Impression management in sustainability reports: An empirical investigation of the use of graphs

Accounting and the Public Interest

Volumn 12, Issue 1, 2012, Pages 16-37

  Cho, Charles H ^a   Michelon, Giovanna ^b   Patten, Dennis M ^c  

^a ESSEC BUSINESS SCHOOL   (France)

^b UNIVERSITY OF PADOVA   (Italy)

^c ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Graphs; Impression management; Legitimacy; Sustainability reporting

Indexed keywords

EID: 84871560631     PISSN: None     EISSN: 15309320     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2308/apin-10249     Document Type: Article

References (58)

1. Ackerman, D. 1991. A Natural History of the Senses. New York, NY: Random House.
2. Adams, C., and V. Narayanan. 2007. The standardization of sustainability reporting. In Sustainability Accounting and Accountability, edited by Unerman, J., J. Bebbington, and B. O'Dwyer. New York, NY: Routledge.
3. Arunachalam, V., B. K. W. Pei, and P. J. Steinbart. 2002. Impression management with graphs: Theory and experiment. Journal of Information Systems 16 (2): 183-202.
4. Ballou, B., D. L. Heitger, and C. E. Landes. 2006. The future of corporate sustainability reporting. Journal of Accountancy 200 (6): 65-74.
5. Beattie, V., A. Dhanani, and M. J. Jones. 2008. Investigating presentational change in U.K. annual reports: A longitudinal perspective. Journal of Business Communication 45 (2): 181-222.
6. Beattie, V., and M. J. Jones. 1992. The use and abuse of graphs in annual reports: Theoretical framework and empirical study. Accounting and Business Research 22 (88): 291-303.
7. Beattie, V., and M. J. Jones. 1994. An empirical study of graphical format choices in charity annual reports. Financial Accountability and Management 10 (3): 215-236.
8. Beattie, V., and M. J. Jones. 1997. A comparative study of the use of financial graphs in the corporate annual reports of major U.S. and U.K. companies. Journal of International Financial Management and Accounting 8 (1): 33-68.
9. Beattie, V., and M. J. Jones. 1999. Australian financial graphs: An empirical study. Abacus 35 (1): 46-76.
10. Beattie, V., and M. J. Jones. 2000a. Changing graph use in corporate annual reports: A time-series analysis. Contemporary Accounting Research 17 (2): 213-226.
11. Beattie, V., and M. J. Jones. 2000b. Impression management: The case of inter-country financial graphs. Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation 9 (2): 159-183.
12. Beattie, V., and M. J. Jones. 2002. Measurement distortion of graphs in corporate reports: An experimental study. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal 15 (4): 546-564.
13. Beattie, V., and M. J. Jones. 2008. Corporate reporting using graphs: A review and synthesis. Journal of Accounting Literature 27: 71-110.
14. Bebbington, J., C. Larrinaga, and J. M. Moneva. 2008. Corporate social reporting and reputation risk management. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal 21 (3): 337-361.
15. Brammer, S., and A. Millington. 2005. Corporate reputation and philanthropy: An empirical analysis. Journal of Business Ethics 61 (1): 29-44.
16. Chatterji, A. K., D. I. Levine, and M. W. Toffel. 2009. How well do social ratings actually measure corporate social responsibility? Journal of Economics and Management Strategy 18 (1): 125-169.
17. Cho, C. H. 2009. Legitimation strategies used in response to environmental disaster: A French case study of Total S.A.'s Erika and AZF incidents. European Accounting Review 18 (1): 33-62.
18. Cho, C. H., and D. M. Patten. 2007. The role of environmental disclosures as tools of legitimacy: A research note. Accounting, Organizations and Society 32 (7/8): 639-647.
19. Cho, C. H., D. M. Patten, and R. W. Roberts. 2006. Corporate political strategy: An examination of the relation between political expenditures, environmental performance, and environmental disclosure. Journal of Business Ethics 67 (2): 139-154.
20. Cho, C. H., R. W. Roberts, and D. M. Patten. 2010. The language of U.S. corporate environmental disclosure. Accounting, Organizations and Society 35 (4): 431-443.
21. Courtis, J. K. 1997. Corporate annual report graphical communication in Hong Kong: Effective or misleading? Journal of Business Communication 34 (3): 269-288.
22. Davison, J. 2010. [In]visible [in]tangibles: Visual portraits of the business élite. Accounting, Organizations and Society 35 (2): 165-183.
23. Deegan, C. 2002. The legitimizing effect of social and environmental disclosures: A theoretical foundation. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal 15 (3): 282-311.
24. Dhaliwal, D. S., O. Z. Li, A. Tsang, and Y. G. Yang. 2011. Voluntary nonfinancial disclosure and the cost of equity capital: The initiation of corporate social responsibility reporting. The Accounting Review 86 (1): 59-100.
25. Dowling, J., and J. Pfeffer. 1975. Organizational legitimacy: Social values and organizational behavior. Pacific Sociological Review 18 (1): 122-136.
26. Elkington, J. 1997. Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business. Oxford, U.K.: Capstone Publishing.
27. Elsbach, K. D., and R. I. Sutton. 1992. Acquiring organizational legitimacy through illegitimate actions: A marriage of institutional and impression management theories. Academy of Management Journal 35 (4): 699-738.
28. Elsbach, K. K. 1994. Managing organizational legitimacy in the California cattle industry: The construction and effectiveness of verbal accounts. Administrative Science Quarterly 39 (1): 57-88.
