why this process unfolds, and the potential consequences for an organization. In doing so, we make three primary contributions. First, we propose that the availability of information about the salient and socially significant elements of an organization's identity makes the media more likely to cast the organization as a main character in their dramatic narratives. Second, we theorize that the salience of these elements attracts constituents' attention, and the social significance evokes their emotional responses. However, because some constituents may view the elements of an organization's identity as congruent and others as incongruent with their personal identities, an organization may simultaneously gain celebrity among some constituents and infamy among others. Third, we theorize that because of the different emotional responses that are generated from constituents' perceptions of identity (in)congruence, celebrity is more difficult to maintain and easier to lose than infamy.