Too Good to be True! The Bifurcated Effect of Strong Tone in Management Disclosures on Investors’ Decisions

Abstract

Research has shown evidence of the use of impression management strategies in corporate disclosures as a means of presumably tempering and swaying investors’ perceptions. These impression management strategies include shifts in the tone used when providing disclosures. However, recent research also provides evidence that such techniques can have a contrary effect when the tone of the message appears to be “too good to be true.” This study explores how the use of optimism and certainty in the Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) portion of the annual report affects nonprofessional investors’ investment decisions – a class of investors known to heavily rely on the MD&A portion of annual reports. We theorize a bifurcated effect where optimism and certainty have a positive and direct effect on investor willingness to invest, but at the same time optimism and certainty have a negative indirect effect on willingness to invest that is mediated through decreased perceptions of disclosure credibility. The results provide evidence supporting such a bifurcated effect from the use of tone in management disclosures.

Citation

Triki, A., Arnold, V. and Sutton, S.G. (2015), "Too Good to be True! The Bifurcated Effect of Strong Tone in Management Disclosures on Investors’ Decisions", Advances in Accounting Behavioral Research (Advances in Accounting Behavioural Research, Vol. 18), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 1-31. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1475-148820150000018001