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As organizations are increasingly expressing their value for diversity and investing in efforts to create more equitable and inclusive workplaces and societies, such efforts have become scrutinized by critics. Often disparaged as being "woke," firms have been stigmatized for public support of social initiatives. Much criticism derives from skepticism regarding organizations' true motivation for engaging in social activism, which some consider antithetical to business purposes. More specifically, an awareness of, and active attention to, social issues are posited to derive from firms' interests in creating an appearance of social consciousness to acquire resources or boost their own reputations. Drawing upon impression management theory, we explore performativity (i.e., inauthentic or insincere activity designed to make a positive impression on others) in diversity management. We present a typology for examining how organizational investment in and communication of diversity management influence stakeholder impressions and other outcomes. We also consider enabling conditions that may alter the likelihood of performativity in their actions. Based thereon, we offer a research agenda for examining impression management as a motivation for diversity management and understanding variability in firm approaches. We offer practice recommendations for engaging in diversity management to activate positive change and transform organizational structures and cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Projecting authenticity is crucial for athletes engaged in personal branding. Prior scholarship has emphasized the "frontstage" of authenticity: what tactics athletes use to present themselves and how audiences perceive such tactics. But it has not yet examined the "backstage": why athletes pursue authenticity and the strategic considerations involved in such ongoing self-presentations. Using a constructivist grounded theory that draws on interviews with 30 elite athletes engaged in personal branding, we unpack these backstage processes, which are not straightforward but entail an ongoing cycle of authenticity negotiation. Our model of authenticity negotiation identifies conflicting authenticity demands and constraints imposed by various actors, which athletes attempt to resolve over time using a range of authenticity management tactics. By modeling the backstage processes in authenticity negotiation, our research integrates, contextualizes, and suggests extensions to the existing frontstage work on authenticity. It offers guidance to athletes and practitioners on managing athlete brands and stakeholder collaborations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aims to explore the drivers of community building in virtual participation charity sport events. The authors conducted a case study of virtual charity events governed by Team World Vision, the sports arm of a global not-for-profit service organisation. They conducted semi-structured interviews with World Vision marketing managers and virtual running race participants, analysed survey and podcast interview data, and performed a document analysis. Four overarching themes were revealed as drivers of community building: community engagement, social networking, impression management, and fitness philanthropy practicing. The study uncovers the peculiarities of the virtual format that helped build virtual communities and create excitement around the cause, such as digitised communication plans, social media- and technology-facilitated opportunities to connect both locally and globally, and the adapted fundraising strategies in the virtual format. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored and described the experiences of ingratiation of middle children in the family. The findings of the study gained insights from the six residents of Koronadal City who grew up being a middle child in the family. This study utilized qualitative descriptive research design exploring the experiences of the participant. The researchers sought to describe the experiences of ingratiation of middle children in the family as young professionals. Thematic analysis, coding, and categorization of the transcript from the semi-structured interview conducted by the researchers were administered. The result showed that middle children have developed a sense of self-reliance upon themselves instead of being dependent to family support. The thing self-reliance found to be the stepping stone of what they have become today. Furthermore, it was shown in the result that middle children have an innate nature of striving because of their driving force, regardless of their upbringing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contending with discrimination can yield a cascade of negative psychological and physiological outcomes which adversely affect health. How individuals manage their emotions in response to discrimination can influence the extent of these negative health outcomes. Research finds, however, that Black and Latine individuals are more likely to use expressive suppression (vs. cognitive reappraisal) in response to discrimination, which is associated with adverse mental health outcomes. In the present research, we explored whether self-control (the ability to manage impulses and regulate thoughts, emotions, and behavior to achieve long-term goals) and impression management emotion-regulation goals (regulating emotions to shape others' perceptions of one's personality and skills) could help explain the differential use of suppression and reappraisal in response to discrimination. Across two cross-sectional studies, we found that Black and Latine participants' everyday discrimination experiences were related to lower self-control and increased impression management emotion-regulation goals. Reduced self-control was, in turn, linked to less use of reappraisal, while impression management emotion-regulation goals were associated with both greater reappraisal and suppression use in response to discrimination. Reappraisal was also related to participants' self-reported depressive symptoms. These findings contribute to our understanding of the factors that are associated with emotion regulation in response to discrimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Camouflaging, the strategies that some autistic people use to hide their differences, has been hypothesized to trigger mental health ramifications. Camouflaging might reflect ubiquitous impression management experiences that are not unique to autistic people and similarly impact the mental health of non-autistic people. Aims: We first examined whether individuals in the general population camouflage and manage impressions while experiencing mental health repercussions, and how gender and neurodivergent traits modified these associations. We then assessed how camouflaging and impression management arose from internalized stigma, and their inter-relationships in shaping mental health outcomes. Methods: Data were collected from 972 adults from a representative U.S. general population sample, with measures pertaining to camouflaging, impression management, mental health, internalized stigma, and neurodivergent traits. Multivariate hierarchical regression and moderated mediation analyses were used to address the two research aims. Results: Both camouflaging and self-presentation (a key component of impression management) were associated with mental health presentations in the general population, which overlapped with those previously