Precarious Values: Identity Threats and the Organic Foods Product Category in the U.S. Market

• In Event: 1184 - Section on Organizations, Occupations, and Work Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 09. Valuation and Evaluation

Abstract

New product markets take shape through sociological processes of classification and categorization, which involve interpretive activities by producers, consumers, and intermediaries. Categorization and classification are particularly complex in moral product markets. These markets have emerged around food and other consumer products in the United States and Europe and link the definition and meaning of product categories to values that transcend individual satisfaction and utility. In this article, I shed new light on the dynamics of categorization in these moral markets by introducing the concept of category identity threats, which refers to events or actions that may undermine public trust in or reduce the appeal of a product category. The category identity threats concept directs attention to how producers’ strategic responses to disruptive events and actions may influence a category’s development in unanticipated ways. I develop an analytical framework for understanding category identity threats and argue that moral product categories are uniquely vulnerable to these threats. Moreover, I contend that producers’ efforts to control these threats may erode the distinctiveness of moral product categories vis-à-vis utilitarian alternatives. I illustrate the argument with a historical case study of the organic foods product category in the United States and draw from existing research about other moral food product categories, including grass-fed beef, craft beer, and Fair Trade coffee, to test the generalizability of my claims. Additionally, I discuss ways that the category identity threats approach might be adapted to examine the trajectory of utilitarian (i.e. non-moral) product categories.

Author

• Michael Haedicke, Drake University