{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,4]],"date-time":"2026-07-04T17:57:28Z","timestamp":1783187848563,"version":"3.54.6"},"reference-count":58,"publisher":"American Accounting Association","issue":"1","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2012,12,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n               <jats:p>The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether firms use graphs in their sustainability reports in order to present a more favorable view of their social and environmental performance. Further, because prior research indicates that companies use social and environmental disclosure as a tool to reduce their exposure to social and political pressures (the legitimacy argument), we also examine whether differences in the extent of impression management are associated with differences in social and environmental performance. Based on an analysis of graphs in sustainability reports for a sample of 77 U.S. companies for 2006, we find considerable evidence of favorable selectivity bias in the choice of items graphed, and moderate evidence that where distortion in graphing occurs, it also has a favorable bias. Our results regarding the relation between impression management and performance are mixed. Whereas we find that graphs of social items in sustainability reports for companies with worse social performance exhibit more impression management, no significant relation between environmental performance and impression management in the use of environmental graphs is found. Overall, our results provide additional evidence that corporate sustainability reporting, as it currently exists, appears to be more about fostering positive public relations than providing a meaningful accounting of the social and environmental impacts of the firm.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.2308\/apin-10249","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2012,2,2]],"date-time":"2012-02-02T20:51:38Z","timestamp":1328215898000},"page":"16-37","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":221,"title":["Impression Management in Sustainability Reports: An Empirical Investigation of the Use of Graphs"],"prefix":"10.2308","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Charles H.","family":"Cho","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Giovanna","family":"Michelon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dennis M.","family":"Patten","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1112","reference":[{"key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Ackerman1","unstructured":"Ackerman, D. \n          \n          1991 .  A Natural History of the Senses . New York, NY : Random House ."},{"key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Adams1","article-title":"The standardization of sustainability reporting","author":"Adams","year":"2007","journal-title":"Sustainability Accounting and Accountability"},{"issue":"2","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Arunachalam1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"183","DOI":"10.2308\/jis.2002.16.2.183","article-title":"Impression management with graphs: Theory and experiment","volume":"16","author":"Arunachalam","year":"2002","journal-title":"Journal of Information Systems"},{"issue":"6","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Ballou1","first-page":"65","article-title":"The future of corporate sustainability reporting","volume":"200","author":"Ballou","year":"2006","journal-title":"Journal of Accountancy"},{"issue":"2","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Beattie1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"181","DOI":"10.1177\/0021943607313993","article-title":"Investigating presentational change in U.K. annual reports: A longitudinal perspective","volume":"45","author":"Beattie","year":"2008","journal-title":"Journal of Business Communication"},{"issue":"88","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Beattie2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"291","DOI":"10.1080\/00014788.1992.9729446","article-title":"The use and abuse of graphs in annual reports: Theoretical framework and empirical study","volume":"22","author":"Beattie","year":"1992","journal-title":"Accounting and Business Research"},{"issue":"3","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Beattie3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"215","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1468-0408.1994.tb00009.x","article-title":"An empirical study of graphical format choices in charity annual reports","volume":"10","author":"Beattie","year":"1994","journal-title":"Financial Accountability and Management"},{"issue":"1","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Beattie4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"33","DOI":"10.1111\/1467-646X.00016","article-title":"A comparative study of the use of financial graphs in the corporate annual reports of major U.S. and U.K. companies","volume":"8","author":"Beattie","year":"1997","journal-title":"Journal of International Financial Management and Accounting"},{"issue":"1","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Beattie5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"46","DOI":"10.1111\/1467-6281.00034","article-title":"Australian financial graphs: An empirical study","volume":"35","author":"Beattie","year":"1999","journal-title":"Abacus"},{"issue":"2","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Beattie6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"213","DOI":"10.1506\/AAT8-3CGL-3J94-PH4F","article-title":"Changing graph use in corporate annual reports: A time-series analysis","volume":"17","author":"Beattie","year":"2000","journal-title":"Contemporary Accounting