IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/rru/oapubs/10197-3924.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

A conceptual framework of impression management: new insights from psychology, sociology, and critical perspectives

Author

Listed:
  • Niamh Brennan
  • Doris M. Merkl-Davies

Abstract

In this paper we develop a conceptual framework, based on the concepts of rationality and motivation, which uses theories and empirical research from psychology/behavioural finance, sociology and critical accounting to systematise, advance and challenge research on impression management. The paper focuses on research that departs from economic concepts of impression management as opportunistic managerial discretionary disclosure behaviour resulting in reporting bias or ‘cheap talk’. Using alternative rationality assumptions, such as bounded rationality, irrationality, substantive rationality and the notion of rationality as a social construct, we conceptualise impression management in alternative ways as (1) self-serving bias, (2) symbolic management and (3) accounting rhetoric. This contributes to an enhanced understanding of impression management in a corporate reporting context.

Suggested Citation

  • Niamh Brennan & Doris M. Merkl-Davies, 2011. "A conceptual framework of impression management: new insights from psychology, sociology, and critical perspectives," Open Access publications 10197/3924, Research Repository, University College Dublin.
    • Handle: RePEc:rru:oapubs:10197/3924
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10197/3924
    File Function: Open Access version, 2011
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stephen P. Baginski & John M. Hassell & Michael D. Kimbrough, 2004. "Why Do Managers Explain Their Earnings Forecasts?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(1), pages 1-29, March.
    2. Maital, Shlomo, 2004. "Daniel Kahneman: on redefining rationality," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 1-14, March.
    3. Herbert Simon, 2000. "Bounded rationality in social science: Today and tomorrow," Mind & Society: Cognitive Studies in Economics and Social Sciences, Springer;Fondazione Rosselli, vol. 1(1), pages 25-39, March.
    4. Zarri, Luca, 2010. "Behavioral economics has two 'souls': Do they both depart from economic rationality?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 562-567, October.
    5. Philip Linsley & Peter Kajuter, 2008. "Restoring reputation and repairing legitimacy: a case study of impression management in response to a major risk event at Allied Irish Banks plc," International Journal of Financial Services Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 3(1), pages 65-82.
    6. Barton, Jan & Mercer, Molly, 2005. "To blame or not to blame: Analysts' reactions to external explanations for poor financial performance," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 509-533, September.
    7. Aerts, Walter, 2005. "Picking up the pieces: impression management in the retrospective attributional framing of accounting outcomes," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 493-517, August.
    8. Aerts, Walter & Cormier, Denis, 2009. "Media legitimacy and corporate environmental communication," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 1-27, January.
    9. Roland Benabou & Guy Laroque, 1992. "Using Privileged Information to Manipulate Markets: Insiders, Gurus, and Credibility," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(3), pages 921-958.
    10. John K Courtis, 2000. "Expanding the future financial corporate reporting package," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3), pages 248-263, September.
    11. Linda Simpson, 2000. "The annual report: an exercise in ignorance?," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3), pages 231-247, September.
    12. Tomer, John, 2008. "Beyond the rationality of economic man, toward the true rationality of human man," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 1703-1712, October.
    13. Gaétan Breton & Louise Côté, 2006. "Profit and the legitimacy of the Canadian banking industry," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 19(4), pages 512-539, July.
    14. Elizabeth Demers & Clara Vega, 2008. "Soft information in earnings announcements: news or noise?," International Finance Discussion Papers 951, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    15. Daniel, Kent & Hirshleifer, David & Teoh, Siew Hong, 2002. "Investor psychology in capital markets: evidence and policy implications," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 139-209, January.
    16. Russell Craig & Joel Amernic, 2008. "A privatization success story: accounting and narrative expression over time," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 21(8), pages 1085-1115, October.
    17. Doris M. Merkl‐Davies & Niamh M. Brennan & Stuart J. McLeay, 2011. "Impression management and retrospective sense‐making in corporate narratives," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 24(3), pages 315-344, March.
    18. Li, Feng, 2008. "Annual report readability, current earnings, and earnings persistence," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(2-3), pages 221-247, August.
    19. Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky, 2013. "Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Leonard C MacLean & William T Ziemba (ed.), HANDBOOK OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING Part I, chapter 6, pages 99-127, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    20. Irene C. L. Ng & Lu‐Ming Tseng, 2008. "Learning to be Sociable: The Evolution of Homo Economicus," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(2), pages 265-286, April.
    21. Doris M. Merkl-Davies & Niamh Brennan, 2007. "Discretionary disclosure strategies in corporate narratives : incremental information or impression management?," Open Access publications 10197/2907, Research Repository, University College Dublin.
    22. Jayne Godfrey & Paul Mather & Alan Ramsay, 2003. "Earnings and Impression Management in Financial Reports: The Case of CEO Changes," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 39(1), pages 95-123, February.
    23. Baginski, Stephen P & Hassell, John M & Hillison, William A, 2000. "Voluntary Causal Disclosures: Tendencies and Capital Market Reaction," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 371-389, December.
    24. Doris M. Merkl-Davies & Niamh Brennan & Stuart McLeay, 2011. "Impression management and retrospective sense-making in corporate narratives : a social psychology perspective," Open Access publications 10197/2900, Research Repository, University College Dublin.
    25. Aerts, Walter, 1994. "On the use of accounting logic as an explanatory category in narrative accounting disclosures," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 19(4-5), pages 337-353.