reported in autistic people. These associations were more pronounced in women compared with men and were of different directions for individuals with higher autistic traits versus higher ADHD traits. Internalized stigma might be a key stressor that could elicit camouflaging and impression management through social anxiety, which in turn might lead to adverse mental health outcomes. Conclusions: These findings advance the conceptual clarity and clinical relevance of camouflaging and impression management across social and neurodiverse groups in the general population. The ramifications of camouflaging and impression management underscore the need to alleviate internalized stigma for better mental health across human groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through the lens of Membership Categorization Analysis, this study explicates the process of discursive categorization in courtroom opening and closing statements, focusing on the use of mundane categories as well as associated activities to negotiate the legal facticity of a criminal offense. Based on the official transcripts of a high-profile Anglo-American trial, the study reveals that much of what constitutes the opening and closing is the dispute over the categorization of the main characters in legal narratives, which at times provides conflicting information to fact-finders. The two sides are found to deploy explicit and implicit categorizations. However, instead of using oppositional categories, the two sides commonly make use of different membership categorization devices. This alternation of devices supplants and replaces each other, so that two versions of realities are discursively constructed. Such strategic categorization enables lawyers to go beyond offering a road map of the case in the opening and emphasizing key evidence in the closing: everyday categories smuggle in moral evaluation and make an emotional appeal to the jurors, which in principle are legally prohibited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three pilot studies (Ntotal = 832) revealed that people held more positive attitudes toward targets wearing protective face masks. Therefore, we examined whether knowledge of this self-presentational benefit would increase people's intentions to wear face masks. Participants (N = 997) were randomly assigned to read a passage about the COVID-19 pandemic, the safety benefit of mask-wearing, the self-presentational benefit of mask-wearing, or a combination of the latter two. Although this manipulation failed, findings revealed that preexisting beliefs about masked targets being more likable were positively associated with mask-wearing intentions, particularly among participants less concerned with disease or more politically conservative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores how the scarcity of virtual products in virtual gaming spaces influences brand evaluation in the real world. While previous studies suggest that scarcity in virtual spaces can enhance brand value, the mechanisms and conditions under which this effect occurs (e.g., the characteristics of virtual spaces, consumer traits, and stimulus). Drawing on insights from scarcity research on physical products, we propose that the effects of scarcity may stem from the expectation of impression management. We developed a model that incorporates insights from physical product scarcity research with the unique aspects of virtual spaces and consumer characteristics. Through four studies, we discovered that the effect of supply scarcity in enhancing brand evaluation is pronounced when the space is online and when consumers have a high level of social presence. Furthermore, in cases where social presence is not high, encounters with others wearing scarce products were found to enhance the scarcity effect. Companies can enhance brand evaluation by strategically using virtual product scarcity in online gaming, particularly when targeting consumers with high social presence or creating opportunities for players to interact with others wearing scarce items. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the relationship between sustainability reporting and tax avoidance, distinguishing genuine alignment with environmental and social commitments from greenwashing strategies. We also examine the impact of tax amnesty programs on these reporting motives. Using Indonesian nonfinancial listed firms in the 2010–2018 period, this study reveals that these firms employ sustainability reporting as a means of impression management to conceal their tax avoidance practices. Moreover, we document a negative relationship between sustainability reporting and tax avoidance when the firms participate in the tax amnesty program. Our findings are robust, and we provide several additional analyses to expand our contribution. Lastly, our study is believed to be one of the few that focuses on providing empirical evidence on how sustainability reporting is utilized as a "smokescreen" of tax avoidances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employing an interim CEO is one of the key strategies organizations use to address urgent changes in leadership, yet there is a notable lack of attention in existing corporate governance literature regarding their impact on non‐market strategic behaviors. In an effort to bridge this gap, our study integrates institutional theory with impression management literature. Based on unbalanced panel data from Chinese non‐state‐owned listed companies from 2010 to 2019, the study finds that the succession of an interim CEO is associated with a simultaneous reduction in both corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) activities. The negative relationship between interim CEO and CSI activities is weaken in the context of high institutional voids. Mechanism analysis reveals that interim CEOs tend to focus more on the present and allocate more attention toward external stakeholder management strategies and low‐cost and efficiency strategies. Additional analysis indicates that in the face of negative financial performance aspirations, interim CEOs are more likely to reduce CSR activities. Similarly, when confronted with negative social performance aspirations, interim CEOs tend to decrease CSI activities to a greater extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the narrative tone of annual reports is influenced by profitability, bankruptcy risk, and pandemic in the context of Vietnam. The study applies the necessary regression analysis steps such as ordinary least squares (OLS), random effects model (REM), fixed effects model (FEM), and feasible generalized least squares (FGLS). Bootstrapping and System Generalized Method of Moments (SGMM) methods are used to test the robustness and address endogeneity and dynamic relationships in the data. The findings show that net tones increase while negative tones decrease in companies with high profitability. Companies at risk of bankruptcy use more negative tone and less net tone than companies that are not at risk of bankruptcy. The study also affirms that bankruptcy risk moderates the relationship between profitability and negative tone. During the COVID-19 pandemic, companies used more positive and negative tones than they did before the pandemic. After the COVID-19 situation stabilized, positive tones were used more, and negative tones were used less than during the outbreak. The research results also recognized that companies do not intend to hide information through impression management when faced with difficult economic conditions. This