Abstract
This paper explores the justifications and impression management strategies that industrial companies use to rationalize their impacts on climate change. These strategies influence the perceptions of stakeholders through the use of techniques of neutralization intended to legitimize the impacts of corporate operations in the area of climate change. Based on a qualitative and inductive approach, 10 case studies were conducted of large Canadian industrial emitters. Interviews were conducted with managers and environmental specialists (n = 32). Public documentation was also collected when available. This study identifies six main neutralization techniques that industrial emitters use to rationalize their impacts: self-proclaimed excellence, promotion of a systemic view, denial and minimization, denouncing unfair treatment and deceptive appearances, economic and technological blackmail, and blaming others. The paper develops a better understanding of corporate arguments and strategies aimed at influencing the perceptions of stakeholders, including policymakers. The study also contributes to the literature on impression management by shedding light on new strategies and techniques of neutralization used by managers to shape the perceptions of stakeholders on socially sensitive issues.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allen, M., & Caillouet, R. (1994). Legitimation endeavors: Impression management strategies used by an organization in crisis. Communications Monographs, 61(1), 44–62.
Aluminium Association Transportation Group. (2013). VENZA Aluminum BIW Concept Study.
Banerjee, S. B. (2002). Corporate environmentalism: The construct and its measurement. Journal of Business Research, 55(3), 177–191.
Bansal, P., & Clelland, I. (2004). Talking trash: Legitimacy, impression management, and unsystematic risk in the context of the natural environment. Academy of Management Journal, 47(1), 93–103.
Bansal, P., & Kistruck, G. (2006). Seeing is (not) believing: Managing the impressions of the firm’s commitment to the natural environment. Journal of Business Ethics, 67(2), 165–180.
Bansal, P., & Roth, K. (2000). Why companies go green: A model of ecological responsiveness. Academy of Management Journal, 43(4), 717–736.
Besio, C., & Pronzini, A. (2013). Morality, ethics, and values outside and inside organizations: An example of the discourse on climate change. Journal of Business Ethics, 119(3), 287–300.
Bewley, K., & Li, Y. (2000). Disclosure of environmental information by Canadian manufacturing companies: A voluntary disclosure perspective. Advances in Environmental Accounting & Management, 1, 201–226.
Boeker, W. (1992). Power and managerial dismissal: Scapegoating at the top. Administrative Science Quarterly, 37(3), 400–421.
Boiral, O. (2013). Sustainability reports as simulacra? A counter-account of A and A + GRI reports. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 26(7), 1036–1071.
Boiral, O., Henri, J.-F., & Talbot, D. (2012). Modeling the impacts of corporate commitment on climate change. Business Strategy and the Environment, 21(8), 495–516.
Bolino, M. C., Kacmar, K. M., Turnley, W. H., & Gilstrap, J. B. (2008). A multi-level review of impression management motives and behaviors. Journal of Management, 34(6), 1080–1109.
Bonazzi, G. (1983). Scapegoating in complex organizations: The results of a comparative study of symbolic blame-giving in Italian and French public administration. Organization Studies, 4(1), 1–18.
Brønn, P. S., & Vidaver-Cohen, D. (2009). Corporate motives for social initiative: Legitimacy, sustainability, or the bottom line? Journal of Business Ethics, 87(1), 91–109.
Bundy, J., Shropshire, C., & Buchholtz, A. K. (2013). Strategic cognition and issue salience: Toward an explanation of firm responsiveness to stakeholder concerns. Academy of Management Review, 38(3), 352–376.
Chatzidakis, A., Hibbert, S., Mittusis, D., & Smith, A. (2004). Virtue in consumption? Journal of Marketing Management, 20(5–6), 526–543.
Chatzidakis, A., Hibbert, S., & Smith, A. P. (2007). Why people don’t take their concerns about fair trade to the supermarket: The role of neutralisation. Journal of Business Ethics, 74(1), 89–100.
Cho, C., Martens, M., Kim, H., & Rodrigue, M. (2011). Astroturfing global warming: It isn’t always greener on the other side of the fence. Journal of Business Ethics, 104(4), 571–587.
Cho, C. H., Michelon, G., & Patten, D. M. (2012). Enhancement and obfuscation through the use of graphs in sustainability reports: An international comparison. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 3(1), 74–88.
Cho, C. H., & Patten, D. M. (2007). The role of environmental disclosures as tools of legitimacy: A research note. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 32(7), 639–647.
Cho, C. H., Roberts, R. W., & Patten, D. M. (2010). The language of US corporate environmental disclosure. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 35(4), 431–443.
Chung, J., & Monroe, G. S. (2003). Exploring social desirability bias. Journal of Business Ethics, 44(4), 291–302.
