Impression management for corporate brands over mobile media

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 385-403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dara G. Schniederjans ◽  
Stephen A. Atlas ◽  
Christopher M. Starkey

Purpose As organizations increasingly engage with consumers over mobile devices, there is a growing need to understand how consumers react to impression management over platforms with limited textual content. The purpose of this paper is to empirically assess how different impression management tactics can be used in mobile media to enhance consumer perception-attitude-intentions toward a corporate brand. Design/methodology/approach We surveyed 670 consumers and estimate structural equation models and repeated-measures ANOVAs to determine how short passages employing alternate impression management tactics influence consumers’ perceptions, attitudes and purchase intentions. Findings Results reveal that each impressions management tactic (i.e. ingratiation, intimidation, organizational promotion, supplication and exemplification) influences consumer perceptions, attitudes and intentions. The authors compare differences in how the impressions management tactics influence each stage of the perception-attitude-intentions model and find evidence that initial differences in perceptions favoring ingratiation and exemplification appeals become magnified for purchase intentions. Research limitations/implications Recent calls for research focus on an understanding of how consumers process information on reduced-content platforms of small-screened mobile devices. These results provide empirical evidence of the use of impression management and the difference between five impression management tactics on enhancing consumer perception-attitude-intentions model. Practical implications The results of this study will provide marketers with insights to optimize communications and corporate brands with consumers over mobile media. Originality/value This paper adds to the nascent yet vital literature on mobile marketing by focusing on how impression management tactics influence perceptions, attitudes and intentions through the short message characteristic of mobile platforms. The authors develop a framework for how corporate brand management can strategically use impressions management tactics in this novel domain.

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 500-517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Fieseler ◽  
Giulia Ranzini

Purpose – The rise of social media has caused a shift in organizational practices, giving rise, in some cases, to genuinely “mediatized” organizations. The purpose of this paper is to explore how communications managers employ social media to influence their professional impressions. Design/methodology/approach – Analyzing a sample of 679 European communications professionals, the authors explore with factor and cluster analysis these emerging impression management tactics as well as how managers promote, involve, assist and reproach using social media. Findings – The authors distinguish four patterns of online impression management: self-promotion, assistance seeking, peer support and authority. Because different professional duties may require different approaches to impression management, the authors furthermore cluster for managerial roles, showing that in the shaping of formal or informal online roles, communication professionals convey different impressions depending on their degree of online confidence and strategic purpose for using social media. Originality/value – This contribution enriches the existing literature first by shedding light on impression management tactics used for social media within a professional context, concurrently exploring the effect of variables such as the extent and purpose of social media activity, the privacy concerns of managers and their roles within the organization. Second, it proposes a typology of social media impression management tailored to the reality of managers, with the aim of presenting a specific tool for understanding managerial self-communication through social media, classifying and predicting professional behaviors.


2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 677-689 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Sandberg ◽  
Maria Holmlund

Purpose – The study aims to analyzes how companies present their actions to give the impression that they are sustainable actors. It identifies the organizational impression management tactics that companies use in sustainability reporting. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative template analysis of two sustainability reports was conducted to inductively identify the organizational impression management tactics that companies use in sustainability reporting. Findings – The study identified eight organizational impression management tactics used in sustainability reporting, four of which relate to how companies present their actions while the remaining four are characteristic of the writing styles that companies use. Research limitations/implications – The study is exploratory in nature and does not claim to identify all existing impression management tactics. Therefore, future research is needed to confirm the results and identify possible additional tactics. Practical implications – Companies can use impression management tactics that more strongly aim to shape the impressions that stakeholders hold or tactics that more neutrally inform stakeholders of their actions. Companies need to make a choice between the two, considering that stakeholders’ expectations of sustainability reporting would be useful. Originality/value – The study shows the different ways that companies use impression management in sustainability reporting, thus lending insight into a perspective on sustainability reporting that has rarely been explored in previous research.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dewan Mahboob Hossain ◽  
Md. Saiful Alam ◽  
Mohammed Mehadi Masud Mazumder ◽  
Al Amin