study has practical implications for investors and information users when considering management disclosures through the narrative tone of annual reports. To our knowledge, this is the first study (1) in an emerging market in the East—where there are fundamental cultural and linguistic differences compared to Western countries, (2) to build a list of Vietnamese words and phrases expressing emotional nuances used in finance and accounting, and (3) refers to the narrative tone of annual reports across different groups of companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the relationship between CEO compensation schemes and ESG greenwashing behavior in Chinese listed firms during the period 2013–2022. We find that a CEO's cash (equity) compensation has a significantly positive (negative) correlation with corporate ESG greenwashing behavior. From mechanism analysis, consistent with the agency problem view, firms engage in more severe ESG greenwashing behavior under a higher proportion of cash in the CEO compensation structure. Such distortion behavior is mitigated by higher internal control quality in firms having an equity incentive for their CEO under the convergence of interest viewpoint. Additional analysis reveals that corporates audited by large accounting firms and those with more media coverage exacerbate the positive correlation between CEO cash compensation and ESG greenwashing behavior, while government environmental regulations reinforce the inhibitory effect of CEO equity compensation on ESG greenwashing. Our results imply that different CEO compensation schemes can have opposite effects on limiting firms' ESG greenwashing behavior in the Chinese context. Furthermore, we highlight that the question of form over substance principle to certain external governance mechanisms, leading CEO to exacerbate impression management of ESG disclosure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media are gaining significance in organizations and their business strategies. Therefore, the self-presentation of solo entrepreneurs on social media requires a strategic analysis and concept due to their specific business structure. Solo entrepreneurs work on their own without having any employees in their company. In other words, they stay as the personification of a one-(wo)man-firm. The business structure of solo entrepreneurs is particular since they operate in the most decentralized form of a firm, which is a one-person firm. In some way, solo entrepreneurs can be regarded as independent (self-employed) laborers. When presenting themselves online, they must decide which characteristics of the private self should be emphasized and which should be incorporated into the entrepreneurial identity to be useful to the business. Our qualitative study conducted twelve semi-structured interviews with solo entrepreneurs to understand how they present themselves on social media and how the solo entrepreneur offered online differs from the private self. We have found that there are features of the personal self that are kept strictly out of the entrepreneurial sphere, but there are areas that make a mix of personal and entrepreneurial selves. Our results help to understand the group of solo entrepreneurs and their unique characteristics in an increasingly important field of digital media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to explore the diverse shades of financial resource acquisition within the South-Asian context of Pakistan with emphasis on the interrelationship between impression management tactics and entrepreneurial reputations. This paper provides valuable information about the various factors that influence the likelihood of obtaining funds within the context of a reputation-based model. Analyzing impression management strategies, including Self-Promotion, Ingratiation, Supplication, Exemplification, and Intimidation, we identified various effects on resource acquisition. As seen with Self-Promotion as the most influential strategy, other factors also appear to have mixed impacts, suggesting that success is contingent upon the strategies being adapted to specific conditions. Entrepreneurial reputation appears as an important element for moderating this relationship. The relationship between strategy and reputation reveals how reputation either enhances or mitigates impression management. When Intimidation is used, its effectiveness is lessened if there is a positive reputation to counteract it; however, this is not the case with Ingratiation. The findings of our study can guide entrepreneurs, business managers, and policymakers and underscore the need for timely management of organizational reputation and inclusive policymaking for distributive justice in the sharing of resources. In addition, we outline future research directions, together with options such as longitudinal analysis, cross-cultural comparisons, analysis of digital platforms, and the impact of new technologies on the financial resource acquisition processes. In this context, by focusing on these issues, our work enriches the understanding of financial resource acquisition processes occurring in reputation-based entrepreneurial environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Workplace ostracism is a prevalent and painful experience. The majority of studies focus on negative outcomes of ostracism, with less work examining employees' potential adaptive responses to it. Further, scholars have suggested that such responses depend on employee attributions, yet little research has taken an attributional perspective on workplace ostracism. Drawing on sociometer theory and attribution theory we develop and test a model that investigates why and under what circumstances ostracized employees engage in adaptive responses to ostracism. Specifically, we argue that ostracized employees feel greater levels of shame and, in turn, are motivated to engage in greater ingratiation behavior toward their ostracizers. However, we predict that perceptions of ostracizers' competence and warmth shape different attributional processes, which influence the degree to which the ostracized employee experience shame and, in turn, is motivated to engage in ingratiation behavior. Results of a three-wave, time-lagged survey support our prediction that shame mediates the relationship between coworker ostracism and ingratiation behavior. Moreover, results support our three-way interaction, such that coworkers who report higher levels of ostracism and who perceive their coworkers as more (vs. less) competent and more (vs. less) warm report higher shame, and, in turn, ingratiation behavior. Theoretical and practical implications, as well as avenues for future research, are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizational justice refers to individuals' sense of justice regarding the organization and the behaviors resulting from this feeling. It is known that organizational justice causes some negative consequences in businesses. One of these negative consequences is social loafing. Social loafing occurs when individuals knowingly perform at a lower level than their potential and their performance in group work for various reasons. Sometimes, knowingly and sometimes unknowingly, employees can hide their loafing behavior with actions and related tactics to manage the impression they give. This study was conducted to investigate to what extent individuals' perceptions of organizational justice affect their social loafing behaviors and whether the impression management tactics used by employees to manage the