Invisible Forces and Predominant Beliefs - How Institutional Pressures Influence Data-Driven Communications

Institutional pressures that exist across organizational fields function as invisible influences that impact the professionals working within them. However, little is known about how these forces influence the use of data in guiding digital communications. This field study is the first to apply neo-institutional theory in highlighting how coercive forces affect practitioners worldwide through data privacy regulations, normative forces through generally accepted beliefs and challenges, and mimetic forces that determine shared methods and technologies. In-depth interviews were conducted with professionals in Australia who provided many different perspectives. Thematic analysis was used to identify three main themes that reflect legal and moral challenges; the importance of data skills, working with data specialists, and analyzing data; and the use of data-driven solutions in communications and challenges in using these tools. Our empirical findings reveal how analytics, technologies typically associated with uncertainty and mimetic influences, exert coercive pressure with potentially harmful consequences