Research"},{"issue":"2","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Beattie7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"159","DOI":"10.1016\/S1061-9518(00)00030-6","article-title":"Impression management: The case of inter-country financial graphs","volume":"9","author":"Beattie","year":"2000","journal-title":"Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation"},{"issue":"4","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Beattie8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"546","DOI":"10.1108\/09513570210440595","article-title":"Measurement distortion of graphs in corporate reports: An experimental study","volume":"15","author":"Beattie","year":"2002","journal-title":"Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal"},{"key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Beattie9","first-page":"71","article-title":"Corporate reporting using graphs: A review and synthesis","volume":"27","author":"Beattie","year":"2008","journal-title":"Journal of Accounting Literature"},{"issue":"3","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Bebbington1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"337","DOI":"10.1108\/09513570810863932","article-title":"Corporate social reporting and reputation risk management","volume":"21","author":"Bebbington","year":"2008","journal-title":"Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal"},{"issue":"1","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Brammer1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"29","DOI":"10.1007\/s10551-005-7443-4","article-title":"Corporate reputation and philanthropy: An empirical analysis","volume":"61","author":"Brammer","year":"2005","journal-title":"Journal of Business Ethics"},{"issue":"1","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Chatterji1","first-page":"125","article-title":"How well do social ratings actually measure corporate social responsibility?","volume":"18","author":"Chatterji","year":"2009","journal-title":"Journal of Economics and Management Strategy"},{"issue":"1","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Cho1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"33","DOI":"10.1080\/09638180802579616","article-title":"Legitimation strategies used in response to environmental disaster: A French case study of Total S.A.'s Erika and AZF incidents","volume":"18","author":"Cho","year":"2009","journal-title":"European Accounting Review"},{"issue":"7\/8","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Cho2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"639","DOI":"10.1016\/j.aos.2006.09.009","article-title":"The role of environmental disclosures as tools of legitimacy: A research note","volume":"32","author":"Cho","year":"2007","journal-title":"Accounting, Organizations and Society"},{"issue":"2","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Cho3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"139","DOI":"10.1007\/s10551-006-9019-3","article-title":"Corporate political strategy: An examination of the relation between political expenditures, environmental performance, and environmental disclosure","volume":"67","author":"Cho","year":"2006","journal-title":"Journal of Business Ethics"},{"issue":"4","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Cho4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"431","DOI":"10.1016\/j.aos.2009.10.002","article-title":"The language of U.S. corporate environmental disclosure","volume":"35","author":"Cho","year":"2010","journal-title":"Accounting, Organizations and Society"},{"issue":"3","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Courtis1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"269","DOI":"10.1177\/002194369703400304","article-title":"Corporate annual report graphical communication in Hong Kong: Effective or misleading?","volume":"34","author":"Courtis","year":"1997","journal-title":"Journal of Business Communication"},{"issue":"2","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Davison1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"165","DOI":"10.1016\/j.aos.2009.03.003","article-title":"[In]visible [in]tangibles: Visual portraits of the business \u00e9lite","volume":"35","author":"Davison","year":"2010","journal-title":"Accounting, Organizations and Society"},{"issue":"3","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Deegan1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"282","DOI":"10.1108\/09513570210435852","article-title":"The legitimizing effect of social and environmental disclosures: A theoretical foundation","volume":"15","author":"Deegan","year":"2002","journal-title":"Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal"},{"issue":"1","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Dhaliwal1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"59","DOI":"10.2308\/accr.00000005","article-title":"Voluntary nonfinancial disclosure and the cost of equity capital: The initiation of corporate social responsibility reporting","volume":"86","author":"Dhaliwal","year":"2011","journal-title":"The Accounting Review"},{"issue":"1","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Dowling1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"122","DOI":"10.2307\/1388226","article-title":"Organizational legitimacy: Social values and organizational behavior","volume":"18","author":"Dowling","year":"1975","journal-title":"Pacific Sociological Review"},{"key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Elkington1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Elkington, J. \n          \n          1997 .  Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business . Oxford, U.K .: Capstone Publishing .","DOI":"10.1002\/tqem.3310080106"},{"issue":"4","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Elsbach1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"699","DOI":"10.2307\/256313","article-title":"Acquiring organizational legitimacy through illegitimate actions: A marriage of institutional and impression management theories","volume":"35","author":"Elsbach","year":"1992","journal-title":"Academy of Management Journal"},{"issue":"1","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Elsbach2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"57","DOI":"10.2307\/2393494","article-title":"Managing organizational legitimacy in the California cattle industry: The construction and effectiveness of verbal accounts","volume":"39","author":"Elsbach","year":"1994","journal-title":"Administrative Science Quarterly"},{"issue":"1","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Erusalimsky1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"12","DOI":"10.1080\/0969160X.2006.9651749","article-title":"Towards a more systematic study of standalone corporate social and environmental: An exploratory pilot study of U.K. reporting","volume":"26","author":"Erusalimsky","year":"2006","journal-title":"Social and Environmental Accounting Journal"},{"key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Freedman1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"59","DOI":"10.1016\/S1479-3598(03)02003-X","article-title":"Pollution disclosures by electric utilities: An evaluation at the start of the first phase of 1990 Clean Air Act","volume":"2","author":"Freedman","year":"2004","journal-title":"Advances in Environmental Accounting and Management"},{"issue":"1","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Freedman2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"21","DOI":"10.2308\/api.2008.8.1.21","article-title":"Accounting disclosures of Toxics Release Inventory for 2002","volume":"8","author":"Freedman","year":"2008","journal-title":"Accounting and the Public Interest"},{"key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Freedman3","first-page":"183","article-title":"The association between environmental performance and environmental disclosure in annual reports and 10Ks","volume":"3","author":"Freedman","year":"1990","journal-title":"Advances in Public Interest Accounting"},{"key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Ginzel1","article-title":"Organizational impression management as a reciprocal influence process: The neglected role of the organizational audience","author":"Ginzel","year":"1992","journal-title":"Research in Organizational Behavior 15"},{"issue":"1","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Godfrey1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"95","DOI":"10.1111\/1467-6281.00122","article-title":"Earnings and impression management in financial reports: The case of CEO changes","volume":"39","author":"Godfrey","year":"2003","journal-title":"Abacus"},{"issue":"2","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Hillman1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"125","DOI":"10.1002\/1097-0266(200101)22:2<125::AID-SMJ150>3.0.CO;2-H","article-title":"Shareholder value, stakeholder management, and social issues: What's the bottom line?","volume":"22","author":"Hillman","year":"2001","journal-title":"Strategic Management Journal"},{"issue":"48","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Hines1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"296","DOI":"10.1080\/00014788.1982.9728822","article-title":"The usefulness of annual reports: The anomaly between the efficient markets hypothesis and shareholder surveys","volume":"12","author":"Hines","year":"1982","journal-title":"Accounting and Business Research"},{"key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Hopwood1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"433","DOI":"10.1016\/j.aos.2009.03.002","article-title":"Accounting and the environment","volume":"34","author":"Hopwood","year":"2009","journal-title":"Accounting, Organizations and Society"},{"key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-KLD1","unstructured":"KLD Research and Analytics, Inc. (KLD) . 2003 .  KLD Ratings Data: Inclusive Social Rating Criteria . Boston, MA : KLD ."},{"key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-KPMG1","unstructured":"KPMG International (KPMG) . 2008 .  KPMG International Survey of Corporate Responsibility Reporting 2008 . Amstelveen, The Netherlands : KPMG International ."},{"issue":"3","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Livesey1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"233","DOI":"10.1177\/1086026602153001","article-title":"Transparent and caring corporations?","volume":"15","author":"Livesey","year":"2002","journal-title":"Organization and Environment"},{"issue":"2","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Mather1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"147","DOI":"10.1080\/00014788.2005.9729670","article-title":"An investigation into the measurement of graph distortion in financial reports","volume":"35","author":"Mather","year":"2005","journal-title":"Accounting and Business Research"},{"issue":"2","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Mather2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"56","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1835-2561.1996.tb00017.x","article-title":"The use and representational faithfulness of graphs in annual reports: Australian evidence","volume":"6","author":"Mather","year":"1996","journal-title":"Australian Accounting Review"},{"issue":"1","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Mather3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"65","DOI":"10.1108\/09513570010316144","article-title":"The use and representational faithfulness of graphs in Australian IPO prospectuses","volume":"13","author":"Mather","year":"2000","journal-title":"Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal"},{"key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-MerklDavies1","first-page":"116","article-title":"Discretionary