impression they create on other members have a mediating role in this effect. The study was tested with data obtained through convenience sampling from 226 white-collar workers working in Istanbul. In the study, significant and negative relationships were found between the perception of organizational justice and social loafing, and positive and significant relationships between impression management and social loafing. Findings reveal that the perception of organizational justice has a negative effect on social loafing, and organizational justice does not have a significant effect on impression management tactics. Finally, the study concluded that impression management differs significantly according to gender, and social loafing varies significantly according to age and education level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coming into relations involves exiting a state of indecision and deciding whether to relate or not. Little research has focused on these initial moments, the communications involved, and the making of a relational decision. We study this process using 947 speed dating encounters, their minute-by-minute communications, and the reported timing of relational decisions. We show that certain forms of communication reveal an actor's relational state of being undecided, desiring a relation, or not desiring a relation (revealing signals). For example, indecision corresponds with indirect and ambiguous communication (negative facework); desiring a relation entails positive, excited, and entraining communication (positive facework); and not desiring a relation involves routine talk. We also show that certain forms of communication persuade persons to transition relational states, moving beyond their indecision and coming to a relational decision (persuasive signals). Interestingly, only some revealing signals are persuasive and bring about corresponding relational decisions in others. These tend to be clear signals that cannot be attributed to the situation or politeness. Last, some signals persuade relational decisions without corresponding to a relational state. These performative signals are select forms of ambiguous communication that place the speaker in an advantaged position within social exchange. • Social network dynamics often involve interpersonal communication and relational decisions. • We focus on initial meetings and the communications that reveal and persuade relational decisions. • Communications reveal individuals' intention to pursue a relation or not, or their indecision. • Communications also are a resource used to persuade others into certain relational decisions. • The signals that reveal intentions are not always the ones that persuade relational decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study explores the integration of corporate reporting by Mitsubishi, a large Japanese company, using a culturally sensitive narrative that combines and reconciles Japanese and Western corporate values in one story. Design/methodology/approach: We use an analytical framework drawing on insights borrowed from narratology and the notion of wrapping – the traditional art of packaging as communication. Findings: We find that Mitsubishi is a survivor company that uses different corporate reporting frameworks during its reporting journey to construct a bespoke narrative of its value creation and cultural values. It emplots narratives to convey a story presenting the impression that Mitsubishi is a Japanese corporation but is compatible with Western neo-liberal ideology, making bad news palatable to its stakeholders and instilling confidence in the future. Research limitations/implications: Wrapping is a culturally sensitive form of impression management used in the integration of corporate reporting. Therefore, rather than assuming that companies blatantly manipulate their image in corporate reports, we suggest that future research should focus on how narratives are constructed and made sense of, situating them in the context of local culture and traditions. Practical implications: The findings should interest scholars, report preparers, policymakers, and the IFRS, considering the recent release of the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards designed to reduce the so-called alphabet soup of corporate reporting. By following Mitsubishi's journey, we learn how and why the notion of integrated reporting was adopted and integrated with other reporting frameworks to create narratives that together convey a story of a global corporation compliant with Western neoliberal ideology. It highlights how Mitsubishi used integrated reporting to tell its story rather than as a rigid reporting framework, and the same fate may apply to the new IFRS Sustainability Reporting Standards that now include integrated reporting. Originality/value: The study offers a new perspective on corporate reporting, showing how the local societal discourses of cultural heritage and modernity can shape the journey of the integration of corporate reporting over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to examine whether firms meeting or just beating an earnings benchmark engage in tone management in earnings conference calls to complement earnings management in the UK context. It also investigates whether the audience tone in beating or just meeting earnings fails to predict future performance. Design/methodology/approach: This study was performed using a sample of non-financial UK firms listed in the FTSE 350 index over the period 2010–2015. Findings: The findings show that firms that exercise more earnings management to meet or just beat earnings are positively associated with the abnormal tone during earnings conference calls. The outcomes also reveal that the audience's tone of firms meeting or just beating an earnings benchmark fails to predict future performance. This confirms the effectiveness of the tone management in managing the perception of audience. Practical implications: This study highlights the need for increased accountability by firms on earnings conference call. It also supports academics and practitioners in understanding the management discretion used in reporting and communication during the earnings conference call. Overall, the results of this study are beneficial for regulators, policymakers and professionals, regarding confirming the need for the earnings conference calls to be regulated. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that examines the association between earnings management and tone management in the UK earnings conference calls. It adds to the existing literature by examining the self-serving behaviour of managerial tone during earnings conference calls within a sitting in which meeting or just beating a benchmark is used. Unlike several studies that explain the behaviour of tone as a signalling strategy, this study reveals that the tendency of impression management behaviour can explain the tone management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The popularity of remote working in recent years has led to a rise in the use of videoconferencing tools. However, these communication tools have also given rise to a phenomenon known as videoconference fatigue (VF). Using the limited capacity model of motivated mediated message processing and impression management theory as the theoretical framework, this study explores how different types and content of virtual backgrounds in videoconferencing influence people's VF and well-being. A survey of 610 users of videoconferencing tools revealed significant variations in the content and type of virtual backgrounds used during videoconferences. Our findings highlight three main points: first, there is a significant relationship between the use of virtual backgrounds and VF; second, pairwise comparisons showed that the type of virtual background significantly influences the amount of VF experienced by users; third, the content of virtual backgrounds also significantly impacts the level of VF experienced by users. These results suggest that careful selection of virtual backgrounds can mitigate VF and improve user well-being. