Seeing Is (Not) Believing: Managing the Impressions of the Firm’s Commitment to the Natural Environment

Pratima Bansal () and Geoffrey Kistruck ()

Journal of Business Ethics, 2006, vol. 67, issue 2, 165-180

Abstract: This paper examines stakeholder responses to impression management tactics used by firms that express environmental commitment. We inductively analyzed data from 98 open-ended questionnaires and identified two impression management tactics that led respondents to believe that a firm was credible in its commitment to the natural environment. Approximately, half of the respondents responded to illustrative impression management tactics that provide images of, and/or broad-brush comments about, the firm’s commitment to the natural environment. The other half responded to demonstrative impression management tactics, which provide specific facts and details about the firm’s operations. The research results provide important insights into the effects of organizational transparency. In this paper, we explore these findings and provide directions for future research. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2006

Keywords: impression management tactics; legitimacy; natural environment; stakeholders; transparency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (69)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-006-9021-9

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