Speaker: Dr Jonathan Baker, University of Adelaide
Title: Incumbent responses to moral market emergence and growth: The case of alt-proteins
Date: Tue, 31st Oct 2023
Time: 12:30pm – 2:00pm
Venue: Allan Barton Forum, Level 2, CBE Building 26C
Dr Anna Hartman is the host of this visit.
ABSTRACT
Moral markets promise to relieve social or environmental issues through exchange centered around products with enhanced sustainability credentials. However, responses by actors in incumbent mainstream markets to the emergence and growth of niche moral markets need further scholarly attention. This study explores responses by communities for, against, or agnostic towards the market for plant-based alt-proteins in New Zealand. Primary data, collected over two and a half years, comprise 55 interviews with 34 participants from throughout the broader market system, together with a wealth of secondary data. The case highlights the role of supermarkets as self-interested intermediaries that enable infiltration by values-based entrepreneurs into mainstream marketplaces. As intermediaries, supermarkets serve as boundary-spanning arenas of recursive experimentation that help define and clarify disruptive new categories. The identities and roles of social movement activists, on the periphery of a mainstream market, evolve as they deradicalize and become moral market ‘insiders.’ And in contrast to a service-based industry, a primary industry like meat production has little option but to pivot practices, messaging, and strategies to mimic the promises of moral market categories. As a result, a mainstream market can be forced to ‘moralize’ in its entirety.
BIO
Dr Jonathan Baker is a Senior Lecturer in Strategy at the University of Adelaide Business School. His research interests are inter-disciplinary at the intersection of markets, strategy, and social impact. He especially researches market-shaping – how actors deliberately influence, disrupt, or transform broad market systems. All of his current research projects are focused on improved social or environmental outcomes, whether it be through new food system transitions, or achieving global health goals through market-shaping strategies. He has published in leading academic journals including Journal of Service Research, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Service Management, and Marketing Theory. Originally from New Zealand, he received his MBA in Management & Operations from Auckland University of Technology, and his PhD in Marketing from University of Auckland. Before moving into academia, Jonathan had a career as professional orchestral musician for over 20 years.