scholarly journals The framing and reframing of corporate financial results

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Rosenkranz ◽  
Irene Pollach
Keyword(s):  
Press Releases ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Financial News ◽  
Financial Communication ◽  
News Agencies ◽  
Corporate Earnings ◽  
Positive Statements ◽  
Earnings Releases ◽  
Earnings Press Releases

Purpose – News agencies are important stakeholders for large organizations, since the news they distribute will be adopted by other news outlets, which influence public opinion and hence corporate reputation. The purpose of this paper is to advance the understanding of how corporate earnings press releases are transformed into financial news by investigating whether the frames introduced by companies are adopted or reframed by news agencies. Design/methodology/approach – A content analysis of framing techniques in corporate earnings releases and their corresponding news-agency releases was performed, focussing on the financial figures and benchmarks presented, performance attributions, and the tonality of the texts. Findings – The findings suggest that news agencies reframe earnings releases at the textual-pragmatic level by reducing their length, using fewer financial figures, and changing the position of these figures in the texts; they increase transparency by avoiding adjusted financial figures, qualifying figures, and adding analyst assessments; and they change the tonality by down-toning positive statements and highlighting negative aspects. Originality/value – This paper makes a contribution to the field of corporate financial communication, which has not shed much light on the transformation of earnings press releases into financial news. In addition, this paper contributes to the stream of research on journalistic transformations of corporate press releases in general, which has ignored the influential role of news agencies as both manufacturers and wholesalers of news.

Tone variation in financial news: A comparison of companies, journalists and financial analysts

2021 ◽  
pp. 026732312199952
Author(s):  
Irene Pollach ◽  
Lea Vindvad Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Financial Analysts ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Press Releases ◽  
Positivity Bias ◽  
Financial News ◽  
News Agencies ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Earnings Press Releases

This article reports the findings of a comparative study of the financial news produced by companies, financial analysts, financial newspapers and news agencies about the same news events, including data before and after the financial crisis. We ground this study in second-level agenda-setting, according to which news producers select substantive and evaluative attributes for the issues they cover. Using computer-assisted text analysis, we conduct pairwise comparisons of the evaluative tone of corporate quarterly earnings press releases and the corresponding analyst reports and news stories. Our overall hypothesis is that these actors produce news about the same events with an evaluative tone that furthers their own goals as well as the goals of those actors they are dependent on, which we find partial support for. We find a positivity bias in corporate earnings press releases and analyst reports, while financial journalists eliminate the corporate positivity bias, but do not add more negativity. The results also indicate differences in the tone of financial news before and after the financial crisis. Although all actors produce news in the period after the financial crisis that is less positive and less negative than before the crisis, the balance of positive and negative tone as well as relative differences among the actors suggest that news writing by financial journalists at financial newspapers and news agencies is more negative in tone after the financial crisis, thus providing also empirical support of their independence.

Are family firms more optimistic than non-family firms?

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 399-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuan Huang ◽  
Fei Kang
Keyword(s):  
Family Firms ◽  
Earnings Announcements ◽  
Family Ownership ◽  
Press Releases ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Alternative Measures ◽  
Disclosure Tone ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Earnings Press Releases

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate how family ownership affects the disclosure tone of firm earnings press releases. Design/methodology/approach Following prior literature, this study defines family firms as those in which members of the founding families continue to hold positions in top management, to sit on the board or to be blockholders. The disclosure tone of earnings press releases is measured by the level of optimism in firms’ earnings announcements using Loughran and McDonald’s (2011) word classifications. Multivariate analysis is performed to examine the impact of family ownership on firms’ disclosure tone. Additional analysis includes controlling for different firm-level characteristics and using alternative measures of disclosure tone. Findings This study documents that the disclosure tone of earnings announcements is more optimistic for family firms than for non-family firms. The result implies that family owners’ large undiversified equity position in their business results in strong incentives for them to issue more positive earnings announcements to maintain high stock performance. Further analysis reveals that the results are mainly driven by family firms with founder CEOs. The results are robust to controls for corporate governance characteristics and to alternative measures of corporate disclosure tone. Originality/value The findings of this study contribute to the literature that examines factors associated with the determinants of the tone in firms’ earnings announcements. In addition, this study adds to the extant literature on family firms by providing useful insight into the influence of family control on corporate voluntary disclosure.

