Discursive Legitimation of Chinese Automobile Brands in the Russian Market: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Online Consumer Discourse

Given China’s rise as the world’s leading automotive producer and the radical transformation of the Russian market, societal acceptance of new market entrants remains a difficult communicative task. Against the backdrop of growing sales and persistent consumer ambivalence, this study examines how Russian consumers discursively construct, challenge, and renegotiate the legitimacy of Chinese automobile brands in online forums. Drawing on Suchman’s multidimensional legitimacy framework and Van Leeuwen’s legitimation mechanisms, we conduct a mixed-methods content analysis of 1,144 comments sampled from two leading Russian automotive platforms (2014–2023). The approach combines manual polarity coding, which traces the temporal shift from early skepticism to societal acceptance, with a thematic analysis that maps consumer narratives across the pragmatic, moral, and cognitive dimensions of legitimacy. Within each dimension, we specify the discursive strategies and linguistic means consumers use to secure (de)legitimation. The findings reveal an asynchronous legitimation process: pragmatic legitimacy, anchored in cost–benefit and reliability discourse, consolidates first; cognitive legitimacy is accomplished through normalization and historical analogies; moral legitimacy, by contrast, proves the most resistant to change, sustained by value-laden metaphors and social identity debates. We further show that legitimacy formation is not linear but a dialogic exchange between professional automotive journalism and lay consumer discourse on digital platforms. By reworking market categories through everyday communicative practices, ordinary consumers act as active legitimacy agents. Taken together, the results provide a processual, empirically grounded account of brand legitimation in transitional markets with practical implications for market entrants and policy-makers, and extend research on digital professional communication by documenting the growing weight of electronic word-of-mouth in institutional market debates.

1. Aldrich, H. E. (1996). Entrepreneurial strategies in new organizational populations. In I. Bull, H. Thomas, & G. Willard (Eds.), Entrepreneurship: Perspectives on theory building (pp. 211–228). Pergamon.

2. Aldrich, H. E., & Fiol, C. M. (1994). Fools rush in? The institutional context of industry creation. Academy of Management Review, 19(4), 645–670. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1994.9412190214

3. Baan, W., Luan, L., Poh, F., & Zipser, D. (2017). Double-clicking on the Chinese consumer. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/china/double-clicking-on-the-chinese-consumer

4. Bakhtin, M. (1981). The dialogic imagination: Four essays. University of Texas Press.

5. Bardin, L. (1986). Análisis de contenido [Content analysis]. Akal. (in Spanish)

6. Bingham, A. J. (2023). From data management to actionable findings: A five-phase process of qualitative data analysis. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 22. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069231183620

7. Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2021). Thematic analysis: A practical guide. Sage.

8. Castelló, I., Etter, M., & Årup Nielsen, F. (2016). Strategies of legitimacy through social media: The networked strategy. Journal of Management Studies, 53(3), 402–432. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12145

9. Castells, M. (2013). Communication power (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.

10. Chandrasen, A., & Paliwoda, S. J. (2009). Country of Assembly (COA) effect on perceived automobile quality: a Thai consumers’ perspective. Journal of Marketing Management, 25(5–6), 483–499. https://doi.org/10.1362/026725709X461812

11. Crane, A. (2013). Modern slavery as a management practice: Exploring the conditions and capabilities for human exploitation. Academy of Management Review, 38(1), 49–69. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2011.0145

12. Dauvergne, P., & LeBaron, G. (2014). Protest Inc.: The corporatization of activism. Polity.

13. Deephouse, D. L. (1996). Does isomorphism legitimate? Academy of Management Journal, 39(4), 1024–1039. https://doi.org/10.5465/256722

14. Deephouse, D. L., & Suchman, M. (2008). Legitimacy in organizational institutionalism. In R. Greenwood, C. Oliver, R. Suddaby, & K. Sahlin (Eds.), The Sage handbook of organizational institutionalism (pp. 49–77). Sage.

15. Deephouse, D. L., Bundy, J., Tost, L. P., & Suchman, M. C. (2017). Organizational legitimacy: Six key questions. In R. Greenwood, C. Oliver, T. B. Lawrence, & R. E. Meyer (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of organizational institutionalism (2nd ed., pp. 27–54). Sage.

16. DiMaggio, P. J., & Powell, W. W. (1983). The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American Sociological Review, 48(2), 147–160. https://doi.org/10.2307/2095101

17. Dowling, J., & Pfeffer, J. (1975). Organizational legitimacy: Social values and organizational behavior. Pacific Sociological Review, 18(1), 122–136. https://doi.org/10.2307/1388226

18. Etter, M., Colleoni, E., Illia, L., Meggiorin, K., & D’Eugenio, A. (2018). Measuring organizational legitimacy in social media: Assessing citizens’ judgments with sentiment analysis. Business & Society, 57(1), 60–97. https://doi.org/10.1177/0007650316683926

19. Fernando, S., & Lawrence, S. (2014). A theoretical framework for CSR practices: Integrating legitimacy theory, stakeholder theory and institutional theory. Journal of Theoretical Accounting Research, 10(1), 149–178.