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the gender-related discourses in the annual reports of the listed companies in Bangladesh. Design/methodology/approach To fulfill this objective, a sociological discourse analysis (SDA) of the gender-related texts in the annual reports of Bangladeshi companies (listed in the Dhaka Stock Exchange) was conducted. Sandberg and Holmlund’s (2015) organizational impression management tactics (description, praise, admission, defense and writing styles) was applied as the analytical framework of SDA. The findings of the study were interpreted from a triangulation of two different theories: legitimacy theory and impression management theory. Findings The study suggests that the companies in Bangladesh are disclosing gender-related information to a limited extent. They provide some information in relation to equal opportunities, business activities targeted to women and corporate contribution to women’s welfare. Most of these gender-related discourses are rhetorical in nature. The companies used various impression management tactics such as description, praise, positive writing style, vague writing style and emotional writing style. Research limitations/implications This study is exploratory in nature and focuses on cross-sectional data. Thus, it does not identify the trend of corporate gender reporting over the years. Practical implications At the policy level, the findings revealed a need for reporting guidelines for gender narratives. Although there is a global gender reporting guideline as proposed under global reporting initiative, there is no local guideline in Bangladesh. Our findings suggest that in the absence of proper directives, companies presented facts and figures rhetorically and qualitatively. Social implications Our findings provide valuable insights for the companies in assisting the Government of Bangladesh to deal with the prevailing gender inequality and achieved gender-related sustainable development goals. It is argued that the government should take more interest in corporate social responsibility activities (such as promoting gender equality) and introduce legislation and guidelines for social accounting. Originality/value This is one of the very few studies that illustrate the corporate gender reporting of a developing economy – Bangladesh. To make a unique contribution to corporate gender disclosure, the study has drawn its analysis from a triangulation of the impression management and the legitimacy perspectives. Also, the use of SDA for annual report analysis has informed the readers about “how” the corporate narratives are presented in the annual reports rather than “what” issues are disclosed as commonly done in content analysis.


2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksander P. J. Ellis ◽  
Bradley J. West ◽  
Ann Marie Ryan ◽  
Richard P. DeShon

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Urška Tuškej ◽  
Klement Podnar

Purpose This paper aims to examine relationships between consumer-brand identification (CBI), brand prestige (BP), brand anthropomorphism (BA) and consumers’ active engagement in brand activities on social media in corporate brand settings. Design/methodology/approach Data collected with an online survey on a sample randomly drawn from an online panel of consumers were used to test the proposed theoretical model. Findings Anthropomorphism and prestige of corporate brands were found to positively influence consumer-brand identification. Also, CBI positively affects consumers’ active engagement and fully mediates the effect of BP and BA on consumers-brand engagement (CBE) with corporate brands. Research limitations/implications Further research in other markets and on a broader set of corporate brands would additionally validate results and enable comparisons of impacts among different brand categories. The data were gathered in one country, so further research in other markets would additionally validate results of this study. Practical implications Chief executives responsible for corporate brand management are provided with some insights on how appropriate corporate brand identity management can strengthen CBI and stimulate CBE on social media. Originality/value This paper provides some novel insights into the research on consumer-brand identification. It is the first study (to the authors’ knowledge) that empirically supports the positive influence of brand anthropomorphism on CBI in corporate brand settings. It also contributes to the clarification of previously inconsistent results of the influence of BP on CBI. By showing that consumers’ identification with a corporate brand plays a vital role in increasing consumers’ active engagement on social media, the study contributes to the relatively sparse body of research on CBE.


2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elif Karaosmanoglu ◽  
Didem Gamze Isiksal ◽  
Nesenur Altinigne

Purpose With the aim of developing a better understanding of why some consumers still excuse corporate brands that engage in transgressions, this study tests whether extrinsically religious people tolerate corporate brands more than intrinsically religious individuals at different transgression levels (severe and mild) and punish them less than the latter. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts a 2 × 2 experimental design to manipulate corporate brand transgression levels (mild vs severe) and religiosity orientations (intrinsically religious vs extrinsically religious) on a convenience sample of 134 subjects who live in Turkey, a country where Islam shapes religious context. It uses a scenario technique and projective approach. Findings While the main effect of corporate brand transgression on punishing behaviour does not appear in the analysis, religiosity’s main effect on the latter does. Unexpectedly, extrinsically religious consumers punish corporate brand transgressors more than their intrinsically religious counterparts regardless of the transgression severity levels. Research limitation/implications Although the study does not refer to any religion in particular, countries predominated by religions other than Islam may yield different consumer reactions. Future studies should focus on transgressions in such different settings. Practical implications Corporate brand transgressors should immediately take up good causes to attract the attention of intrinsically religious consumers. Otherwise, for the sake of showing off, extrinsically religious people may punish the transgressor for its intentional mistakes, which may harm corporate brand associations. Originality/value This study examines the link between religiosity and corporate branding. Unique in this way, it introduces religiosity as a valid contributor that can explain why some consumers do not punish corporate brand transgressors, especially in countries like Turkey where religiosity is intertwined with the developments in the liberal economy which led to the emergence of a new middle class.


2008 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 174-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filip Lievens ◽  
Helga Peeters

This study examines interviewers’ sensitivity to impression management in structured interviews by determining the relative importance that interviewers attach to (verbal and nonverbal) impression management as compared to the relative importance that they attach to predetermined competencies. Two samples of interviewers (55 Master I/O psychology students and 18 professional interviewers) watched and evaluated videotaped interviewees who were instructed to put their best foot forward. Results of relative weight analyses showed that the importance of verbal and nonverbal impression management tactics was relatively small as compared to the importance attached to job-related competencies. The type of interview format had some effect on interviewers’ sensitivity to impression management tactics. In particular, in behavior description interviews the interviewers in both samples attached most relative weight to self-focused verbal tactics. Interviewer experience was not related to interviewers’ sensitivity to impression management tactics.


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