Not All Events Are Attended Equally: Toward a Middle-Range Theory of Industry Attention to External Events
通过比较美国化工行业对八起环境事件的媒体报道，研究行业何时及为何公开关注外部事件，发现外部问责和内部形象关切是初始关注的关键，而持续关注则源于责任争议和身份挑战。
This paper builds on prior theory and research on attention and identity to examine whether and how industries publicly attend to external events. Events are critical triggers of institutional transformation and industry evolution. However, they must first become the focus of public attention to have this effect. We draw on a paired case comparison of media coverage of eight nonroutine events affecting the natural environment and the U.S. chemical industry. We employ both deductive and inductive analysis to develop a model and hypotheses to explain two research questions. First, what determines the initial public attention to an event? Second, when and why do certain events attain high and sustained levels of industry attention? A key inference is that whether an event receives industry-level attention depends on either outsiders holding the industry accountable for the event, or insiders' internal concerns with the industry image. We further infer that an event can be transformed into a critical issue for an industry, warranting sustained attention, if there is contestation with outsiders over the accountability for the event and its enactment, and internal contradictions and challenges to the industry's identity.