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CEO statements in sustainability reports: Substantive information or background noise?

Author

Listed:
  • Ralf Barkemeyer
  • Breeda Comyns
  • Frank Figge
  • Giulio Napolitano

Abstract

•We use sentiment analysis to analyze CEO statements of corporate sustainability reports.•We conduct a longitudinal analysis, of the rhetoric used in these CEO statements.•In contrast to financial reporting there is no discriminatory value of CEO statements.•Unlike in financial reporting we do not find a link between reporting and performance.•This missing link persists despite increased standardization of sustainability reporting.This paper examines the question of whether corporate sustainability reports can serve as accurate and fair representations of corporate sustainability performance. It presents the results of a sentiment analysis of CEO statements in corporate sustainability reports and corporate financial reports between 2001 and 2010. Making an analogy with corporate financial reporting it is expected that if corporate sustainability reports accurately reflect sustainability performance, then this should be reflected in the rhetoric used. The analysis shows that the rhetoric in the CEO statements of sustainability reports is indicative of impression management rather than accountability, despite increasing standardization of sustainability reporting.

Suggested Citation

  • Ralf Barkemeyer & Breeda Comyns & Frank Figge & Giulio Napolitano, 2014. "CEO statements in sustainability reports: Substantive information or background noise?," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(4), pages 241-257, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:accfor:v:38:y:2014:i:4:p:241-257
    DOI: 10.1016/j.accfor.2014.07.002
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    Cited by:

    1. Bartikowski, Boris & Berens, Guido, 2021. "Attribute framing in CSR communication: Doing good and spreading the word – But how?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 700-708.
    2. Giorgio Mion & Cristian R. Loza Adaui, 2019. "Mandatory Nonfinancial Disclosure and Its Consequences on the Sustainability Reporting Quality of Italian and German Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-28, August.
    3. Dongwook Kim & Sungbum Kim, 2017. "Sustainable Supply Chain Based on News Articles and Sustainability Reports: Text Mining with Leximancer and DICTION," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-44, June.
    4. Laura Bini & Marco Bellucci & Francesco Giunta, 2016. "Put Your Money where Your Mouth is: The Difference between Real Commitment to Sustainability and Mere Rhetoric," FINANCIAL REPORTING, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2016(2), pages 5-31.
    5. Yunseok Hong & Keuntae Cho, 2024. "Differences in CEO Communication Strategies between High- and Low-Performing Firms in the Global Auto Parts Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-19, April.
    6. Cristian R. Loza Adaui, 2020. "Sustainability Reporting Quality of Peruvian Listed Companies and the Impact of Regulatory Requirements of Sustainability Disclosures," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-22, February.
    7. Mao-Chang Wang, 2017. "The Relationship between Firm Characteristics and the Disclosure of Sustainability Reporting," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-14, April.
    8. Khaldoon Albitar & Mahmoud Elmarzouky & ATM Enayet Karim & Ali Meftah Gerged, 2025. "COVID‐19, Board of Directors and Pessimism in Annual Reports: An Intention to Mitigate Litigation Risk," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(3), pages 3187-3200, July.
    9. Raghavendra, Ananya Hadadi & Bala, Pradip Kumar & Mukherjee, Arindam, 2024. "Text mining analysis of retail and consumer service leaders' sustainability narratives: Are they actually true?," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    10. S. M. R. K. Samarakoon & R. K. Mishra & Rudra P. Pradhan & Manju Jayakumar & Tapan P. Bagchi, 2025. "Annual report readability, ESG disclosure, and risk perspectives of Indian firms: the mediating role of corporate governance and earnings management," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(3), pages 678-705, September.
    11. Khaldoon Albitar & Tony Abdoush & Khaled Hussainey, 2023. "Do corporate governance mechanisms and ESG disclosure drive CSR narrative tones?," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4), pages 3876-3890, October.
    12. Anne‐Kathrin Weber, 2020. "Corporate Role Conceptions in Global Forest Governance," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 11(5), pages 611-627, November.
    13. M. Dolores Guerrero‐Baena & Francisca Castilla‐Polo & Pablo Rodríguez‐Gutiérrez, 2024. "Motivations for social and environmental reporting in Spanish SMEs: An inductive content analysis," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5), pages 4130-4144, July.
    14. Yongkyu Choi & Keun Tae Cho, 2021. "Analysis of Environmental Management Characteristics Using Network Analysis of CEO Communication in the Automotive Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-23, October.
    15. Yuriko Nakao & Katsuhiko Kokubu & Kimitaka Nishitani, 2019. "Do Sustainability Reports Strategically Employ Rhetorical Tone? : An evidence from Japan," Discussion Papers 2019-01, Kobe University, Graduate School of Business Administration.
    16. Schniederjans, Dara G. & Khalajhedayati, Mehrnaz, 2023. "Corporate Responsibility Communication and Score Trends: A Buyer and Supplier Perspective," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    17. Hind Alofaysan & Sami Jarboui & Jawaher Binsuwadan, 2024. "Corporate Sustainability, Sustainable Governance, and Firm Value Efficiency: Evidence from Saudi Listed Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-17, June.
    18. Cornelia Beck & Geoffrey Frost & Stewart Jones, 2018. "CSR disclosure and financial performance revisited: A cross-country analysis," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 43(4), pages 517-537, November.
    19. Saverio Bozzolan & Giovanna Michelon & Marco Mattei & Andrea Giornetti, 2019. "Signing the letter to shareholders: Does the Signatory?s role relate to impression management?," FINANCIAL REPORTING, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2019(1), pages 37-82.

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