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The making of a method: operationalising the process of translation
Date
2026-07-09
Abstract
Purpose – This paper extends the process of translation (PoT) by operationalising it as a methodological device for examining market formation in digitally mediated contexts. While PoT has traditionally been applied retrospectively as an analytical framework, limited guidance exists on how translation moments can be empirically identified as processes unfold. Integrating the PoT with issue mapping, this paper introduces concerned market mapping (CMM), to trace how agencements emerge, evolve and stabilise across digital platforms. Using the #ditchthestraw campaign as an illustrative case, the study demonstrates how problematisation, interessement, enrolment and mobilisation can be systematically identified within digital trace data. The findings show how digital devices participate in reconfiguring market agencements through recursive interactions. This paper aims to contribute methodologically by providing a framework for studying market dynamics in data-rich environments. Design/methodology/approach – The study adopts a qualitative analysis approach to examine how digital market practices unfold through the PoT. Using scraped Instagram data from the #ditchthestraw campaign, the approach operationalises PoT as a methodological device by developing observable indicators for each translation moment and applying them systematically during coding. CMM integrates PoT sequencing with issue mapping to trace how visual, textual and relational devices reconfigure agencements in real time. This design enables the structured examination of distributed digital interactions and the dynamic formation of sustainable market practices. Findings – The study demonstrates that operationalising the PoT enables systematic identification of how digital agencements evolve within online sustainability activism. Applying PoT to the #ditchthestraw campaign reveals how visual, textual and relational devices shift roles across problematisation, interessement, enrolment and mobilisation. Issue mapping shows how concerns cluster and reconfigure through digital interactions, highlighting distinct forms of denormalisation and normalisation as the campaign progresses. The findings show that digital devices are actively agencing market practices, moving from raising awareness to modelling alternatives and enrolling new actors. This approach makes visible the distributed processes through which market change unfolds in real time. Originality/value – This study offers a novel methodological contribution by operationalising the PoT as a device for structuring, analysing and interpreting large-scale digital trace data. Whereas prior research has used PoT primarily as an analytical or retrospective framing tool, this paper develops a systematic, transparent procedure for empirically identifying translation moments as they unfold. By integrating PoT with CMM, the study extends the methodological repertoire of market studies and demonstrates how distributed agencing can be traced in real time on visual-first platforms. This approach provides new possibilities for examining digital market formation and sustainability activism
Supervisor
Description
Publisher
Emerald Publishing Limited
Citation
Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal
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Files
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OLoughlin_2026_Making.pdf
Adobe PDF, 1.74 MB
ULRR Identifiers
Funding code
Funding Information
Sustainable Development Goals
External Link
License
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International