Perceptions of company performance: a study of impression management

This research investigates two particular forms of impression management commonly found in corporate annual reports, the distortion of narratives, and graph manipulation. Little is known about potential effects of these manipulations on decisions made by annual report users. A laboratory experiment was performed in which participants were provided with information for two fictitious companies and were required to make an investment choice. No significant difference was found between the investment decisions of the participants, suggesting that impression management does not affect corporate annual report users’ perceptions of company performance.