Brand-related feelings and sponsor attitude formation

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 513-526
Author(s):  
Felix Boronczyk ◽  
Christoph Breuer
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Brand Attitude ◽  
Attitude Formation ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Brand Attitudes ◽  
Press Releases ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Sport Event ◽  
Content Type

PurposeThis study examines how brand attitude formation with respect to sport event sponsors is affected by feelings related to the sponsor brand, the sponsored event, and concurrent sponsors.Design/methodology/approachUsing systematically manipulated press releases, 216 sport-interested participants were presented with different sponsorships of a major sport event. Sponsor information was systematically manipulated both within the stimulus text and the accompanying photo, which contained clearly visible sponsor signage. Participants' brand-related feelings and attitudes toward the stimulus brands were assessed through an online questionnaire following the treatment and analyzed using structural equation modeling.FindingsThe results show that sponsor brand-related feelings represent an important step in the creation of brand attitudes. Sponsor brand attitudes are further revealed to be in part determined by event- and co-sponsor-related feelings through several indirect pathways.Practical implicationsThe findings presented in this study suggest that managers who seek to create favorable brand responses need to consider the feelings associated with their brands, the event and concurrent sponsors. Brands may experience both beneficial and detrimental effects, depending on whether the feelings involved are positive or negative.Originality/valueTo date, no research has investigated the relationships between brand-related feelings and brand attitudes in event sponsorship while accounting for the influence of the sponsored event and concurrent sponsors. Therefore, this study contributes to a better understanding of the role of feelings in sponsor brand attitude formation.

Remove the negatives or highlight the positives? The effect of negativity bias in food preferences

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Salnikova ◽  
John L. Stanton
Keyword(s):  
Online Survey ◽  
Food Preferences ◽  
Food Choices ◽  
General Tendency ◽  
Negative Bias ◽  
Food Category ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Positive Statements ◽  
Negative Attributes

PurposeThe interest of food consumers in improved quality, healthiness, freshness, and authenticity results in a growing introduction of new food products featuring a variety of “positive” (e.g. “Enriched with Vitamin D”) and “negative” (e.g. “Low in Fat”) label claims. It's the goal of this paper to uncover how the presence of positive and absence of negative benefits or attributes balance in the minds of consumers, determine which label claims would have the greatest impact on consumers' intention to buy milk, and understand the role of stating these in either a positive or a negative frame.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve the objectives of this paper, we utilize (1) descriptive study to identify which claims are currently used by the dairy marketing practitioners, (2) focus group to identify the importance of positive and negative product claims, and (3) online survey including discrete choice experiment (DCE) to determine the effect of positive and negative claims on consumer food choices.FindingsWe provide evidence of negative bias in consumers facing the choice between foods with enriched positive ingredients vs foods that are free-from negative ingredients. Specifically, we find that consumers have a general tendency toward giving negative attributes more weight than positive ones.Research limitations/implicationsThe research was conducted in one food category.Practical implicationsThis research should encourage food marketers to include more positive statements about their products rather than the current focus on negatives such as no GMOs or no hormones. the authors understand these negative attributes need to be made but there should also be positive attributes.Social implicationsConsumers will get a total picture of the product values and not skewed to one point.Originality/valueThe concept of negative bias has not be adequately explored in the food category on product labels.

A communicative efficiency and effectiveness model for using metaphor and metonymy in financial news reporting

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 216-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael O'Mara-Shimek
Keyword(s):  
Stock Market ◽  
News Media ◽  
Domain Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Source Domain ◽  
Financial News ◽  
Efficiency And Effectiveness ◽  
Communicative Efficiency ◽  
Metaphor And Metonymy

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a model to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of metaphor when used in financial news media reporting. Design/methodology/approach – Theory in Cognitive Linguistics, Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Frame Semantics are used to demonstrate metaphor’s central role shaping human thought and understanding, producing conceptual frameworks used to understand abstract concepts in not only financial news media but also all human discourse. The deontological principles of the major financial news sources are presented which demonstrate a commitment to common core principles, such as “balance” and “accuracy”, yet few consider the potential role of metaphor toward achieving them. This research presents a minimum source domain model for describing stock market phenomenon to increase “interpretation reliability” based on the concepts of communicative efficiency and effectiveness. Findings – This research presents a model for communicative efficiency and effectiveness of metaphor and metonymy (CEEMM) in financial reporting by presenting a minimum source domain model for describing stock market phenomenon to increase “interpretation reliability” when metaphor is used in financial news media sources. Research limitations/implications – While evidence for the role of metaphor and metonymy on behavior has been provided and in economic contexts, more research into the role that it plays in financial news media and the dynamics of how it influences consumer decisions is necessary. Practical implications – CEEMM provides news media sources with a tool for standardizing the modes they use to semantically create and communicate knowledge of the stock market and stock market phenomenon. Reporting on stock market phenomenon will have, for the first time, objective parameters for using metaphor toward the fulfillment of journalism deontological principles. Social implications – CEEMM has the potential to increase clarity in the metaphors used, as they require less creative exploration on the part of readers. This results in greater levels of trust in news media sources and permits news consumers to make more well-informed financial decisions, as their perceptions of events will be less subjective to creative interpretation. This research should urge news media companies to publicly declare principles for metaphor and metonymic practice in their communication of financial data. Originality/value – The paper presents the first model for increasing the communicative efficiency and effectiveness in the use of metaphor in financial news media.

