#2322. Impairment (in)visibility and stigma: how disabled entrepreneurs gain legitimacy in mainstream and disability markets

September 2026publication date
Proposal available till 30-05-2025
5 total number of authors per manuscript5020 $

The title of the journal is available only for the authors who have already paid for
Journal’s subject area:
Development;
Economics and Econometrics;
Business and International Management;
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Abstract:
Entrepreneurs’ use of linguistic practices, such as storytelling, in building legitimacy with customers and others is well documented. Yet, not all entrepreneurs may equally use or benefit from such practices in their legitimacy-building efforts. For those with stigmatized social identities, like disability, embodied properties and practices of non-linguistic, more visual kind, may be salient despite being under-explored in the entrepreneurial legitimacy studies. To address this knowledge gap, this article examines how disabled entrepreneurs gain legitimacy with customers and, more specifically, how impairment visibility shapes their capacity to do so. Drawing primarily on in-depth interviews withentrepreneurs, the article extends Suchman’s work by reconceptualizing his legitimacy-building strategies considering impairment visibility. It is argued that impairment visibility can both enable and constrain legitimacy depending on the product offering and the target market.
Keywords:
Disabled entrepreneurs; embodied properties; impairment (in)visibility; legitimacy; non-linguistic practices; stigma

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