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on Conservation of resources (COR) theory and job preservation motivation, this paper examines the mediating role of impression management between job insecurity and employees' innovative behavior, and the moderating role of job embeddedness in the process. Using two-wave data from 315 samples obtained through the Credamo platform in China, the indirect effects of quantitative and qualitative job insecurity on employees' innovative behavior were found to be different and to be mediated by defensiveness and assertiveness in impression management. Moreover, job embeddedness moderated the relationship not only between job insecurity and impression management, but also between job insecurity and innovative behavior via impression management in moderated mediation analyses. This study provides new insights into the mechanism between job insecurity and innovative conduct from the impression management perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this systematic review and meta‐analysis, researchers' operationalizations of romantic infidelity and the techniques that they employed to measure it were surveyed along with the demographic characteristics of their respondent samples. A meta‐analytic synthesis of infidelity prevalence estimates and their moderators is provided. The APA PsycINFO, PubMed, ISI Web of Science, and ERIC databases were searched for peer‐reviewed, English‐language studies reporting infidelity prevalence rates that were published as of September 2022. Weighted aggregate estimates of different forms of infidelity were calculated and the moderating effects of certain methodological variables on these estimates were examined. Study‐level risk of bias was assessed using the Appraisal tool for Cross‐Sectional Studies (AXIS). A total of 305 studies met the inclusion criteria, with an aggregate sample size of 508,241 respondents across 47 countries. Multiple forms of infidelity were identified, with sexual infidelity receiving the most research attention and many studies lacking clear infidelity operationalization. Anonymous data collection and convenience sampling were found to result in greater report of sexual, but not emotional, infidelity. The findings indicate that nonsexual forms of infidelity remain underexplored. Additionally, operational ambiguity and sample demographic homogeneity are widespread in the existing infidelity research literature. Research practices in this field raise concern regarding the effects of impression management, self‐selection, and response biases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the research on communication visibility has typically focused on how visibility is enacted among employees who are familiar with the networks, practices and technologies of the organization, this study focuses on the experiences of newcomers. Additionally, while technology use around newcomers has typically been approached in parallel with face-to-face communication, our study concentrates on fully remote organizational entry. Qualitative interview and survey data among 24 newcomers revealed that the dimensions of visibility – the sociomaterial context, actors’ actions and observers’ actions – play a role in uncertainty and impression management during the entry process, while simultaneously reflecting to visibility management. The findings contribute to a model theorizing the relationship between visibility, uncertainty, impression management and sociomateriality during remote organizational entry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID‐19 pandemic has created uncertainty and controversy around risk‐related issues such as vaccine mandates. People expressing their opinions on these issues to important others, such as employers, may face significant consequences, such as rewards or rejection. Therefore, people may try to find, avoid, or use information in a way that helps them express risk judgments that are socially acceptable in different social situations. This study investigated how people seek, avoid, and process risk information when they are concerned about their impression management. It also introduced the concept of impression information insufficiency (the perceived gap between the information one has and the information one needs to convey socially acceptable judgments and meet interpersonal needs in social situations) and examined its antecedents and outcomes within the risk information seeking and processing model. We conducted an online survey with 1673 Hong Kong adults during the COVID‐19 pandemic. The results showed that fear and social norms related to greater impression information insufficiency, which thereby was associated with biased risk information seeking, avoidance, and processing. Key points: Policy mandates, such as requiring vaccination, wearing masks, or showing proof of immunization to access public spaces, may increase the pressure that people feel to conform to the prevailing social norms when they express their opinions about the risks involved. People who have to report their views on these mandates to authorities (such as employers, managers, or school officials) or to close contacts (such as relatives, parents, or friends) may face significant social rewards or sanctions depending on how they communicate their risk assessments. Therefore, stating one's risk judgment about policy mandates and related issues can have important implications for one's career, material benefits, or personal relationships in different social contexts.We investigated how people adjust their expressions of risk judgments to match the perceived expectations of their important others by seeking and processing risk information in a socially desirable way. We found that people who were afraid of COVID‐19 and felt normative pressure to be informed about it were more likely to look for and process risk information in a way that aligned with their important others' views on COVID‐19 policies and issues. The need for risk information and normative pressure influenced people's selective and biased use of risk information to align with their social circles.To persuade people to follow policy mandates during public health crises, policymakers and health officials should enlist the help of social role evaluators (e.g., employers, school principals, managers) who can influence the attitudes of their subordinates or students. This is because people may want to impress their evaluators by agreeing with their views on the risky issues. Therefore, risk message designers should highlight, in their messages, how following the policy mandates can create a positive impression (e.g., being responsible and considerate) on their important others (e.g., colleagues, teachers, school principals). