| dc.description.abstract | Sustainability reporting can be used by companies as a corporate communication tool to
communicate their sustainability efforts, and principles towards their stakeholders (Ebringer et
al, 2006, p. 512). Corporate communication is linked to impression management, and managers
can use impression management tactics to both alter the impression projected across to
company’s audiences and utilize them to gain organizational legitimacy which will help firms
survive in society and gain success. In this master thesis we have explored to what extent four
different Oil and Gas companies operating on the Norwegian Continental shelf use impression
management in their sustainability reports to influence the public perception and the legitimacy
of their environmental and sustainability work.
The research is based on a qualitative research method where we analyzed the impression
management tactics used by four different Oil and Gas companies operating on the Norwegian
Continental shelf in their sustainability reports from 2018 – 2022.
The findings from our study show that Oil and Gas companies to an increasing extent utilize
different impression management tactics in their sustainability reports. Assertive impression
management tactics are more frequently used than defensive impression management tactics,
this demonstrates that the Oil and Gas companies use impression management strategies as a
tool to build, gain and maintain organizational legitimacy rather than repair organizational
legitimacy. This can be linked to Oil and Gas companies need for legitimacy as they operate in
a controversial industry, which has been highly criticized for its environmental and
sustainability performance. Furthermore, our results revealed that companies use impression
management tactics to highlight positive results and shift focus away from negative outcomes.
However, our study has also shown that excessive use of impression management can
undermine its purpose, as it can leave audiences feeling skeptical or confused. Our findings
have agreed with what previous research revealed on the topic impression management and
shown that the use of impression management tactics in sustainability reporting has seen an
increase over the period studied.
Traditionally impression management has mostly been applied at individual level, thus our
research contributes to better understanding of how impression management can be employed
at organizational level. In addition, it can be used to get an understanding of how and why
companies use different impression management tactics to manage and manipulate
stakeholders’ perceptions. | |
