Photos in a frame: Framing, identity reproduction and (non)adoption of practice

This study contributes to institutional literature on practice diffusion by identifying effects of two types of framing: framing of a new practice and framing of its end products, and their effects on identity reinforcement and the (non)adoption of the practice. Based on converging perspectives from framing and practice diffusion, this research presents key arguments as to how framing aligned with a dominant institution reinforces potential adopters’ identities, and how the identity reproduction facilitates the non-adoption of the practice. Using data on frames of a novel practice, bird photography, and the likelihood of the practice adoption among 2577 participants in the first American movement for bird protection between 1899 and 1920, event count analyses reveal that framing of the practice is aligned with a pre-existing institution that prescribes separate identities for men and women. The framing of the practice facilitates the practice diffusion among men whose masculine identities are affirmed by the frame. Framing of the end products (bird photos) based on the same institution is resonant with the mother identity of women. To avoid the loss of their identity, however, potential female adopters avoid the bird photography and their non-adoption of the practice conforms to the institution in which all the frames are embedded. Findings complement the institutional literature by identifying effects of framing on identity reinforcement and justification for the non-adoption of the practice.