A behavioral perspective on the stock market effect of firm- and ceo-level impression management

Abstract

This dissertation investigates investors’ responses to impression management embedded in voluntary firm disclosure. An event study methodology is applied throughout all empirical chapters and three different research settings are explored: (1) acquisition announcements, (2) earnings conference calls, and (3) CEO TV interviews. Further, different dimensions of impression management are explored, such as the tone alteration in press releases and the CEO's linguistic tone and displayed emotions. The findings indicate that the success of impression management in influencing stock market investors significantly depends on the company's established communication approach, as well as the personality and gender of the CEO.