Date: 14 February 2025, Friday
Time: 13.30 – 14.30
Place: MA-330
“Actor Engagement Behaviors as Forms of Institutional Work: Insights from a Food Waste setting”
by
Tuğçe Özgen Genç
University of Strathclyde
Abstract
Purpose – Drawing on service-dominant logic (S-D Logic) as a coordinating meta-theory, the paper seeks to understand how actor engagement behaviors (AEBs) serve as forms of institutional work (IW).
Design/methodology/approach – The study utilizes Nethnography in a food waste setting collecting data from social media campaigns on Facebook in two countries.
Findings – The paper frames a range of AEBs as five forms of IW which reveal the potential for AEBs to serve as catalysts for institutional change. Leadership work behaviors are introduced as mechanisms that synchronize other behaviors.
Originality/value – By integrating engagement and IW as mid-range theories in a sustainability setting, this research 1) highlights the relevance and flexibility of S-D Logic as a framework for addressing contemporary societal challenges, 2) conceptualizes AEBs as forms of IW, allowing a new framing of AEBs as mechanisms for institutional change 3) reveals how organizations shape engagement through consolidating and mitigating behaviors which serve as leadership work, synchronizing individual actions into collective engagement to foster sustainable and enduring institutional change.
Bio
Tugçe Özgen Genç is a food engineer and researcher specializing in consumer engagement, behavior change, and public policy interventions related to household food waste. With seven years of industry experience in the food sector, she transitioned into academia to commit herself to research with a strong societal impact. She holds an MBA from TOBB ETU, an MS from Bilkent University, and is currently in the write-up stage of her Ph.D. at the University of Strathclyde.
Her dissertation focuses on Actor Engagement in Marketing, drawing on Service-Dominant Logic, and intertwining with Institutional Work. Through this framework, her research examines social media interactions surrounding the Love Food Hate Waste campaign, investigating how social media engagement may influence sustainable household practices and broader behavioral change.