City Research Online

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation is to develop our understanding of how alternative brands enter established product categories. Alternative brands that position within mainstream product categories, despite defying traditional category criteria (e.g., cow-free dairy, chicken-free eggs, lab-grown diamonds), represents an increasingly prominent market phenomenon. These brands face the challenge of navigating entrenched institutional norms to gain acceptance within these product categories. At the intersection of market system dynamics, brand imitation, and category studies literatures, this dissertation asks (1) How do alternative brands gain category legitimacy?; (2) What specific strategies are employed?; (3) How do these strategies engage category norms? To address these research questions, I adopt an interpretivist approach and employ a prototypical case study design of Impossible Foods, an alternative meat brand in the U.S market, utilizing a discourse analysis of 320 archival newspaper articles across major U.S. publications. I find Impossible Foods engages in phasmic branding, or strategic disruptive mimicry of a product category, to gain category legitimacy. Phasmic branding involves the dual-discursive strategies of category imitation and category transformation. Category imitation involves three tactics: representing category material attributes, embracing category rituals, and distancing the derivative category. Category transformation involves two tactics: reframing category defining attributes and challenging category evaluation criteria. Through category imitation, alternative brands work to demonstrate norms, conforming to extrinsic attributes of the product category. Through category transformation, alternative brands work to redefine norms, adapting the intrinsic attributes of the product category. As a result of this activity, I find Impossible Foods gains a high degree of pragmatic legitimacy in the meat category and moderate degrees of cultural-cognitive and moral category legitimacy. Impossible Foods fails to gain widespread regulatory legitimacy as meat; however, this is rendered less significant with progress along the other dimensions of legitimation. These findings advance our understanding of how alternative brands shape market dynamics on a category-level and offer actionable insights for alternative brand managers seeking category legitimacy.

Publication Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology H Social Sciences > HE Transportation and Communications H Social Sciences > HF Commerce
Departments:	Bayes Business School > Bayes Business School Doctoral Theses Bayes Business School > Faculty of Management Doctoral Theses

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