rapid organizational legitimacy: the case of mobile news apps
TRANSCRIPT
Rapid organizational legitimacy: The case of mobile news apps
Allie Kosterich Matthew S. Weber
Rutgers University Department of Communication
National Communication Association 102nd Annual Meeting Philadelphia, PA
November 11, 2016
Overview Theory Data Results Conclusion
140b apps downloaded
7b revenue for app developers
90% increase in app use (2013-2015)
101b global market projected by 2020
Trend data compiled from: Caribou Digital (2016), Sims (2015), and Lella, et al. (2015).
Mobile App Economy
$!
Overview Theory Data Results Conclusion
Organizational Legitimacy
• New ventures draw on past affiliations to increase legitimacy (Petkova et al., 2013).
• Organizations obtain cognitive legitimacy via public knowledge, fostered by press (Hannan & Freeman, 1986).
• Organizations require legitimacy created via external stakeholders (Dellmuth & Tallberg, 2014).
• Organizations enhance legitimacy via interorganizational investment (Hallen, 2008).
Overview Theory Data Results Conclusion
Theoretical Model of Rapid Organizational Legitimacy
H1: Organizational performance is positively associated with experiential legitimacy.
H2: Organizational performance is positively associated with
societal legitimacy.
H3: Organizational performance is positively associated with
cognitive legitimacy.
H4: Organizational performance is positively associated with
network legitimacy.
Organizational Performance
Overview Theory Data Results Conclusion
Summary Statistics
Variable Mean SD Age 1.40 0.28 Versions (sqrt) 12.47 6.85 Other apps (log) 33.33 82.82 Favorable user reviews (log) 63.37 133.48 Critical user reviews (log) 13.39 23.43 User ratings count (log) 79.11 152.91 Industry news (log) 0.33 0.54 Press releases (log) 0.58 1.39
N = 36
Overview Theory Methods Results Conclusion
PCA of Organizational Legitimacy Attributes
Note. Loadings <|.30| are omitted. N = 36 mobile news apps released 2014-2015.
F1 F2 F3 F4
Factor 1: Network legitimacy (α = .85) Funding Degree (log) Eccentricity (sqrt) Closeness centrality (sqrt) R2 = .28
.96
.93
.84
.89
Factor 2: Societal legitimacy (α = .95) Favorable reviews (log) Critical reviews (log) Ratings count (log) R2 = .24
.91
.92
.93
Factor 3: Experiential legitimacy (α = -.80) New entrant Age Other apps (log) Versions (sqrt) R2 = .16
-.35
.45
.64
.66 -.80 .70
Factor 4: Cognitive legitimacy (α = .75) Industry news (log) Press releases (log) R2 = .13 Cumulative R2 = .80
.90
.82
Overview Theory Methods Results Conclusion
Regression Results for Analysis on Organizational Performance
Variable β
Age -0.20
Network legitimacy 0.24
Societal legitimacy 0.68*
Cognitive legitimacy -0.18
Note. R2 = .53 F(4,31) = 8.62 *p < .001
Theoretical Implications • Importance of societal legitimacy • Communicative nature of rapid legitimization • Inability to capture experiential legitimacy in this model
Practical Implications • Importance of user buzz over press coverage
Overview Theory Methods Results Conclusion
Limitations • Narrow sample. • Downloads as performance measure. • Non-reliable scale for experiential legitimacy.
Future Research • Building a reliable scale for experiential legitimacy.
• Testing with additional outcome variables.
Overview Theory Methods Results Conclusion
Appendix: Correlation of Variables
N = 36 *p < .05 **p < .01
Appendix: Network Visualization 2-mode relationship between investors and mobile news apps
Overview Theory Data Results Conclusion
Note. Mobile news applications are colored gray while investors are colored white. Connections exist between the two to represent financial investment. Mobile news app nodes are ranked (sized) by degree.
Overview Theory Data Results Conclusion
Appendix: Empirical Model of Rapid Organizational Legitimacy
H1: Experiential Legitimacy App age
App versions Publisher’s other apps
New entrant or diversifying incumbent
H2: Societal Legitimacy Favorable user reviews
Critical user reviews Ratings count
H3: Cognitive Legitimacy Industry news coverage
Press releases
H4: Network Legitimacy Funding
Network degree Network eccentricity
Network closeness centrality
Organizational Performance App downloads