Discretionary disclosure strategies in corporate narratives: incremental information or impression management?

Doris Merkl-Davies and Niamh Brennan ()

Open Access publications from Research Repository, University College Dublin

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to review and synthesize the literature on discretionary narrative disclosures. We explore why, how, and whether preparers of corporate narrative reports use discretionary disclosures in corporate narrative documents and why, how, and whether users react thereto. To facilitate the review, we provide three taxonomies based on: the motivation for discretionary narrative disclosures (opportunistic behavior, i.e. impression management, versus provision of useful incremental information); the research perspective (preparer versus user); and seven discretionary disclosure strategies. We also examine the whole range of theoretical frameworks utilized by prior research, and we put forward some suggestions for future research.

Keywords: Impression management; Narrative disclosures; Disclosure of information; Corporation reports; Corporate image; Content analysis (Communication) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 81 pages
Date: 2007
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (203)

Published in: Journal of Accounting Literature, 26() 2007

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:rru:oapubs:10197/2907

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