Bridging Public and Scholarly Perspectives: A Comprehensive Analysis of Sustainable Supply Chain Management Discourse

ABSTRACT This study investigates the critical disconnect between the strategic discourse of academic literature and the operational discourse of the public on Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM). Grounded in Stakeholder Theory, our objective is to empirically map and theoretically explain this gap. Employing a comparative mixed‐methods design, we analyze large text corpora from academic databases (Scopus/DOAJ) and social media (X/Twitter) using computational topic modeling and thematic analysis. The findings reveal a stark divergence: while academic discourse prioritizes systemic strategies and policy integration, public discourse is overwhelmingly focused on visible, consumer‐facing actions like recycling and eco‐packaging. Critically, the social dimension of sustainability is starkly marginalized in public conversations compared to its theoretical treatment in academia. We argue this disconnect is a function of differing stakeholder salience in each domain, where public narratives amplify consumer interests while academic work aligns with regulatory and investor priorities. This study's contributions include empirically substantiating the discourse gap and extending Stakeholder Theory to explain digital discursive dynamics. The findings highlight a “discursive liability” for firms, underscoring the urgent need for integrated communication strategies that align systemic progress with public perception.