Combating ‘fake news’ - Consumption practices drive institutional logic change

Abstract

We employ a case narrative of the evolution of fake news to inductively develop a process model of institutional logic emergence as a result of changing consumption practices. The empirical context is provided by the proliferation of fake news in India during 2010-2019. Our findings highlight the importance of grassroots social actors performing institutional work in bringing about changes in consumption practices which result in the emergence of new institutional logic. We contribute to the literature on institutional logics, institutional entrepreneurship and practice theory. Our findings shed more light on the phenomenon of fake news, the consequent rise of fact checkers and the need for responsible consumer practices to strategically manage fake news. Our paper has implications for both top-level managers and policymakers.