29. Erusalimsky, A., R. Gray, and C. Spence. 2006. Towards a more systematic study of standalone corporate social and environmental: An exploratory pilot study of U.K. reporting. Social and Environmental Accounting Journal 26 (1): 12-20.
30. Freedman, M., B. Jaggi, and A. J. Stagliano. 2004. Pollution disclosures by electric utilities: An evaluation at the start of the first phase of 1990 Clean Air Act. Advances in Environmental Accounting and Management 2: 59-100.
31. Freedman, M., and A. J. Stagliano. 2008. Accounting disclosures of Toxics Release Inventory for 2002. Accounting and the Public Interest 8 (1): 21-38.
32. Freedman, M., and C. Wasley. 1990. The association between environmental performance and environmental disclosure in annual reports and 10Ks. Advances in Public Interest Accounting 3: 183-193.
33. Ginzel, L. E., R. M. Kramer, and R. I. Sutton. 1992. Organizational impression management as a reciprocal influence process: The neglected role of the organizational audience. In Research in Organizational Behavior 15, edited by Cummings, L. L., and B. M. Staw. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
34. Godfrey, J., P. Mather, and A. Ramsay. 2003. Earnings and impression management in financial reports: The case of CEO changes. Abacus 39 (1): 95-123.
35. Hillman, A. J., and G. D. Keim. 2001. Shareholder value, stakeholder management, and social issues: What's the bottom line? Strategic Management Journal 22 (2): 125-129.
36. Hines, R. D. 1982. The usefulness of annual reports: The anomaly between the efficient markets hypothesis and shareholder surveys. Accounting and Business Research 12 (48): 296-309.
37. Hopwood, A. G. 2009. Accounting and the environment. Accounting, Organizations and Society 34: 433-438.
38. KLD Research and Analytics, Inc. (KLD). 2003. KLD Ratings Data: Inclusive Social Rating Criteria. Boston, MA: KLD.
39. KPMG International (KPMG). 2008. KPMG International Survey of Corporate Responsibility Reporting 2008. Amstelveen, The Netherlands: KPMG International.
40. Livesey, S., and K. Kearins. 2002. Transparent and caring corporations? Organization and Environment 15 (3): 233-258.
41. Mather, D., P. Mather, and A. Ramsay. 2005. An investigation into the measurement of graph distortion in financial reports. Accounting and Business Research 35 (2): 147-159.
42. Mather, P., A. Ramsay, and A. Serry. 1996. The use and representational faithfulness of graphs in annual reports: Australian evidence. Australian Accounting Review 6 (2): 56-63.
43. Mather, P., A. Ramsay, and A. Steen. 2000. The use and representational faithfulness of graphs in Australian IPO prospectuses. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal 13 (1): 65-83.
44. Merkl-Davies, D. M., and N. M. Brennan. 2007. Discretionary disclosure strategies in corporate narratives: Incremental information or impression management? Journal of Accounting Literature 26: 116-194.
45. Merkl-Davies, D. M., N. M. Brennan, and S. J. McLeay. 2011. Impression management and retrospective sense making in corporate narratives: A social psychology perspective. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal 24 (3): 315-344.
46. Milne, M. J., and R. Gray. 2007. Future prospects for corporate sustainability reporting. In Sustainability Accounting and Accountability, edited by Unerman, J., J. Bebbington, and B. O'Dwyer, New York, NY: Routledge.
47. Muino, F., and M. Trombetta. 2009. Does graph disclosure bias reduce the cost of equity capital? Accounting and Business Research 39 (2): 83-102.
48. Paivio, A. 1974. Spacing of repetitions in the incidental and intentional recall of pictures and words. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 13: 497-511.
49. Patten, D. M. 2002. The relation between environmental performance and environmental disclosure: A research note. Accounting, Organizations and Society 27 (8): 763-773.
50. Penrose, J. M. 2008. Annual report graphic use: A review of the literature. Journal of Business Communication 45 (2): 158-180.
51. Prakash, P., and A. Rappaport. 1977. Information inductance and its significance for accounting. Accounting, Organizations and Society 2 (1): 29-38.
52. Steinbart, P. J. 1989. The auditor's responsibility for the accuracy of graphs in annual reports: Some evidence of the need for additional guidance. Accounting Horizons 3 (3): 60-70.
53. Taylor, B. G., and L. K. Anderson. 1986. Misleading graphs: Guidelines for the accountant. Journal of Accountancy 162 (4): 126-135.
54. Tufte, E. R. 1983. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. Cheshire, CT: Graphic Press.
55. Unerman, J., J. Bebbington, and B. O'Dwyer. 2007. Introduction to sustainability accounting and accountability. In Sustainability Accounting and Accountability, edited by Unerman, J., J. Bebbington, and B. O'Dwyer, New York, NY: Routledge.
56. Waddock, S. A., and S. B. Graves. 1997. The corporate social performance-financial performance link. Strategic Management Journal 18 (4): 303-319.
57. Warsame, H., D. Neu, and C. V. Simmons. 2002. Responding to "Discrediting events: Annual report disclosure responses to environmental fines." Accounting and the Public Interest 2 (1): 22-40.
58. Wilson, P. A., and F. Zabriskie. 2010. When the gold is gone: Reporting of asset retirement obligations for the ultimate cleanup of closed mining operations. Accounting and the Public Interest 10 (1): 57-87.