Clarkson, P. M., Li, Y., Richardson, G. D., & Vasvari, F. P. (2008). Revisiting the relation between environmental performance and environmental disclosure: An empirical analysis. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 33(4), 303–327.
Copes, H. (2003). Societal attachments, offending frequency, and techniques of neutralization. Deviant Behavior, 24(2), 101–127.
Cowan, S., & Deegan, C. (2011). Corporate disclosure reactions to Australia’s first national emission reporting scheme. Accounting & Finance, 51(2), 409–436.
Criado-Jiménez, I., Fernández-Chulián, M., Larrinage-González, C., & Husillos-Carqués, F. J. (2007). Compliance with mandatory environmental reporting in financial statements: The case of Spain (2001–2003). Journal of Business Ethics, 79(3), 245–262.
Cromwell, P., & Thurman, Q. (2003). The devil made me do it: Use of neutralizations by shoplifters. Deviant Behavior, 24(6), 535–550.
Dawkins, C., & Fraas, J. W. (2010). Coming clean: The impact of environmental performance and visibility on corporate climate change disclosure. Journal of Business Ethics, 100(2), 303–322.
Deegan, C. (2002). Introduction: The legitimising effect of social and environmental disclosures – a theoretical foundation. Accounting Auditing Accountability Journal, 15(3), 282–311.
Domenec, F. (2012). The “greening” of the annual letters published by Exxon, Chevron and BP between 2003 and 2009. Journal of Communication Management, 16(3), 296–311.
Duchon, D., & Drake, B. (2008). Organizational narcissism and virtuous behavior. Journal of Business Ethics, 85(3), 301–308.
Eagle, J., & Newton, P. M. (1981). Scapegoating in small groups: An organizational approach. Human Relations, 34(4), 283–301.
Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989). Building Theories from Case Study Research. Academy of Management Review, 14(4), 532–550.
Elsbach, K. D., & Sutton, R. I. (1992). Acquiring organizational legitimacy through illegitimate actions: A marriage of institutional and impression management theories. Academy of Management Journal, 35(4), 699–738.
Environment Canada. (2010). Complete set of emissions data by facility from 2004–2009.
Environment Canada. (2012a). Facility greenhouse gas emissions reporting program—Overview of reported 2010 emissions, p. 14, Ottawa.
Environment Canada. (2012b). A climate change plan for the purposes of the Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act 2012, Ottawa.
Ernst & Young. (2010). Action amid uncertainty: The business response to climate change, p. 28.
Fooks, G., Gilmore, A., Collin, J., Holden, C., & Lee, K. (2012). The limits of corporate social responsibility: Techniques of neutralization, stakeholder management and political CSR. Journal of Business Ethics, 112(2), 283–299.
Ganesh, S. (2003). Organizational Narcissism Technology, legitimacy, and identity in an Indian NGO. Management Communication Quarterly, 16(4), 558–594.
Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Chicago: Aldine.
Government of Quebec. (2012). 2013-2020 Climate Change Action Plan (p. 58). Quebec.
Gray, R. (2006). Social, environmental and sustainability reporting and organisational value creation? Whose value? Whose creation? Accounting Auditing Accountability Journal, 19(6), 793–819.
Green, W., & Li, Q. (2012). Evidence of an expectation gap for greenhouse gas emissions assurance. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 25(1), 146–173.
Gruber, V., & Schlegelmilch, B. B. (2013). How techniques of neutralization legitimize norm- and attitude-inconsistent consumer behavior. Journal of Business Ethics, 121(1), 1–17.
Hahn, R., & Lülfs, R. (2013). Legitimizing negative aspects in GRI-oriented sustainability reporting: A qualitative analysis of corporate disclosure strategies. Journal of Business Ethics, 43(3), 233–237.
Haigh, N., & Griffiths, A. (2009). The natural environment as a primary stakeholder: The case of climate change. Business Strategy and the Environment, 18(6), 347–359.
Harris, L. C., & Daunt, K. L. (2011). Deviant customer behaviour: A study of techniques of neutralisation. Journal of Marketing Management, 27(7–8), 834–853.
Hillman, A. J., Keim, G. D., & Schuler, D. (2004). Corporate political activity: A review and research agenda. Journal of Management, 30(6), 837–857.
Hoffman, A. J. (2006). Getting ahead of the curve: Corporate strategies that address climate change (p. 150). Arlington, VA: The Pew Center on Global Climate Change.
Holder-Webb, L., Cohen, J. R., Nath, L., & Wood, D. (2008). The supply of corporate social responsibility disclosures among U.S. firms. Journal of Business Ethics, 84(4), 497–527.
Hooghiemstra, R. (2000). Corporate communication and impression management—New perspectives why companies engage in corporate social reporting. Journal of Business Ethics, 27(1–2), 55–68.
