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Jockeying for Position in CEO Letters: Impression Management and Sentiment Analytics

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  • Kris Boudt
  • James Thewissen

Abstract

This paper evidences the strategic positioning of positive and negative words within a CEO letter as a subtle form of impression management. We find that managers tend to present information in such an order that the reader of the CEO letter has a more positive perception of the underlying message. We uncover a smile in the frequency of positive words within the letter, and a half smile in the intratextual distribution of negative words, with a prevalence of negative words at the beginning of the letter. We also find a significant positive association between this qualitative impression management and the use of abnormal accruals in earnings management. We propose sentiment analytics that can compensate for the strategic management of narrative structure and find that the proposed position weighted sentiment has more predictive power for the firm performance over the next year.

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  • Kris Boudt & James Thewissen, 2019. "Jockeying for Position in CEO Letters: Impression Management and Sentiment Analytics," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 48(1), pages 77-115, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:finmgt:v:48:y:2019:i:1:p:77-115
    DOI: 10.1111/fima.12219
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    Cited by:

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    2. Harrison, Joseph S. & Josefy, Matthew A. & Kalm, Matias & Krause, Ryan, 2022. "Using supervised machine learning to scale human‐coded data: A method and dataset in the board leadership context," Other publications TiSEM abc9f83d-960e-40c5-ae40-3, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    3. Shuangyan Li & Guangrui Wang & Yongli Luo, 2022. "Tone of language, financial disclosure, and earnings management: a textual analysis of form 20-F," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 8(1), pages 1-24, December.
    4. Liu, Pu & Nguyen, Hazel T., 2020. "CEO characteristics and tone at the top inconsistency," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    5. Fiset, John & Oldford, Erin & Chu, Shaner, 2021. "Market signaling capacity of written and visual charismatic leadership tactics," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(C).
    6. Enrique Bonson & David Perea & Graca Azevedo, 2021. "Tone and content analysis in the president’s letters to shareholders: Spanish evidence," Upravlenets, Ural State University of Economics, vol. 12(1), pages 78-90, March.
    7. Elena Fedorova & Nadezhda Lapshina & Mikhail Lazarev & Alexandr Bobrodin, 2021. "Impact of Information in Press Releases on the Financial Performance of Russian Companies [Влияние Информации В Пресс-Релизах На Финансовые Показатели Российских Компаний]," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 3, pages 138-157, June.
    8. Michele Gendelsky de Oliveira & Graça Azevedo & Jonas Oliveira, 2021. "The Relationship between the Company’s Value and the Tone of the Risk-Related Narratives: The Case of Portugal," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-28, May.
    9. Andres Algaba & David Ardia & Keven Bluteau & Samuel Borms & Kris Boudt, 2020. "Econometrics Meets Sentiment: An Overview Of Methodology And Applications," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 512-547, July.
    10. Javid Iqbal & Muhammad Khalid Sohail & Aymen Irshad & Rao Aamir Khan, 2024. "Risk management disclosures and banks financial performance: evidence from emerging markets," Risk Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 26(1), pages 1-21, February.
    11. Isabel-María García-Sánchez & Víctor Amor-Esteban & Alejandra García-Sánchez, 2021. "Different Leaders in a COVID-19 Scenario: CEO Altruism and Generous Discourse," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-19, March.
    12. Arslan-Ayaydin, Özgür & Bishara, Norman & Thewissen, James & Torsin, Wouter, 2020. "Managerial career concerns and the content of corporate disclosures: An analysis of the tone of earnings press releases," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    13. Liu, Yifan & Popova, Ivilina, 2023. "Threats to central bank independence and exchange rate volatility: High-frequency identification with Trump’s Fed tweets," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    14. Javid Iqbal & Khalid Riaz, 2022. "Predicting future financial performance of banks from management’s tone in the textual disclosures," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 2691-2721, August.
    15. Iqbal, Javid & Saeed, Abubakr, 2023. "Managerial sentiments, non-performing loans, and banks financial performance: A causal mediation approach," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    16. Senave, Elseline & Jans, Mieke J. & Srivastava, Rajendra P., 2023. "The application of text mining in accounting," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    17. Joseph S. Harrison & Matthew A. Josefy & Matias Kalm & Ryan Krause, 2023. "Using supervised machine learning to scale human‐coded data: A method and dataset in the board leadership context," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(7), pages 1780-1802, July.
    18. Özgür Arslan‐Ayaydin & James Thewissen & Wouter Torsin, 2021. "Disclosure tone management and labor unions," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1-2), pages 102-147, January.

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