This paper aims at exploring emotions under fantasmic frames to better understand interactions between organizations and institutions in the context of organizational survival. We use the concept of “fantasmic frames” (Voronov & Vince, 2012) to analyze emotions driven by scripts at field level which are causes and consequences of institutional work. Our exploration of institutional work follows new studies considering these efforts within the organization to maintain (gain or rebuild) its survival (e.g. Washington et al. 2008). This mechanism was analyzed with an in-depth case study of a fruit and vegetables (F&V) wholesaler. This actor and other F&V wholesalers need to re-acquire the importance of their intermediary activity to survive after a disintermediation event during the 1990s. Our findings describe the process of legitimization with a focus on actions driven by emotional and cognitive commitment in field scripts. We describe efforts of maintenance and then disruption of dominant institution to play a larger and more positive role as an intermediary. Our results contribute to refine the concept of fantasmic frames regarding its link with emotions. Moreover it proposes a conceptualization of emotion crossing interests of research concerning institutions and emotions with the literature on institutional work at an individual-organizational level. Last but not least, it provides managerial contributions to deal with the emotional institutional pillar in relation to the combination of cognitive and emotional mechanisms.
