Give me a two-by-two matrix and I will create the market: Rankings, graphic visualisations and sociomateriality

Abstract

would like to acknowledge the support of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) who funded the research presented in this article. If forms part of work conducted under an ESRC Fellowship entitled: The Social Study of the Information Technology Marketplace. We would like to thank those industry analysts and others who were kind enough to make themselves available for interview. We graciously acknowledge the help and advice of the Editor and anonymous referees who provided very helpful comments on drafts of this paper. Thanks also must go to the following people for providing useful suggestions and ideas during the writing process.

How are citizens’ public service choices supported in quasi-markets?

“…(Project leader, Pension Authority, May 27, 2013) Some research claims that ranking also influences the activities of those who are ranked by causing them to try to improve their position by manipulating or concealing information. The use of the ranking technologies can also affect which options (e.g., service providers) are shown when there are multiple options available (Pollock & DíAdderio, 2012). The issue of technologies for ranking and their interaction with people is, thus, an issue for further research.…”

“…13 permits a full comparison of a new portfolio using graphics and information in a multifaceted DSS that constructs a carefully selected portfolio of alternatives for comparison with the citizen's current portfolio. Thus, here we see how lists and graphics (Pollock & DíAdderio, 2012) can be used in various ways for rankings in quasi-markets.…”

“…Taking a somewhat different perspective, Pollock and DíAdderio (2012) focused on technologies used in a material sense for ranking options via computer screens. In their study of how lists and graphic design aimed at ranking influence the actions of human actors in the market, they created an additional layer between the individual consumer and the market.…”

Performing a Myth to Make a Market: The construction of the ‘magical world’ of Santa

“…While accounts of performativity may detail at length the organizational work involved in a performation (e.g. MacKenzie, 2009or Pollock & D'Adderio, 2012 there has been little attention to the work involved in transplanting the theory into a socio-material network -the framing, overflowing and reframing -as a class of speech act in its own right.…”

“…Performativity theory also has offered insights into the organisation of industrial marketplaces, via two-by-two matrices (Pollock & D'Adderio, 2012) or the circulation of business models (Doganova & Eyquem-Renault, 2009;Mason & Spring, 2011). Most recently, scholars have focused on the performative nature of strategy, as managers or entrepreneurs engage with the rituals and journeys of organising (van den Ende & van Marrewijk, 2017;Garud et al, 2017).…”