disclosure strategies in corporate narratives: Incremental information or impression management?","volume":"26","author":"Merkl-Davies","year":"2007","journal-title":"Journal of Accounting Literature"},{"issue":"3","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-MerklDavies2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"315","DOI":"10.1108\/09513571111124036","article-title":"Impression management and retrospective sense-making in corporate narratives: A social psychology perspective","volume":"24","author":"Merkl-Davies","year":"2011","journal-title":"Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal"},{"key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Milne1","article-title":"Future prospects for corporate sustainability reporting","author":"Milne","year":"2007","journal-title":"Sustainability Accounting and Accountability"},{"issue":"2","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Muino1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"83","DOI":"10.1080\/00014788.2009.9663351","article-title":"Does graph disclosure bias reduce the cost of equity capital?","volume":"39","author":"Muino","year":"2009","journal-title":"Accounting and Business Research"},{"key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Paivio1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"497","DOI":"10.1016\/S0022-5371(74)80002-2","article-title":"Spacing of repetitions in the incidental and intentional recall of pictures and words","volume":"13","author":"Paivio","year":"1974","journal-title":"Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior"},{"issue":"8","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Patten1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"763","DOI":"10.1016\/S0361-3682(02)00028-4","article-title":"The relation between environmental performance and environmental disclosure: A research note","volume":"27","author":"Patten","year":"2002","journal-title":"Accounting, Organizations and Society"},{"issue":"2","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Penrose1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"158","DOI":"10.1177\/0021943607313990","article-title":"Annual report graphic use: A review of the literature","volume":"45","author":"Penrose","year":"2008","journal-title":"Journal of Business Communication"},{"issue":"1","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Prakash1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"29","DOI":"10.1016\/0361-3682(77)90005-8","article-title":"Information inductance and its significance for accounting","volume":"2","author":"Prakash","year":"1977","journal-title":"Accounting, Organizations and Society"},{"issue":"3","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Steinbart1","first-page":"60","article-title":"The auditor's responsibility for the accuracy of graphs in annual reports: Some evidence of the need for additional guidance","volume":"3","author":"Steinbart","year":"1989","journal-title":"Accounting Horizons"},{"issue":"4","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Taylor1","first-page":"126","article-title":"Misleading graphs: Guidelines for the accountant","volume":"162","author":"Taylor","year":"1986","journal-title":"Journal of Accountancy"},{"key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Tufte1","unstructured":"Tufte, E. R. \n          \n          1983 .  The Visual Display of Quantitative Information . Cheshire, CT : Graphic Press ."},{"key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Unerman1","article-title":"Introduction to sustainability accounting and accountability","author":"Unerman","year":"2007","journal-title":"Sustainability Accounting and Accountability"},{"issue":"4","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Waddock1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"303","DOI":"10.1002\/(SICI)1097-0266(199704)18:4<303::AID-SMJ869>3.0.CO;2-G","article-title":"The corporate social performance-financial performance link","volume":"18","author":"Waddock","year":"1997","journal-title":"Strategic Management Journal"},{"issue":"1","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Warsame1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"22","DOI":"10.2308\/api.2002.2.1.22","article-title":"Responding to \u201cDiscrediting events: Annual report disclosure responses to environmental fines.\u201d","volume":"2","author":"Warsame","year":"2002","journal-title":"Accounting and the Public Interest"},{"issue":"1","key":"2024082916550164200_i1530-9320-12-1-16-Wilson1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"57","DOI":"10.2308\/api.2010.10.1.57","article-title":"When the gold is gone: Reporting of asset retirement obligations for the ultimate cleanup of closed mining operations","volume":"10","author":"Wilson","year":"2010","journal-title":"Accounting and the Public Interest"}],"container-title":["Accounting and the Public Interest"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/publications.aaahq.org\/api\/article-pdf\/12\/1\/16\/52234\/apin-10249.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"syndication"},{"URL":"https:\/\/publications.aaahq.org\/api\/article-pdf\/12\/1\/16\/52234\/apin-10249.pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,29]],"date-time":"2024-08-29T20:08:41Z","timestamp":1724962121000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/publications.aaahq.org\/api\/article\/12\/1\/16\/6331\/Impression-Management-in-Sustainability-Reports-An"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2012,12,1]]},"references-count":58,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2012,12,1]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.2308\/apin-10249","relation":{},"ISSN":["1530-9320"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1530-9320","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2012,12,1]]}}}