Putting the Spotlight on “Tech Theater”: A Model for Unmasking Protagonist Tech Companies

Drawing on the concept of “techwashing,” i.e., claiming to be more technologically proficient than you really are, we here conceptualize and explain a marked tendency in practice for firms to expand on this label, attempting to describe themselves as good tech companies, i.e., technology companies that serve a greater good and act in accordance with ethical values and societal norms<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">.</i> Our conceptual framework introduces the “ tech theater” label and describes the good tech company role that is being played and how it is being perceived by the outside world. We explicate how the so-called “tech theatre” plays out, i.e., the disconnect between a communicated and enacted corporate identity, the mismatch of which is grounded in exaggerated “good tech company” aims and claims. We posit that this helps us to understand the behavior of many leading tech companies, as the narrative of good tech companies comprises an important explanatory mechanism of their behavior. In doing so, we seek to contribute to the burgeoning literature on the theatrics of tech companies, and help guide technical managers out of the theater.