Corporate Accounting Narratives and Self-Presentational Dissimulation Technique: An Analysis of Fraudulent Financial Reporting Firms

This study seeks to investigate the motivation for impression management among Malaysian public listed firms. The sample used in this study consists of 80 firms classified into two categories; fraudulent financial reporting firms and non-fraudulent financial reporting firms. Content analysis of impression management technique of self-presentational dissimulation in the use of accounting narratives is performed based on the methodology introduced and refined by Merkl-Davies et al. (2011). The findings indicate that firms do not use impression management to create an inaccurate image of organisational outcomes which is inconsistent with the view held by management (self-presentational dissimulation). Specifically, the result indicate that fraudulent financial reporting firms have no greater motivation to engage in self-presentational dissimulation than their non-fraudulent financial reporting counterparts. The implication of this study suggests that impression management motivations and strategies can also be explained from social psychological perspective and complements the use of economics-based theories in this research area.