Impression Management Strategies Research Articles

Supervisor‐Directed Emotional Labor as Upward Influence: An Emotions‐as‐Social‐Information Perspective

SummaryTo access organizational resources, subordinates often strive to influence supervisors' impressions. Moreover, subordinates' interactions with supervisors are known to be ripe with emotions. Nevertheless, research on upward impression management has rarely examined how subordinates' emotion regulation in supervisor interactions may shape their tangible outcomes. The present study introduces subordinates' emotional labor toward supervisors as a novel means of upward influence. Building on the emotions‐as‐social‐information model, we propose that supervisor‐directed emotional labor indirectly relates with supervisory reward recommendations by shaping supervisors' liking and perceived competence of subordinates. Moreover, we cast supervisors' epistemic motivation as a boundary condition for these indirect relations. We tested these notions using time‐lagged data from 377 subordinates and 91 supervisors. When supervisors' epistemic motivation was higher (but not lower), (1) supervisor‐directed surface acting related negatively with supervisors' liking and perceived competence of subordinates and (2) supervisor‐directed deep acting related positively with supervisors' liking of subordinates. Liking and perceived competence, in turn, related positively with supervisors' willingness to recommend subordinates for organizational rewards. These findings highlight supervisor‐directed emotional labor as an upward impression management strategy with both beneficial (deep acting) and detrimental (surface acting) implications, and they illustrate important mechanisms and a key contingency factor for these consequences.

Web-based impression management? Salient features for CSR disclosure prominence

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the web-based features of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure that play a role in making CSR information prominent to investors and give the information better recognition for investment decisions.Design/methodology/approachThe authors posit a positive association between the company’s capital market performance and the web-based features used for CSR disclosure by the company. The authors argue that the more effective the feature is in enhancing the prominence of CSR information, the higher is the share turnover and market value of shares of a company, and the lower is its share prices’ bid-ask spread. Five specific web-based features, namely, the location, accessibility, medium, variety and extent of disclosure are identified as features used for web-based CSR disclosure. The research framework is drawn from Brennan and Merkl–Davies’ (2013) impression management strategies and Merton’s (1987) “investor recognition hypothesis”.FindingsThe findings show that visual and structural emphases of CSR information via specific web-based features enhance information prominence and could favourably influence investors’ impression towards the company. Investors are likely to make investment decisions in favour of the company, resulting in a higher share turnover along with increased market value of the shares of the company and lower bid-ask spread of its share prices.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper highlights the significance of utilisation of web-based features in enhancing CSR information prominence for impression management purposes.Practical implicationsThe findings have the potential to benefit preparers, users and policymakers by enhancing their knowledge and understanding of the utilisation of web-based CSR disclosure features. Specifically, preparers will be more aware of web-based feature(s) that could be useful in projecting CSR-related information to their stakeholders.Social implicationsThe study will help enhance the dissemination of web-based CSR information.Originality/valueThe study adds to the literature on web-based CSR disclosure, by developing a structured approach to examine the effectiveness of web-based features for investors’ impression management.

Impression Management within Instagram Stories: A Phenomenological Study

Objective: This study is aimed at exploring the motivation and impression management strategies of “Instagram Stories” users. Materials and Methods: The authors interviewed 30 Instagram influencers in updating their contents on the Instagram Stories feature. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to capture the informants’ experience and consciousness in producing their online content as a part of their impression management. Results: The main findings of the study were as follows; First, Self-existence, viewers’ attractiveness, and innovativeness of the application have become the core motivation for the users in choosing the Instastory feature. Secondly, the impression management applied by the users as their front stage lies in the construction of their uploaded contents. Lastly, the users of Instagram Stories constructed their content in the form of thematic consistency, uniqueness, “captions” and information (image) editing. Conclusion: The present study indicated that the impression management pattern in using Instagram stories had become an integral part of the uploaded content to fulfil the users’ highest self-satisfaction and maximum impacts on the viewers as well as their virtual followers.

