Analyst Following, Country’s Financial Development, and the Selective Use of Graphical Information in Corporate Annual Reports

Abstract

This article investigates whether and how the demand for information at country and firm levels affects the selective use of key performance indicators graphs in corporate annual reports. Our study finds that the country-level and firm-level demands for information provide an incentive, rather than a curb, for a selective display of key performance indicators, which is an important concern in corporate communication and reporting. The external pressure from the demand for information seems to encourage, rather than discourage, impression management. We suggest that annual report readers should use graphical information with caution as companies are likely to provide a self-serving, nonneutral, account of their performance in those contexts where the pressure to perform is higher.

Impression management in bankruptcy: An analysis of the narratives in listed companies

“…In fact, the existing literature has found impression management in Spanish corporate documents (Guillamon-Saorin et al, 2012;Guillamón-Saorín & Martínez-López, 2013). However, it is well known that disclosure is expected to vary between countries, legal systems and other factors (Doupnik & Riccio, 2006;Melis & Aresu, 2022). Most of the existing research on impression management has been developed in Anglophone countries.…”

Taking a Rhetorical Perspective on Emerging Communication Practice: Pedagogy as Theory-Building Scholarship

“…Another 21 articles (23.1%) focused on the knowledge sources used in business communication practice. Three tackled artificial intelligence resources (Getchell et al, 2022; Naidoo & Dulek, 2022; Salomonson et al, 2013), three assessed the communication of emotions (Casado-Molina et al, 2022; Pickering, 2018; Xu & Wu, 2020), three focused on tasks of information gathering and storage (Craig & Allen, 2013; Gómez & Ballard, 2013; Young, 2018), five on the visualization of data (Jones et al, 2020; Kernbach et al, 2015; Laidroo, 2019; Melis & Aresu, 2022; Toth, 2013), and four on the business uses of personal stories (Yang, 2013) and narrative more generally (Aggerholm, 2014; Laskin, 2018; Rawlins, 2014). Three articles directly address the norms of rational thinking expected in the business environment (Geertshuis et al, 2015; Mandhana, 2022; Simonsson & Heide, 2018).…”

“…Professional uses of implicit forms of reasoning and tacit knowledge are well documented in this selection of articles, including emotional content (Casado-Molina et al, 2022; Pickering, 2018; Xu & Wu, 2020). Important communications are no longer exclusively textual, and many authors addressed the specifics of visual display (Jones et al, 2020; Kernbach et al, 2015; Laidroo, 2019; Melis & Aresu, 2022; Toth, 2013) and narrative structure (Aggerholm, 2014; Laskin, 2018; Rawlins, 2014; Yang, 2013).…”

“…We do find discussions of ongoing rhetorical evolution. Visual images are not merely illustrative displays, but understood by these authors as critical elements of ethos , playing roles in impression management (Jones et al, 2020; Laidroo, 2019; Melis & Aresu, 2022) and affect (Kernbach et al, 2015), and logos , tapping into the implicit cognitive processes (Toth, 2013) that managers are learning to utilize more fully. Similarly, storytelling has evolved from a secondary tool of pathos and ethos toward acceptance as a form of logos for its psychological functions in “deliberate decision making, rational planning, and control” (Yang, 2013, p. 132).…”

Do Poor and Good Performing Companies Report Differently? The Readability and Impression Management in Corporate Narrative Documents: Evidence From Northern Europe

“…For example, Beattie and Jones (2000) found that companies are more likely to include graphs of key financial variables when their profit has increased. Melis and Aresu (2019) found "a selective display of key performance indicators, which is an important concern in corporate communication and reporting" and Moreno et al (2019) use of "qualitative textual characteristics with a self-serving bias, but did not use those with a more quantitative character". In prior study's findings are that "92 per cent of profitable companies mentioned at least one key financial variable compared to 86 per cent of unprofitable companies" (Clatworthy & Jones, 2006, p. 503) Н6: The CEO's statements of "good performers" and "poor performers" will contain a similar number of quantitative references.…”