A Tone Analysis of the Non-Financial Disclosure in the Automotive Industry

Abstract

This study’s purpose is twofold. On the one hand, it analyzes the relationship between the profitability of firms and the tone of nonfinancial disclosures; on the other hand, it tests the relationship between the environmental, social, and governing (ESG) performance of firms and the tone of nonfinancial disclosures on the automotive sector under two different and competing approaches, which are incremental information and impression management. The sample is composed of 68 nonfinancial reports issued by 17 automotive organizations between the years 2016 and 2020. Data analysis proceeded in two stages. First, a content analysis was performed to assess the linguistic attributes of the nonfinancial disclosure. Second, an inferential regression analysis was performed to test the hypothesized associations between firms’ performance and tone of their disclosures. The results of this study are aimed at providing evidence of the determinants of the verbal tone in the corporate nonfinancial reporting in a specific industry.

Different Leaders in a COVID-19 Scenario: CEO Altruism and Generous Discourse

“…In this regard, they incorporate comments that determine the influence that COVID-19 has had, attributing these actions to external factors. These results are in line with those obtained in previous research (i.e., [79,80,82,85,90]).…”

Minding the gap‐relating disclosure to contexts of sustainability reporting in the automotive industry

“…This can be used to explain variation in the sustainability strategies (Engau & Hoffmann, 2009; Lee, 2012; Weinhofer & Hoffmann, 2010). Beretta et al (2021) also reflect on this issue and see it of high relevance concerning the automotive industry. Additionally, disclosure is seen as price elastic here, that is, able to influence demand and reflected in willingness to pay (Beretta et al, 2021; Hahn & Lülfs, 2014).…”

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