Discursive legitimation: The influences of organisational and product aspects on the discursive legitimation practices of mHealth vendors

Abstract

Discursive legitimation literature has insufficiently explored what influences the discursive legitimation practices of organisations trying to build legitimacy towards a new technology. This research will study two organisational and two product variables which are expected to influence this. These variables will be studies in the case of the legitimation of mHealth applications in the Netherlands. Through a discourse analysis, the online discursive practices of 12 mHealth vendors, legitimating in total 16 mHealth applications are studied. The analyses shows that both the organisational variables of incumbency and specialisation and that the product variable, product phase, influence the discursive legitimation practices of the mHealth vendors. This research also shows that the other product variable, product functionality, did not influence this. Future research should focus on corroborating the proposed relationships between the variables and the discursive practices in other organisations and industries.