Emotional Defence Lawyers

Abstract The emotions of defence lawyers have garnered little sociological attention. This is surprising, as their role requires them to show loyalty to clients, representing them in court irrespective of the client or the crime. Theirs is thus an emotionally demanding role, requiring the management of inappropriate emotions. This essay explores this by showing that justice systems have structurally embedded emotional regimes guiding emotional performances. My study reveals these invisible rules, along with the ways in which one category of legal professional in particular – defence lawyers – performs its role in the Swedish justice system. The material considered includes fieldnotes gathered from an extensive courtroom ethnography and interviews with defence lawyers. The analysis looks at how defence lawyers perform their duty of loyalty, and finds it to be an interactional accomplishment demanding emotion management and impression management strategies ensuring conformity to the emotional regime of law.

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

AbstractThis 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.

The business case for CSR: A trump card against hypocrisy?

Why do many companies use a business case frame when referring to their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities? Two experiments (N = 1687) show that using a business case frame makes for a better impression management strategy than moral frames. By signaling that CSR activities are driven by instrumental reasons, and therefore not diagnostic of a company's moral character, a business case frame (and also a hybrid frame) suppresses accusations of hypocrisy. Consequently, when companies do not appear fully committed to CSR, using a business case frame makes them seem less hypocritical and elicits more favorable social evaluations, compared to using a moral frame. When companies appear committed to CSR, business case, hybrid and moral frames elicit similarly positive evaluations. These results support our theorizing that the rhetorical frames used when referring to CSR are not cheap talk, but constitute costly signals because they affect how companies are subsequently evaluated.

Supplication Leader Impression Management Strategy and Organizational Citizenship Behaviour of Tertiary Institutions in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

This is an expository study on leader impression management strategy and organizational citizenship behaviour of tertiary institutions in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The purpose is to investigate the relationship between supplication leader impression management strategy and organizational citizenship behaviour. The objective is to determine how supplication as a dimension of leader impression management strategy influences the measures of organizational citizenship behaviour of tertiary institutions in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The research design adopted for the study was cross-sectional survey. The population is composed of a total of 4000 non-academic staff of 4 tertiary institutions in Port Harcourt. The sampling procedure and sample size determination formula used for the study is the Krejcie & Morgan table. The validity was obtained through peer to peer and professional vetting, while the reliability test was based on the Cronbach alpha reliability test. The Spearman’s Rank Order Correlation Coefficient was the statistical tool; aided by the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The study found that leader impression management strategy significantly contributes to the achievement of organizational citizenship behaviour in tertiary institutions in Port Harcourt. The study recommends that the use of supplication strategy by leaders should be such that appeals to the interest and benefits of the subordinates and not as reveals the leader as weak or incapable. Keywords: Impression Management, Supplication, Organizational Citizenship Behaviour. DOI : 10.7176/EJBM/11-32-09 Publication date: November 30 th 2019

치어리더의 인상관리 전략과 사회적 환경에 따른 원인 탐색

치어리더의 인상관리 전략과 사회적 환경에 따른 원인 탐색

치어리더의 인상관리 전략과 사회적 환경에 따른 원인 탐색

치어리더의 인상관리 전략과 사회적 환경에 따른 원인 탐색

Management discussion and analysis: a tone analysis on US financial listed companies