20. Fetscherin, M., & Toncar, M. (2009). Country of origin effect on US consumers’ brand personality perception of automobiles from China and India. Multinational Business Review, 17(2), 111–128. https://doi.org/10.1108/1525383X200900012

21. Govorova, A. V. (2023). History and paradoxes of the Chinese car market: Eastern strategies and the Asian regulator. Studies on Russian Economic Development, 34(1), 150–158. https://doi.org/10.1134/S1075700723010069

22. Guest, G., Bunce, A., & Johnson, L. (2006). How many interviews are enough? An experiment with data saturation and variability. Field Methods, 18(1), 59–82. https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X05279903

23. Han, C. M. (1989). Country image: Halo or summary construct? Journal of Marketing Research, 26(2), 222–229. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378902600208

24. Hennig-Thurau, T., Gwinner, K. P., Walsh, G., & Gremler, D. D. (2004). Electronic word-of-mouth via consumer-opinion platforms: What motivates consumers to articulate themselves on the internet? Journal of Interactive Marketing, 18(1), 38–52. https://doi.org/10.1002/dir.10073

25. Hutchins, J., Sinha, M., & Nandan, S. (2019). The sustainability route to corporate legitimacy. Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science, 29(1), 15–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/21639159.2018.1551727

26. Jackson, S. L. (2009). Research methods and statistics: A critical thinking approach (3rd ed.). Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

27. Joutsenvirta, M., & Vaara, E. (2015). Legitimacy struggles and political corporate social responsibility in international settings: A comparative discursive analysis of a con tested investment in Latin America. Organization Studies, 36(6), 741–777. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840615571958

28. Kapferer, J. N. (2012). The new strategic brand management: Advanced insights and strategic thinking (5th ed.). Kogan Page.

29. Khoirina, M. M., Handriana, T., & Usman, I. (2025). Consumer skepticism: A systematic literature review on its effects and future research directions. International Journal of Innovative Research and Scientific Studies, 8(3), 1784–1792. https://doi.org/10.53894/ijirss.v8i3.6886

30. Koller, V. (2008). ‘The world in one city’: Semiotic and cognitive aspects of city branding. Journal of Language and Politics, 7(3), 431–450. https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.7.3.05kol

31. Krippendorff, K. (2018). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology (4th ed.). Sage.

32. Landis, J. R., & Koch, G. G. (1977). The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics, 33(1), 159–174. https://doi.org/10.2307/2529310

33. Litvin, S. W., Goldsmith, R. E., & Pan, B. (2008). Electronic word-of-mouth in hospitality and tourism management. Tourism Management, 29(3), 458–468. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2007.05.011

34. Machin, D., & Mayr, A. (2023). How to do critical discourse analysis: A multimodal introduction (2nd ed.). Sage.

35. Mahoney, J., & Goertz, G. (2006). A tale of two cultures: Contrasting quantitative and qualitative research. Political Analysis, 14(3), 227–249. https://doi.org/10.1093/pan/mpj017

36. Meyer, J. W., & Rowan, B. (1977). Institutionalized organizations: Formal structure as myth and ceremony. American Journal of Sociology, 83(2), 340–363. https://doi.org/10.1086/226550

37. Palazzo, G., & Scherer, A. G. (2006). Corporate legitimacy as deliberation: A communicative framework. Journal of Business Ethics, 66(1), 71–88. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9044-2

38. Pang, B., & Lee, L. (2008). Opinion mining and sentiment analysis. Foundations and Trends® in Information Retrieval, 2(1–2), 1–135. https://doi.org/10.1561/1500000011

39. Piñeiro-Naval, V. (2020). The content analysis methodology. Uses and applications in communication research on Spanish-speaking countries. Communication & Society, 33(3), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.15581/003.33.3.1-15

40. Şahiniz, S., Ustabaş, A., & Afacan Fındıklı, M. (2024). The effect of corporate discourses in brand awareness and legitimacy: The rhetorical analysis of an automobile brand. Asia Pacific Management Review, 29(4), 427–440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmrv.2024.08.001

41. Schultz, F., Castelló, I., & Morsing, M. (2013). The construction of corporate social responsibility in network societies: A communication view. Journal of Business Ethics, 115(4), 681–692. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1826-8

42. Scott, W. R. (1995). Institutions and organizations. Sage.

43. Stevens, G. (2024). Braun and Clarke’s approach to thematic analysis. Academic Writing and Research. https://academic-writing.uk/braun-clarke-thematic-analysis/

44. Suchman, M. C. (1995). Managing legitimacy: Strategic and institutional approaches. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 571–610. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1995.9508080331

45. Uldam, J., & Vestergaard, A. (Eds.). (2015). Civic engagement and social media: Political participation beyond protest. Palgrave Macmillan.

46. Van Leeuwen, T. (2007). Legitimation in discourse and communication. Discourse & Communication, 1(1), 91–112. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481307071986

47. Verbeke, A., & Tung, V. (2013). The future of stakeholder management theory: A temporal perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 112(3), 529–543. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1276-8

48. Verlegh, P. W., & Steenkamp, J. B. E. (1999). A review and meta-analysis of country-of-origin research. Journal of Economic Psychology, 20(5), 521–546. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-4870(99)00023-9

49. Wang, X., & Yang, Z. (2008). Does country-of-origin matter in the relationship between brand personality and purchase intention in emerging economies? Evidence from China’s auto industry. International Marketing Review, 25(4), 458–474. https://doi.org/10.1108/02651330810887495

50. Washington, M., & Zajac, E. J. (2005). Status evolution and competition: Theory and evidence. Academy of Management Journal, 48(2), 282–296. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2005.16928408

51. Yu, X. F., & Zheng, H. C. (2023). An overview of research on discursive legitimation. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 11(10), 112–127. https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2023.1110008

52. Zucker, L. G. (1977). The role of institutionalization in cultural persistence. American Sociological Review, 42(5), 726–743. https://doi.org/10.2307/2094862