Hrasky, S. (2012). Carbon footprints and legitimation strategies: Symbolism or action? Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 25(1), 174–198.
Hucklesby, A. (2011). The working life of electronic monitoring officers. Criminology and Criminal Justice, 11(1), 59–76.
Ihlen, Ø. (2009). Business and climate change: The climate response of the world’s 30 largest corporations. Environmental Communication, 3(2), 244–262.
Jones, C. A., & Levy, D. L. (2007). North American business strategies towards climate change. European Management Journal, 25(6), 428–440.
Kolk, A., Levy, D., & Pinkse, J. (2008). Corporate responses in an emerging climate regime: The institutionalization and commensuration of carbon disclosure. European Accounting Review, 17(4), 719–745.
Kolk, A., & Pinkse, J. (2007). Multinationals’ political activities on climate change. Business and Society, 46(2), 201–228.
KPMG. (2011). International survey of corporate responsibility reporting 2011. Zurich: KPMG International.
Laufer, W. S. (2003). Social accountability and corporate greenwashing. Journal of Business Ethics, 43(3), 253–261.
Levy, D., & Egan, D. (2003). A Neo-Gramscian approach to corporate political strategy: Conflict and accommodation in the climate change negotiations. Journal of Management Studies, 40(4), 803–829.
MacKay, B., & Munro, I. (2012). Information warfare and new organizational landscapes: An inquiry into the ExxonMobil-Greenpeace dispute over climate change. Organization Studies, 33(11), 1507–1536.
Maruna, S., & Copes, H. (2005). What have we learned from five decades of neutralization research? Crime and Justice, 32(2005), 221–320.
Maxwell, J. A. (2012). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach (Vol. 41). London: Sage.
McCormick, A. E., & Zampa, F. P. (1990). Over-riding accusations: Contexts of corporate responses to stockholder proxy resolutions. Deviant Behavior, 11(2), 175–193.
Midanik, L. T., & Greenfield, T. K. (2003). Telephone versus in-person interviews for alcohol use: Results of the 2000 National Alcohol Survey. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 72(3), 209–214.
Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis (2nd ed.). London: Sage.
Milne, M. J., & Gray, R. (2007). Future prospects for corporate sustainability reporting. In J. Unerman, J. Bebington, & B. O’Dwyer (Eds.), Sustainability, accounting and accountability (pp. 184–208). New York: Routledge.
Minor, W. W. (1981). Techniques of neutralization: A reconceptualization and empirical examination. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 18(2), 295–318.
Mohamed, A. A., & Gardner, W. L. (2004). An exploratory study of interorganizational defamation: An organizational impression management perspective. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 12(2), 129–145.
Moneva, J. M., Archel, P., & Correa, C. (2006). GRI and the camouflaging of corporate unsustainability. Accounting Forum, 30(2), 121–137.
Mulvey, P. W., Bowes-Sperry, L., & Klein, H. J. (1998). The effects of perceived loafing and defensive impression management on group effectiveness. Small Group Research, 29(3), 394–415.
Nancarrow, C., Brace, I., & Wright, L. T. (2001). ‘Tell me Lies, Tell me Sweet Little Lies’*: Dealing with Socially Desirable Responses in Market Research. Marketing Review, 2(1), 55–69.
Neu, D., Warsame, H., & Pedwell, K. (1998). Managing public impressions: Environmental disclosures in annual reports. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 23(3), 265–282.
Neuendorf, K. A. (2002). The content analysis guidebook (Vol. 1, p. 301). London: Sage Publications.
Nyberg, D., Spicer, A., & Wright, C. (2013). Incorporating citizens: Corporate political engagement with climate change in Australia. Organization, 20(3), 433–453.
Nyberg, D., & Wright, C. (2012). Justifying business responses to climate change: Discursive strategies of similarity and difference. Environment and Planning A, 44(8), 1819–1835.
O’Donovan, G. (2002). Environmental disclosures in the annual report: Extending the applicability and predictive power of legitimacy theory. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 15(3), 344–371.
Ogden, S., & Clarke, J. (2005). Customer disclosures, impression management and the construction of legitimacy: Corporate reports in the UK privatised water industry. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 18(3), 313–345.
Okereke, C. (2007). An exploration of motivations, drivers and barriers to carbon management: The UK FTSE 100. European Management Journal, 25(6), 475–486.
Okereke, C., & Russel, D. (2010). Regulatory pressure and competitive dynamics: Carbon management strategies of UK energy-intensive companies. California Management Review, 52(4), 100–124.
Perego, P., & Kolk, A. (2012). Multinationals’ accountability on sustainability: The evolution of third-party assurance of sustainability reports. Journal of Business Ethics, 110(2), 173–190.