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate whether financial companies of the USA are inclined to manipulate the management discussion and analysis (MD&A) tone and thus to follow impression management behaviours. Also, the paper proposes a tone analysis of MD&As conducted by comparing the tone of MD&As of one year with financial conditions of the same year and the next.Design/methodology/approachThe tone analysis is conducted on two sub-samples of US-listed financial companies, unhealthy firms and healthy firms, which experienced different financial conditions between 2002 and 2011.FindingsWith regard to healthy firms, MD&A tone is useful to explain the current year’s performance and helps to predict next year performance, whereas, with reference to unhealthy companies, managers use the tone to pursue impression management strategies, by using more positive words and more future-oriented words than healthy companies.Research limitations/implicationsThis study analyses the correlation between MD&A tone at time t and financial performance at time t and t+1, it does not investigate other time spans. The empirical results of this study cannot be generalized to other countries.Practical implicationsMain implications are addressed to regulators and policy makers, which may contrast impression management through a more effective regulation. Another implication regards investors, who cannot fully rely on MD&As of unhealthy companies.Originality/valueThis study analyses financial companies, rather neglected by the literature on MD&A tone. Results suggest that financial firms are also inclined to engage in impression management. This research would be useful for investors who base their decisions on qualitative analysis, interested in understanding to what extent the MD&A narratives are reliable.

A influência do gerenciamento de impressões na percepção do público-alvo do mix de comunicação de marketing

In the image society, perceptions are sold instead of products and services. The omnipresence of the cultural industry diffuses the difference between fantasy and reality, hindering the judgment of the public regard to consume. It is in charge of marketers, using the Communication Mix, to manage the impressions. This paper shows the applications of impression management (IM) strategies and tactics for the Marketing Communication Mix. As a result, we have a comparative structure generated through bibliography research and Content Analysis. It is perceived that the management of print empowers the forms of marketing communication, because it establishes a symbolic environment propitious to the projections of world and visions of reality. In relation to IM strategies, organizational promotion predominates, focused on the organizational aspect and self-promotion. As for the IM tactics, explanations predominate, focused on the organizational aspect and the conformity/agreement.

Low Self-Esteem and Selfie Posting Among Young Women

Background: Self-esteem is a critical factor in online impression management strategies and could play a crucial role in explaining women’s selfie-posting behaviours. Previous works examining relationships between self-esteem and self-presentation on social media have yielded controversial results. Objective: This study was performed to clarify the relationship between self-esteem and the frequency of taking and posting own, group and partner selfies on Social Networking Sites (SNS). Methods: A sample of 692 Italian young women (18-28 years old) completed questionnaires on self-esteem, satisfaction with life, body satisfaction and selfie posting bahaviours. The low self-esteem group was compared with the high self-esteem group. Results: Results showed that women with low self-esteem are more dissatisfied with their body image and life and significantly they post fewer types of selfies compared to women with high self-esteem. Conclusion: Findings from this study provide new insights into the relation between self-esteem and selfie impression management strategies.

Impression management strategies to gain regulatory approval

Using fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis and data from the U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) import industry (2000−2013), I explore the complex configurations of conditions that impact regulatory approval and approval speed for a new venture's market entry. Rather than let conditions alone dictate outcome, firms use impression management strategies based on three types of rhetoric (persuasive, issue dissuasive, and detractor dissuasive), but these strategies are not always effective. I find an evasive strategy—avoiding any type of rhetoric—ensures faster regulatory approval under extremely favorable conditions, but is ineffective when community need is low, and there is either sustained community opposition or an adverse political climate. Conversely, an exuberance strategy, involving all three rhetorical types, ensures regulatory approval under adverse social conditions when supply conditions are favorable, but approval speed is slower. This research highlights the tangible but contingent impact of these impression management strategies on gaining regulatory legitimacy.

Ekspresi Partai Politik Anggota Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Daerah Provinsi Nusa Tenggara Timur

In realizing the role of political parties, legislative members had been faced with a battle of political discourse in the courtroom. The purpose of this study is to explore the political communication performance of legislators in the NTT provincial legislature in expressing party ideology. The research method that used is qualitative approach. The results shows that the expression of political party ideology verbally and nonverbally was carried out in accordance with the context and function of political communication politics, leading to the management of audience impressions that display positive emotions, politeness, and impression management and facework strategies. Besides that, the expression of the ideology of political parties by DPRD members is carried out in the form of political lobbying, political negotiations and political rhetoric which presents three political stages as a space for communication. The three forms of political communication have different political agendas communicated among DPRD members, between DPRD members and the government so that the context of political communication often experience message distortions and message inconsistencies which have implications for the quality of communication performance of DPRD members.

