Emergent digital technologies need to be legitimated for them to enable new marketplaces to diffuse and scale. The extant literature has emphasized the role of discourse in framing legitimation efforts. Despite recognizing the broader role of technology in the legitimation process, these studies have not examined the specific affordances of digital technologies used by field members and also how this relates to the institutional infrastructure of the field to influence the legitimation process. In our study of an industry exchange field, we drew on archival data between 1997 and 2001 to examine how members of the then emergent e-commerce industry exchange field achieved legitimation of digital signatures in electronic transactions through legislation. Our research contributes to extant research by showing how the legitimation process involves invoking and scaling affordances through sensegiving, translating, and decoupling mechanisms. We also show how affordances are conditioned by the specific institutional infrastructure that supports and enables them, and how issue fields can arise within exchange fields as spaces to (re)negotiate and shape institutional changes. We conclude with implications for further research into the diffusion and scale of digital marketplaces that is of increasing importance in light of recent regulatory debates.

新兴数字技术需要合法化，以使新市场得以扩散和扩展。现存的文献强调了话语在构建合法化努力中的作用。尽管认识到技术在合法化过程中的更广泛作用，但这些研究并没有研究领域成员使用的数字技术的具体可供性，以及这与该领域的制度基础设施如何影响合法化过程。在我们对行业交换领域的研究中，我们利用 1997 年至 2001 年的档案数据来考察当时新兴的电子商务行业交换领域的成员如何通过立法实现电子交易中数字签名的合法化。我们的研究通过展示合法化过程如何通过感知、翻译和解耦机制来调用和扩展可供性，从而为现存的研究做出了贡献。我们还展示了可供性如何受到支持和支持它们的特定制度基础设施的制约，以及作为（重新）协商和塑造制度变革的空间，问题领域如何在交换领域内出现。最后，我们对进一步研究数字市场的扩散和规模产生了影响，鉴于最近的监管辩论，这一点变得越来越重要。以及作为（重新）谈判和塑造制度变革的空间，问题领域如何在交换领域中出现。最后，我们对进一步研究数字市场的扩散和规模产生了影响，鉴于最近的监管辩论，这一点变得越来越重要。以及作为（重新）谈判和塑造制度变革的空间，问题领域如何在交换领域中出现。最后，我们对进一步研究数字市场的扩散和规模产生了影响，鉴于最近的监管辩论，这一点变得越来越重要。