Peretti-Watel, P. (2003). Neutralization theory and the denial of risk: Some evidence from cannabis use among French adolescents. The British journal of sociology, 54(1), 21–42.
Perks, K. J., Farache, F., Shukla, P., & Berry, A. (2013). Communicating responsibility-practicing irresponsibility in CSR advertisements. Journal of Business Research, 66(10), 1881–1888.
Pinkse, J., & Kolk, A. (2009). Global climate change and business (p. 200). London: Taylor & Francis.
Prado-Lorenzo, J. M., & Garcia-Sanchez, I. M. (2010). The role of the board of directors in disseminating relevant information on greenhouse gases. Journal of Business Ethics, 97(3), 391–424.
Prado-Lorenzo, J. M., Rodríguez-Domínguez, L., Gallego-Álvarez, I., & García-Sánchez, I. M. (2009). Factors influencing the disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions in companies world-wide. Management Decision, 47(7), 1133–1157.
Rankin, M., Windsor, C., & Wahyuni, D. (2011). An investigation of voluntary corporate greenhouse gas emissions reporting in a market governance system: Australian evidence. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 24(8), 1037–1070.
Reid, E., & Toffel, M. (2009). Responding to public and private politics: Corporate disclosure of climate change strategies. Strategic Management Journal, 30(11), 1157–1178.
Rowley, J. (2002). Using case studies in research. Management Research News, 25(1), 16–27.
Sæverud, I. A., & Skjærseth, J. B. (2007). Oil companies and climate change: Inconsistencies between strategy formulation and implementation? Global Environmental Politics, 7(3), 42–62.
Schlichting, I. (2013). Strategic framing of climate change by industry actors: A meta-analysis. Environmental Communication: A Journal of Nature and Culture, 7, 493–511.
Skjærseth, J. B., & Skodvin, T. (2001). Climate change and the oil industry: Common problems, different strategies. Global Environmental Politics, 1(4), 43–64.
Solomon, J. F., Solomon, A., Joseph, N. L., & Norton, S. D. (2013). Impression management, myth creation and fabrication in private social and environmental reporting: Insights from Erving Goffman. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 38(3), 195–213.
Stein, M. (2003). Unbounded irrationality: Risk and organizational narcissism at long term capital management. Human Relations, 56(5), 523–540.
Stevens, C. K., & Kristof, A. L. (1995). Making the right impression: A field study of applicant impression management during job interviews. Journal of Applied Psychology, 80(5), 587–606.
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. London: Sage.
Strutton, D., Vitell, S. J., & Pelton, L. E. (1994). How consumers may justify inappropriate behavior in market settings: An application on the techniques of neutralization. Journal of Business Research, 30(3), 253–260.
Stuart, D., & Worosz, M. R. (2011). Risk, anti-reflexivity, and ethical neutralization in industrial food processing. Agriculture and Human Values, 29(3), 287–301.
Sturges, J. E., & Hanrahan, K. J. (2004). Comparing telephone and face-to-face qualitative interviewing: A research note. Qualitative Research, 4(1), 107–118.
Suddaby, R. (2006). From the editors: What grounded theory is not. Academy of Management Journal, 49(4), 633–642.
Sykes, G., & Matza, D. (1957). Techniques of neutralization: A theory of delinquency. American Sociological Review, 22(6), 664–670.
Talbot, D., & Boiral, O. (2013). Can we trust corporates GHG inventories? An investigation among Canada’s large final emitters. Energy Policy, 63, 1075–1085.
Tetlock, P. E., & Manstead, A. S. R. (1985). Impression management versus intrapsychic explanations in social psychology: A useful dichotomy? Psychological Review, 92(1), 59–77.
Thomas, D. R. (2006). A general inductive approach for analyzing qualitative evaluation data. American Journal of Evaluation, 27(2), 237–246.
Unerman, J., Bebington, J., & O’Dwyer, B. (2007). Sustainability, accounting and accountability. New York: Routledge.
Uziel, L. (2010). Rethinking social Desirability scales from impression management to interpersonally oriented self-control. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 5(3), 243–262.
Vitell, S. J., & Grove, S. J. (1987). Marketing ethics and the techniques of neutralization. Journal of Business Ethics, 6(6), 433–438.
Vitell, S. J., Keith, M., & Mathur, M. (2011). Antecedents to the justification of norm violating behavior among business practitioners. Journal of Business Ethics, 101(1), 163–173.
Yin, R. K. (1999). Enhancing the quality of case studies in health services research. Health Services Research, 34(5 Pt 2), 1209–1224.
Yin, R. K. (2014). Case study research: Design and methods. Case study research design and methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Talbot, D., Boiral, O. Strategies for Climate Change and Impression Management: A Case Study Among Canada’s Large Industrial Emitters. J Bus Ethics 132, 329–346 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2322-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2322-5