Implicit Affect and Autonomous Nervous System Reactions: A Review of Research Using the Implicit Positive and Negative Affect Test.

In everyday life, affective processes occur spontaneously and typically go along with an automatic activation of action tendencies and physiological responses. Because self-reports of affect are also known to be biased by various factors, including deficits in introspection or impression management strategies, an indirect measure, the Implicit Positive and Negative Affect Test (IPANAT), was developed to assess implicit affect and to circumvent these difficulties. In this review, findings from neurobiological and clinical studies administering the IPANAT are revised, we focus on the link between implicit affect and psychophysiological reactions to affective stimuli and stressors. Specifically, implicit affect as measured by the IPANAT was found to predict cardiovascular, endocrine, and functional neuroimaging correlates of stress or fear beyond explicit affect. The present evidence strongly suggests the usage of implicit affect measures in future research on stress and psychopathology.

Tacticality, Authenticity, or Both? The Ethical Paradox of Actor Ingratiation and Target Trust Reactions

Ingratiation is an impression management strategy whereby actors try to curry favor with targets, and is one of the more pervasive social activities in a workplace. An assumption in the literature is that a target’s awareness of the tactical purposes behind ingratiation (e.g., “he merely wants a raise”) is an ethical concern which triggers suspicions of ulterior motives and casts the actor as distrustful. However, this assumption fails to consider alternative explanations in that ingratiation may also be perceived as occurring for authentic purposes (e.g., “he really wants to be liked”). This alternative view may cause targets to cast the actor differently, and thus presents an intriguing ethical paradox where actors could be recognized by targets as trustful, distrustful, or some level in-between. This research draws on behavioral ethics and attributional models to investigate supervisor trust of employees who engage in ingratiation. We report two studies that examine perceived tactical ingratiation, perceived authentic ingratiation, and their interaction as predictors of supervisor trust using multisource data from two field samples. Across the two studies, we find positive interactions between tactical and authentic ingratiation as predictors of trust and trustworthiness. Study 2 also shows that combined tactical and authentic ingratiation predicts the trustworthiness dimensions of benevolence and integrity, but not ability. The results suggest that ingratiation is portrayed somewhat bleaker than necessary in the literature, and that when actors engage in tactical ingratiation that is also deemed authentic, targets respond with less concern than the literature would suggest.

Exploring the meaning of climate change discourses: an impression management exercise?

Purpose This study aims to analyze how language is used to present climate change information in the narratives of Malaysian companies’ annual reports. Design/methodology/approach The study uses content analysis and discourse analysis, and Brennan et al.’s (2009) impression management strategies and legitimacy theory were applied to explain findings. Findings Much of the discourses are rhetorical in nature and can be considered as corporate attempts to appear concerned for climate change, consistent with an attempt to appear legitimate and manage impressions. Research limitations/implications The first limitation is the purposive sampling used which limits the generalizability of the findings. The second limitation is that the study neglects to focus on companies in environmentally sensitive sectors which have more substantial adverse impacts. The third limitation is that the study did not examine all types of impression management strategies, limiting itself only to strategies which provide a favorable view of the firm. Finally, the study did not attempt to investigate the different levels of impression management strategies. Practical implications A major practical implication is for regulators to consider mandatory climate change reporting at least for the sectors which contribute adversely to global warming. Originality/value This is a first attempt to examine climate change discourses in a developing country.

