Visual Representations Strategies in Chairperson’s Statement in Malaysia: An Analysis of Impression Management

Accounting narratives are an increasingly important medium of financial communication. They play a crucial role in the corporate annual report, allowing company management to present annual performance to users in a readily accessible manner. Research suggests that such narratives are widely used and considered important in the investment decisions of private and institutional investors. However, accounting narratives are unaudited and thus may be subject to impression management. The literature has shown that narratives tend to be biased towards positive news, regardless of whether the underlying performance is positive or poor. Therefore, this paper contributes to the body of knowledge concerning incremental information provision and impression management by examining the behaviour of individual chairpersons communicating in different corporate context in Malaysia. Since narrative disclosures are generally unregulated, this raises a number of questions: Is it possible to regulate impression management? Do regulators pay enough attention to the more subtle aspects of financial reporting such as impression management? So many questions remain unanswered that it represents a fertile opportunity for researchers looking for an under-researched field with rich potential.