Barbara Zepp Larson
Harvard University, Harvard Business School
Discourse or protest? The impact of mass-mobilized communication on government regulation of business

blarson@hbs.edu

Barbara Zepp Larson is a doctoral candidate in the Management unit at Harvard Business School. Her research focuses on the ways that organizations interact between economic sectors (business, government and NGOs), as they work to develop sustainable business practices. One stream of research examines the use of large-scale public comments by social movement organizations to influence government regulation. Another ongoing project studies the variance in corporate responses to a non-regulatory initiative proposed by an environmental regulatory agency. Barbara also studies social movement levers of influence on government in a cross-country comparative context.

Prior to joining the doctoral program, Barbara worked in a variety of multinational management roles, most recently as Director of International Finance at R.R. Donnelley. She received her M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and her B.A. from the University of Virginia.

Discourse or protest? The impact of mass-mobilized communication on government regulation of business

Internet-based "virtual protest" has risen dramatically in recent years, and has become an important strategy for social movements advocating for sustainable business practices via government regulation. Yet, the efficacy of mass-mobilized internet communications in influencing government authorities remains unclear. Some studies show that large-scale communications influence regulators, while others argue that these strategies actually undermine deliberative discourse and cause regulators to be less responsive. In this paper, I undertake a mixed-methods study of two internet-based comment campaigns mobilized by social movement organizations (SMOs) in response to proposed USDA meat labels. I analyze the comments themselves, and then interview the SMO staff members responsible for mass-mobilizing comments. Preliminary findings show that internet-based commenting used by SMOs as a mode of protest, with objectives different from those assumed in theories of discourse. Analysis of media coverage of comment campaigns is planned to test the efficacy of large-scale commenting as a protest tactic.