Does managerial ability affect disclosure? Evidence from earnings press releases

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Beibei Yan ◽  
Özgür Arslan-Ayaydin ◽  
James Thewissen ◽  
Wouter Torsin
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Tax Avoidance ◽  
Press Releases ◽  
Managerial Ability ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Disclosure Tone ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Earnings Press Releases ◽  
Corporate Disclosures ◽  
Low Ability

PurposePrior research shows that managers with lower ability release less accurate management earnings forecasts and have more earnings restatements, lower earnings persistence and lower quality accruals estimations. Yet, whether the impact of managerial ability (MA) on financial reporting can be extended to the narrative section of firms' financial disclosures needs to be theoretically and empirically examined. The authors theorize in this paper that managers with low ability opportunistically inflate the tone to increase outsiders' perceptions of their ability. The authors also examine the relation between MA and the informativeness of tone to predict future firm performance and explain investors' reaction at earnings announcement.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collect 24,000 earnings press releases of 1,149 distinct firms between 2004 and 2013. Content analysis is used to proxy the tone of the disclosures. The authors use the score developed by Demerjian et al. (2012) to measure MA. The authors then employ panel data regressions to examine the impact of MA on disclosure tone.FindingsThe authors find that low-ability managers inflate the disclosure tone to positively influence labor market's perceptions about their ability. This effect is magnified for younger and shorter-tenured managers, for firms with more intense monitoring and during bear markets. The authors also find that the tone of earnings press releases of low-ability managers results in a lower stock price reaction. Supplementary analyses show that the results do not only hold for the tone, but also can be extended to other linguistic features such as the numerical intensity and the readability of earnings press releases. The results are robust to alternative library specifications and other corporate disclosures such as CEO letters to shareholders or 10-K filings.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper shows that managers worry about how firm performance influences the labor market assessment of their ability. In particular, the authors find that managers of low ability are willing to opportunistically manipulate the content of corporate disclosures to improve this perception and build their reputation.Originality/valueThe authors contribute by providing theoretical and empirical evidence on how managers attempt to steer assessments of their ability by manipulating corporate disclosures. Consistent with prior business research suggesting that one's ability is a key feature that affects managers' propensity to engage in ethical practices, such as tax avoidance or manipulation of financial information, this study shows that less able managers tend to inflate the tone of the earnings announcements and that this ability-driven bias is likely to be magnified by career concerns.

Patterns of Language Use in Accounting Narratives and Their Impact on Investment-Related Judgments and Decisions

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracey J. Riley ◽  
Gün R. Semin ◽  
Alex C. Yen
Keyword(s):  
Classification System ◽  
Differential Effect ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Financial Information ◽  
Press Releases ◽  
Quarterly Earnings ◽  
Linguistic Categories ◽  
Earnings Press Releases ◽  
Language Classification

ABSTRACT Recent research has examined the role of accounting narratives on investors' judgments and decisions. This study extends this line of inquiry by examining the effects of language categories on investors' judgments and decisions—the notion that narratives written with different predicates (verbs versus adjectives/nouns) will have a differential effect on investors. We use a language classification system, the Linguistic Category Model (LCM), to identify linguistic categories that vary on the dimension of abstractness/concreteness. First, the validity of the LCM in an accounting context is tested by analyzing quarterly earnings press releases. Results show that the language in press releases is more concrete (abstract) when the associated financial information is positive (negative). Second, an experiment to examine the effect of language categories on investors' judgments and decisions is conducted. The findings indicate that investors are least (most) likely to invest when a negatively (positively) valenced narrative is written concretely.

Long-term management of patients with multiple brain metastases after shaped beam radiosurgery

2004 ◽  
pp. 406-412
Author(s):  
Paul Okunieff ◽  
Michael C. Schell ◽  
Russell Ruo ◽  
E. Ronald Hale ◽  
Walter G. O'Dell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brain Metastases ◽  
Tumor Control ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Negative Results ◽  
Multiple Metastases ◽  
Extracranial Disease ◽  
Successful Control ◽  
The Brain

✓ The role of radiosurgery in the treatment of patients with advanced-stage metastatic disease is currently under debate. Previous randomized studies have not consistently supported the use of radiosurgery to treat patients with numbers of brain metastases. In negative-results studies, however, intracranial tumor control was high but extracranial disease progressed; thus, patient survival was not greatly affected, although neurocognitive function was generally maintained until death. Because the future promises improved systemic (extracranial) therapy, the successful control of brain disease is that much more crucial. Thus, for selected patients with multiple metastases to the brain who remain in good neurological condition, aggressive lesion-targeting radiosurgery should be very useful. Although a major limitation to success of this therapy is the lack of control of extracranial disease in most patients, it is clear that well-designed, aggressive treatment substantially decreases the progression of brain metastases and also improves neurocognitive survival. The authors present the management and a methodology for rational treatment of a patient with breast cancer who has harbored 24 brain metastases during a 3-year period.

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