    26. Russell Craig & Joel Amernic, 2006. "The mobilization of accounting in preening for privatization," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 19(1), pages 82-95, January.
    27. W. Aerts, 2001. "Inertia in the attributional content of annual accounting narratives," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(1), pages 3-32.
    28. Boland, Richard Jr. & Pondy, Louis R., 1983. "Accounting in organizations: A union of natural and rational perspectives," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 8(2-3), pages 223-234, May.
    29. Cianci, Anna M. & Kaplan, Steven E., 2010. "The effect of CEO reputation and explanations for poor performance on investors' judgments about the company's future performance and management," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 478-495, May.
    30. Prakash, Prem & Rappaport, Alfred, 1977. "Information inductance and its significance for accounting," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 29-38, January.
    31. Berrone, Pascual & Gelabert, Liliana & Fosfuri, Andrea, 2009. "The impact of symbolic and substantive actions on environmental legitimacy," IESE Research Papers D/778, IESE Business School.
    32. Russell Craig & Joel Amernic, 2006. "The mobilization of accounting in preening for privatization," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 19(6), pages 82-95, November.
    33. Peter Huang, "undated". "Regulating Irrational Exuberance and Anxiety in Securities Markets," Scholarship at Penn Law upenn_wps-1016, University of Pennsylvania Law School.
    34. Brian Rutherford, 2003. "Obfuscation, Textual Complexity and the Role of Regulated Narrative Accounting Disclosure in Corporate Governance," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 7(2), pages 187-210, June.
    35. Gibbins, M & Richardson, A & Waterhouse, J, 1990. "The Management Of Corporate Financial Disclosure - Opportunism, Ritualism, Policies, And Processes," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 121-143.
    36. Mark Clatworthy & Michael Jones, 2003. "Financial reporting of good news and bad news: evidence from accounting narratives," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(3), pages 171-185.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Niamh Brennan & Doris M. Merkl-Davies, 2013. "Accounting Narratives and Impression Management," Open Access publications 10197/4949, Research Repository, University College Dublin.
    2. Merkl-Davies, Doris M. & Koller, Veronika, 2012. "‘Metaphoring’ people out of this world: A Critical Discourse Analysis of a chairman's statement of a UK defence firm," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 178-193.
    3. Leung, Sidney & Parker, Lee & Courtis, John, 2015. "Impression management through minimal narrative disclosure in annual reports," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 275-289.
    4. Beattie, Vivien, 2014. "Accounting narratives and the narrative turn in accounting research: Issues, theory, methodology, methods and a research framework," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 111-134.
    5. Doris M. Merkl-Davies & Niamh Brennan & Stuart McLeay, 2011. "Impression management and retrospective sense-making in corporate narratives : a social psychology perspective," Open Access publications 10197/2900, Research Repository, University College Dublin.
    6. Niamh Brennan & Encarna Guillamon-Saorin & Aileen Pierce, 2009. "Impression management : developing and illustrating a scheme of analysis for narrative disclosures – a methodological note," Open Access publications 10197/2905, Research Repository, University College Dublin.
    7. Kshitij Khanna & Helen Irvine, 2018. "Communicating the Impact of the Global Financial Crisis in Annual Reports: A Study of Australian NGOs," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 28(1), pages 109-126, March.
    8. Niamh M. Brennan & Encarna Guillamon‐Saorin & Aileen Pierce, 2009. "Methodological Insights," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 22(5), pages 789-832, June.
    9. YAN, Beibei & AERTS, Walter, 2014. "Rhetorical impression management in corporate narratives and institutional environment," Working Papers 2014014, University of Antwerp, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    10. García Osma, Beatriz & Guillamón-Saorín, Encarna, 2011. "Corporate governance and impression management in annual results press releases," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 187-208.
    11. Berkin, Anil & Aerts, Walter & Van Caneghem, Tom, 2023. "Feasibility analysis of machine learning for performance-related attributional statements," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    12. Xiangan Ding & Ying Qu & Mohsin Shahzad, 2019. "The Impact of Environmental Administrative Penalties on the Disclosure of Environmental Information," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-24, October.
    13. Maria-Silvia Sandulescu, 2017. "Impression management – an international perspective," The Audit Financiar journal, Chamber of Financial Auditors of Romania, vol. 15(148), pages 605-605.
    14. Cho, Charles H. & Roberts, Robin W. & Patten, Dennis M., 2010. "The language of US corporate environmental disclosure," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 431-443, May.
    15. Doris M. Merkl‐Davies & Niamh M. Brennan & Stuart J. McLeay, 2011. "Impression management and retrospective sense‐making in corporate narratives," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 24(3), pages 315-344, March.
    16. Saverio Bozzolan & Charles Cho & Giovanna Michelon, 2015. "Impression Management and Organizational Audiences: The Fiat Group Case," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 126(1), pages 143-165, January.
    17. Wei Li, 2017. "Level of business insights in the MD&A and nonprofessional investors' judgments," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 57(4), pages 1043-1069, December.
    18. Skarlicki, Daniel & Lo, Kin & Rogo, Rafael & Avolio, Bruce J. & DeHaas, CodieAnn, 2023. "The role of CEO accounts and perceived integrity in analysts’ forecasts," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    19. Tiffany Cheng-Han Leung & Robin Stanley Snell, 2021. "Strategies for Social and Environmental Disclosure: The Case of Multinational Gambling Companies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(3), pages 447-467, January.
    20. 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.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:rru:oapubs:10197/3924. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joseph Greene (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://researchrepository.ucd.ie .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.