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although existing studies suggest the relationship between ostracism and ingratiation, the knowledge about why and when ostracism promotes ingratiatory behaviors remains limited. Drawing from identity process theory, the current study examines the influence of ostracism on ingratiatory behaviors through the mediating role of self-identity threat on a daily timescale and the cross-level moderation of core self-evaluation. Through a diary study of 117 Chinese college students across 14 consecutive days, we found that daily ostracism had a positive indirect effect on daily ingratiatory behaviors through daily self-identity threat. Core self-evaluation of students weakened the indirect effect, such that only students with low core self-evaluation engaged in daily ingratiatory behaviors to cope with self-identity threat from ostracism. More importantly, supplemental analyses suggested that averaged daily ingratiatory behaviors were negatively related to perceived ostracism one week later. We discussed several theoretical and practical implications of these findings and proposed future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digitization of social interactions and daily activities means that multiple aspects of our daily lives are documented and stored, and social interactions leave digital traces. The accumulated data do not evaporate upon death, and questions about posthumous privacy and impression management arise. Drawing on eight focus groups comprised of Israeli Internet users from various backgrounds, the article points to the perceived interrelation between posthumous impression management and respect toward the dead and identifies a pervasive normative stance that advocates for the continuation of privacy management from life to after death. We call it the continuity principle. The living users position their personal data across two axes of public–private and in life–after death and manage access to their data accordingly. The findings suggest that given a digital footprint and possibilities to access digital remains, the separation between life and death erodes. However, users opine that in-life norms should linger and survive death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This cross‐cultural study investigates how interviewees from 10 culturally‐distinct countries differ in their use of impression management (IM) tactics in asynchronous video interviews (AVIs), and the relationship(s) between those tactics and interview performance. A total of 582 participants from ten countries (India, Canada, South Africa, Poland, Spain, Iran, Germany, Chile, Philippines, China) completed an 8‐question AVI for a mock position as a manager in a bank. We drew upon GLOBE's cultural framework to predict and explain observed differences in self‐reported IM use and performance. We used multi‐level modeling to test our hypotheses. Interviewees from our ten countries differed slightly in their IM use for various tactics, but IM use was seldom related to GLOBE cultural dimensions. Partially consistent with previous in‐person interview research, honest IM tactics (e.g., self promotion) were positively, but deceptive tactics (e.g., extensive image creation) negatively, associated with interview performance. This research is the first to investigate cross‐cultural IM differences in AVIs, thus addressing a critical gap in the selection literature at a time when many organizations conduct interviews virtually to save costs, streamline the hiring process, or simply conduct most of their activities remotely. Practitioner points: We examined interviewees' use of honest and deceptive impression management (IM) tactics and their impact on performance in asynchronous video interviews (AVIs).We further explored whether IM use by interviewees from ten countries varies depending on cultural factors, using the GLOBE framework.Applicants from all countries recognized the importance to self‐promote in an AVI.We found only small differences in IM use in AVIs across countries, with honest tactics being systematically more prevalent than deceptive ones.GLOBE cultural dimensions were seldom related to IM use (i.e., only explained between 1% and 7% of variance).Honest self‐focused IM tactics (e.g., self‐promotion) were positively, but deceptive tactics (e.g., extensive image creation) negatively, associated with AVI performance.Organizations looking to use AVIs for recruitment should be aware of applicant's behavioral limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asynchronous video interviews (AVIs) are growing in popularity, but tend to suffer from negative applicant reactions, possibly due to lower social presence compared to other interview formats. Research has suggested that specific design features may influence applicant reactions by increasing perceived social presence. In this study, we manipulated the question format (video vs. text) during an actual hiring process (N = 76), testing whether video questions influence social presence, applicant reactions, impression management, and interview performance. There was no evidence that video (vs. text) questions affected any of these variables. We discuss how specific AVI design choices may have affected our results and suggest that future research could investigate the additive and interactive effects of different AVI design features. Practitioner points: Using video questions did not increase social presence when also using an introduction video.Using video questions did not affect applicant reactions, impression management, or interview performance.Our results suggest that for organizations using an introduction video and offering flexibility in the asynchronous video interview process (e.g., the opportunity to rerecord responses), it may not be worth the effort and cost to produce video questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Whereas consumer satisfaction is critical for the success of services, we research how providers evaluate customers in the sharing economy represented by the rideshare marketplace. We examine anticipated customer evaluation (ACE) as the underlying link and the provider's sense of power as a moderator for the relationship between customer ingratiation and provider evaluations. We first conducted a field pilot study and analyzed the content of rideshare trips described by drivers. Then, we tested the conceptual framework in four experiments that manipulated different rideshare customer behaviors (self‐presentation, other‐enhancement, and customer conformity). Our study contributes to the consumer research literature by examining provider evaluation and discovering the peer‐to‐peer (P2P) dynamic evaluation mechanisms that adopt a two‐way rating system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This research attempts to build a basic framework for understanding a fast-growing but little-investigated prosocial solicitation, checkout charity, by looking at round-up or a flat amount donate request, a priori liking of the charity, checkout mode (self-service or cashier), and presence of others (friends or strangers). Three scenario-based lab experiments were conducted. A clear preference for roundup donation request exists only when the scenario in the experiment mentioned that the charity was not particularly liked and checkout was done by the cashier (versus a self-checkout machine). Investigating the cashier condition further, the preference for a roundup request is only exhibited when the scenario mentioned that the charity was not particularly liked and strangers (versus friends) were present during the solicitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Firms frequently provide relative performance information (RPI) in different environmental contexts. In this experimental study, we investigate how RPI (absent versus present) affects rule-breaking under different levels of group identity (lower versus higher). We refer to performance-improving rule-breaking that increases not only one's own performance but also overall firm performance. We predict and find that RPI triggers a stronger increase in rule-breaking in cases of higher group identity than in cases of lower group identity. We argue that in the case of lower group identity, individuals mainly follow their own moral standards independently of RPI provision. In contrast, we reason that individuals with higher group identity generally want to impress their fellow group members when RPI is absent by following the rules, but when RPI is present by achieving a high rank through rule-breaking. Our results inform managers about the importance of considering RPI in conjunction with group identity. Data Availability: Data are available from Sandra Winkelmann. JEL Classifications: M40; M41. