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What colour is the corporate social responsibility report? Structural visual rhetoric, impression management strategies, and stakeholder engagement

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  • Isabel‐María García‐Sánchez
  • Cristina‐Andrea Araújo‐Bernardo

Abstract

This paper analyses the level of managerial discretion in the practice of disclosing social and environmental information using impression management techniques based on visual rhetoric and associated with the structural dimension of the size of graphics and photographs and the colour of these images and of the animations in the report. From a sample of 105 non‐financial information statements from the 35 Spanish companies that were part of the IBEX 35 in 2018, 2017, and 2013, the results suggest two different impression management strategies used by companies to manage stakeholder's perception, with specific features at the industry level and with different levels of divergence/convergence in the structural dimensions of size or colour according to the level of standardisation in the revealed information.

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  • Isabel‐María García‐Sánchez & Cristina‐Andrea Araújo‐Bernardo, 2020. "What colour is the corporate social responsibility report? Structural visual rhetoric, impression management strategies, and stakeholder engagement," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(2), pages 1117-1142, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:corsem:v:27:y:2020:i:2:p:1117-1142
    DOI: 10.1002/csr.1869
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