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The Aesthetics of Impact: Making Impact Beautiful, Not Just Useful

Suwen Chen

Business and Society2026https://doi.org/10.1177/00076503251413065article
AJG 3ABDC A
Weight
0.50

Abstract

This commentary introduces an aesthetic reframing of social impact, offering a conceptual and methodological shift beyond prevailing metric- and output-oriented approaches. While recent scholarship has begun to view impact as a process, such work still relies on representational logics that privilege what can be demonstrated. I advance a distinct contribution by conceptualizing impact as lived, affective, and experiential—emerging through resonance, atmosphere, rhythm, and relational renewal, often before it becomes measurable. Drawing on Deweyan aesthetics, I propose a feasible framework of aesthetic inquiry that includes structured attunement, participatory aesthetic evaluation, and compositional case-making. This aesthetic turn expands the ontology, epistemology, and methodology of impact scholarship, enabling business and society research to recognize forms of significance that standard frameworks overlook.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/00076503251413065

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@article{suwen2026,
  title        = {{The Aesthetics of Impact: Making Impact Beautiful, Not Just Useful}},
  author       = {Suwen Chen},
  journal      = {Business and Society},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/00076503251413065},
}

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The Aesthetics of Impact: Making Impact Beautiful, Not Just Useful

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

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