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Summary: While previous organizational impression management (OIM) research focuses on highlighting firms in a favorable light, we explore CEOs' use of "strategic negativity" to manage expectations. We draw on OIM's psychological roots to predict that despite pressure to "be positive," when CEOs perceive stakeholders are motivated to raise their expectations and have an opportunity to do so, CEOs strategically use negativity to counteract this anticipated expectation increase. We test our predictions on 7330 quarterly earnings calls from 370 publicly traded firms (2008–2019), examining how the "motive" of a positive material earnings surprise and "opportunity" of a new fiscal year jointly increase CEO negativity in prepared remarks. We elaborate the wide applicability of strategic negativity, the "other side" of the OIM phenomenon. Managerial Summary: In contrast to the prevailing view that CEOs usually "positively spin" the firm's situation to stakeholders, we investigate how CEOs strategically use negativity to counteract stakeholder optimism, provided CEOs perceive expectations are likely to rocket upward. We argue that positive news represents a "motive" and a chance to reflect represents an "opportunity," and that together they risk raising expectations. Analyzing 7330 quarterly earnings calls of 370 companies (2008–2019), we specifically examined how both (1) a positive earnings surprise and (2) a new fiscal year force CEOs out of their positivity comfort zone and encourage them to be strategically negative in earnings call remarks, to try to lower stakeholder expectations. Our results support this view and pave the way for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To leverage the complementary strengths of humans and artificial intelligence (AI) in online service encounters, firms have begun to use hybrid service agents: combinations of AI agents (e.g., chatbots) and human agents (e.g., service employees) behind a single interface. However, it is unclear whether firms should be transparent about behind-the-scenes employees working in tandem with an AI-based chatbot to serve customers. Against this backdrop, we investigated the impact of human involvement disclosure on customer interactions with hybrid service agents. Our findings suggest that disclosing human involvement before or during an interaction with the hybrid service agent leads customers to adopt a more human-oriented communication style. This effect is driven by impression management concerns that are activated when customers become aware of humans working in tandem with the chatbot. The more human-oriented communication style ultimately increases employee workload because fewer customer requests can be handled automatically by the chatbot and must be delegated to a human. These findings provide novel insights into how and why disclosing human involvement affects customer communication behavior, reveal its negative consequences for employees working in tandem with a chatbot, and highlight the potential costs and benefits of providing transparency in customer–hybrid service agent interactions. The proliferation of hybrid service agents—combinations of artificial intelligence (AI) and human employees behind a single interface—further blurs the line between humans and technology in online service encounters. While much of the current debate focuses on disclosing the nonhuman identity of AI-based technologies (e.g., chatbots), the question of whether to also disclose the involvement of human employees working behind the scenes has received little attention. We address this gap by examining how such a disclosure affects customer interactions with a hybrid service agent consisting of an AI-based chatbot and human employees. Results from a randomized field experiment and a controlled online experiment show that disclosing human involvement before or during an interaction with the hybrid service agent leads customers to adopt a more human-oriented communication style. This effect is driven by impression management concerns that are activated when customers become aware of humans working in tandem with the chatbot. The more human-oriented communication style ultimately increases employee workload because fewer customer requests can be handled automatically by the chatbot and must be delegated to a human. These findings provide novel insights into how and why disclosing human involvement affects customer communication behavior, shed light on its negative consequences for employees working in tandem with a chatbot, and help managers understand the potential costs and benefits of providing transparency in customer–hybrid service agent interactions. History: Karthik Kannan, Senior Editor; Jason Chan, Associate Editor. Supplemental Material: The online appendices are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2022.0152. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Firms increasingly harness data that are created as by-products of information systems usage to evaluate and manage employees. However, such "trace data" can be a double-edged sword. The data can provide a whole new visibility into work practices but also, make work less transparent if the employees start to change their behavior to shape the data. We study this dilemma in the context of knowledge work that has traditionally eluded behavioral measurement. We show that when knowledge workers become aware of data collection and have an interest in how their work may be represented by the data, they start to actively perform the data. We identify different patterns by which employees shape work practices to produce trace data. The changes affect not only the actions and data of the focal employee but also, the actions and data of their colleagues and subordinates. Therefore, to fully realize the potential of trace data, managers may need to get involved in designing the data and to set a trace data policy that states how the data will be used in the organization. The digitalization of organizational settings can provide seemingly unprecedented visibility into knowledge work practices through trace data. Although trace data could be a boon for monitoring knowledge work that has traditionally eluded detailed oversight, the broader literature on data suggests that increasing behavioral visibility through trace data can also motivate reactions that reduce the transparency of work practices and question the validity of the data. To reconcile these contrasting views, we draw from performativity and conduct an in-depth case study of trace data production in a learning management and analytics system at an international business school. We find that once knowledge workers become aware of trace data in the system, they start to shape not only their own actions against the anticipated uses of the data but also the actions of their colleagues, subordinates, and even their students. We conceptualize the changes as first- and second-order prefiguration and discuss how prefigurative changes go beyond gaming, impression management, and transfiguration work discussed in the literature. Finally, we theorize configuration work as metawork that emerges from the need to pay constant attention to how knowledge work practices produce trace data and to keep aligning the practices with data-based monitoring. The results contribute to the literature by shedding light on when, how, and to what effect trace data from knowledge work are performed. History: Accepted by Suprateek Sarker, Senior Editor; Monideepa Tarafdar, Associate Editor. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2019.0357. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the interactive effect of justification and ambiguity on the tendency to distort operating decisions in an incentivized experiment. Managers decide whether to drop or keep a project on behalf of the owners. Although dropping the project always leads to higher payoffs for managers, keeping the project leads to higher payoffs to the owners for projects with good future outcomes. Dropping a project with good future prospects is akin to real earnings management (REM), such as cutting R&D to meet bonus targets. We find that justification increases REM when project outcomes are ambiguous but has no effect when the distribution of project outcomes is known. Ambiguity gives flexibility for managers to craft a plausible justification for dropping the project that appears accountable to the owners. The opportunity for impression management makes selfish actions more attractive to managers because it helps to promote a positive social image. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several scholars have examined how sport stars and other celebrities establish personal brands on social media, but few studies have used a longitudinal research design to study the self-branding process itself and measure changes in self-branding behaviors over time. Based on a content analysis of 6,240 images posted on Instagram by 112 top-ranked professional disc golfers, this study shows how self-branding is a common practice even among the players of this lesser known sport. Drawing on Goffman's work on impression management, self-branding is conceptualized as goal-oriented, strategic communication. The players' uptake in self-branding may be a response to the disc golf industry's rapid growth and new opportunities to market products on social media. While the study partially supports this perspective, it also reveals an interesting contradiction. Many players engaged in self-branding regardless of their social status or ability to monetize their personas. Bourdieu's concepts of habitus, field, and capital may help explain why self-branding is so widespread among lifestyle athletes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political campaigns are embracing the visual social media platform Instagram. One digital feature, the Story, has taken over feed sharing across social media. A Story is a sequence of images or videos uploaded to a profile that disappear after 24 hours. The Story is a novel feature relatively unexamined in political communications and marketing research. Specifically, it is unclear how Gubernatorial candidates employ the Instagram Story feature in campaigning. To address this gap, we content analyze 730 Instagram Stories drawn from 20 Gubernatorial candidate accounts one week before and after Election Day 2018. Results reveal that over half of the candidates employed the Story feature over the two-week period. The Story content primarily included indoor rallies and speeches rather than outdoor canvassing. Campaigns featured more static images than video in Stories and rarely used interactive features, such as animation, location tags, and emojis. Stories were also geared toward mobilization messages rather than voter support, behind-the-scenes looks, and attack ads. Last, some gender and political party differences were evident, as women and Democratic candidates utilized Instagram more. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In selection interviews, most applicants use deceptive as well as honest impression management (IM) to seem like a better candidate. To date, however, little is known about situational cues that determine these behaviors, about the psychological processes in the form of affect and cognitions caused by situational cues, and about how these processes affect subsequent impression management. Given that the absence of a conceptual model that explicitly considers both kinds of IM is holding the literature back, we explored situational cues and associated psychological processes. To do so, we conducted a qualitative study using a Grounded Theory approach. Based on the data, we were able to establish a main model and three submodels that include both deceptive and honest impression management. The submodels describe situational cues related to either the interviewer or interview content. In these submodels, we were also able to identify several cues that have not yet received attention in the literature. We also found that these situational cues are associated with positive and/or negative affect, and that affect subsequently influences IM behavior. In addition, we were able to identify IM tactics that go beyond the existing literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employees use impression management (IM) tactics to influence their image at work. Whereas findings regarding the effects of IM on interview outcomes and performance evaluations are extensive, our understanding of the career implications of IM is both limited and inconclusive. In this two-study paper, we used latent profile analysis to better understand the relationship between the use of five IM tactics in combination—ingratiation, self-promotion, exemplification, intimidation, and supplication—and multiple indicators of objective career success (i.e., salary, promotions, and supervisor-rated reward recommendations) and subjective career success. Four different IM profiles were identified in a sample of 237 employees in Study 1 and which were replicated in Study 2 with 268 employees. In Study 1, we found that the highest levels of salaries and promotions (reflecting objective career success) were associated with a passive use of IM (i.e., employing all five IM strategies at low frequency), thereby running counter to our initial expectations. In contrast, the highest level of subjective career success was associated with a positive use of IM (i.e., a pattern employing the three positive strategies ingratiation, self-promotion and exemplification at higher levels). In Study 2, we found positive use of IM to be associated with the highest level of supervisor-rated reward recommendations as a further indicator of objective career success (followed by passives with the second highest reward recommendations). Our findings highlight the importance of viewing objective and subjective career success as qualitatively different constructs and suggest benefits of employing passive IM use for objective career success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]