O Rompimento da Barragem de Mariana (MG): Mudanças no Disclosure Ambiental do Setor de Mineração

Objetivo do estudo: Este estudo analisa as mudanças de disclosures ambientais em empresas mineradoras de capital aberto, listadas na BMF&BOVESPA após o rompimento da barragem de Mariana, em 2015.Metodologia/abordagem: Foi realizada uma análise de conteúdo nas demonstrações financeiras e relatórios de sustentabilidade de empresas mineradoras com ações listadas na BMF&BOVESPA, entre 2014 a 2016. A variável disclosure ambiental foi dividida em sete categorias, conforme propõem Heflin & Wallace (2011).Originalidade/Relevância: Este estudo é relevante ao trazer a discussão sobre se desastres ambientais, tais como o rompimento da Barragem de Fundão, podem aumentar a informação ao investidor a respeito do potencial para outro acidente dentro do setor da mineração brasileira. Inova ao adaptar o modelo proposto por Heflin & Wallace (2011) ao contexto brasileiro.Principais resultados: Os resultados empíricos revelam que as empresas mineradoras pesquisadas, com passivos ambientais, utilizam-se de estratégias de Gerenciamento de Impressões para divulgações de seus impactos ambientais. As estratégias utilizadas pelas empresas são a ocultação e atribuição a fatores externos, apresentando desta forma um discurso enviesado e seletivo sobre seus impactos ambientais.Contribuições teóricas/metodológicas: Este estudo contribui para a literatura de divulgação ambiental e fornece insights sobre a discussão a respeito da gestão ambiental sob a perspectiva do disclosure ambiental de empresas de mineração brasileiras.Conclusão: Conclui-se que as empresas mineradoras pesquisadas não aumentaram a sua divulgação ambiental após o rompimento da barragem da companhia mineradora Samarco, em 2015.

The barriers to the opening of government data in the UK: A view from the bottom

This paper explores some of the key barriers to Open Government Data (OGD) that responsible civil servants in the UK face as they try to comply with the UK-led OGD initiative. Empirically, we provide a quantitative analysis of the resources published on the government’s central OGD portal, data.gov.uk, and a unique insight into the publishing of OGD in the UK based on 22 interviews with responsible individuals at the operational level of publishing OGD. Our findings reveal that while the barriers to open government information have been substantially reduced, the barriers to open government data persist. Even the most enthusiastic responsible individuals face considerable obstacles in publishing OGD. Further, a key barrier to OGD in the UK is its impression management strategy based on its informational rather than data orientation. Due to the UK’s pioneering position in the OGD initiative, these findings are relevant to understanding and improving OGD programmes at local, national and international levels. The findings may subsequently lead to evidence-based strategies and policies.

PCAOB Inspections: Public Accounting Firms on “Trial”

ABSTRACTThe objective of our article is to obtain a better understanding of how auditors anticipate the potential for PCAOB inspection, experience the inspection, cope with the consequences of the inspection, and understand the PCAOB's influence within the context of professionalism. We use a qualitative approach that uses both surveys (55) and interviews (20) of auditors (of varying rank and firm) across a five‐year period (2012–2017). Respondents suggest that PCAOB inspectors are powerful, representing the “prosecution,” “judge,” and “jury” of the auditing profession. We therefore use a structural metaphor of the PCAOB inspection as a judicial “trial.” By controlling the criteria used to evaluate performance, inspectors have the power to repeatedly “subpoena,” “interrogate,” and return a “verdict” on the firm (auditor); those judged as “guilty” require supervised “probation.” This process is perceived as having improved audit quality but at a cost. Passing an inspection is so important that auditors (firms) have resorted to impression management strategies and “functionally stupid” work practices (e.g., excessive documentation, a decrease in critical thinking as a result of a “box ticking” approach to auditing). Furthermore, some respondents believe that being a good auditor has come at the expense of being a good accountant; the emphasis on audit process and concurrent de‐emphasis on technical accounting could ultimately lead to audits themselves falling short. In addition, it is evident that inspectors and auditors differ in their perceptions of risk, likely manifesting because inspectors are standards‐focused while auditors (firms) are methodology‐focused. Finally, the inspection process has created excessive stress and tension, beyond budget and fee pressures, which some auditors perceive as affecting the pool of talented auditors that firms may be able to attract and retain in the future.