Discursive Struggles and Contested Stigma Extensions: Explaining the Gradual Stigmatization of the U.S. Tobacco Industry

Abstract

Despite extensive research on stigma, we still lack a comprehensive understanding of how industry stigmatization progresses when constantly contested by resourceful incumbents. To shed light on this issue, we focus on the revealing case of the U.S. tobacco industry between 1980 and 2016. Combining structural topic modeling and discourse analysis to explore the extensive media discussions surrounding the industry, we find that stigmatization unfolds through three phases. These were each characterized by discursive struggles, which resulted in contested stigma extensions about establishing harm (1980–1992), assigning responsibility (1993–2010), and creating new norms (2011–2016). We develop a process model highlighting three key mechanisms in stigmatization processes: attention, which shifts focus to new issues and discussions; stigma construction work, where the stigmatizers use discursive strategies to establish stigma; and resistance work, where targets use discursive strategies to slow down stigmatization. The interplay of these mechanisms reveals that stigmatization is neither linear nor complete but characterized by partial and contested stigma extensions. While acknowledging the limitations of our case, our study advances research by showing how industry stigmatization persists even when challenged, opening new avenues for future research in related settings. Supplemental Material: The online appendices are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2022.16145 .