Impression management in sustainability stakeholder engagement communication: Theory and practice
Business theories have always focused on the multiple relationships that exist between the business itself and the environment, highlighting how the complexity and evolution of environmental dynamics have a strong impact on business management
In the context of digital transformation and sustainability, it is essential for companies to build an organisation that is characterised by its adaptability, innovation and resilience in meeting stakeholder expectations and coping with changing market conditions, increasingly characterised by sustainable growth. Indeed, companies are also prioritising sustainable growth by integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles into their core strategies. They see sustainability not only as a compliance requirement, but as a way to create long-term value for stakeholders.
However, companies often face a digital paradox because, despite significant investments in digital transformation, they are often unable to fully exploit this opportunity. This is because the transformative potential of digital tools and emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, are also reshaping the corporate communication paradigm.
This evolution is innovating traditional communication models, allowing companies to reach more stakeholder groups, increase their involvement and consequently their contribution to value creation.
Indeed, stakeholder engagement is fundamental to organisations and their communication strategy, as it emphasises the active participation of individuals or groups that may affect or be affected by the organisation's actions. Involvement promotes collaboration, trust and informed decision-making, ultimately improving organisational success.
While the implementation of emerging technologies poses the need to redefine one's communication models and strategically shape public perceptions, the challenge is to devise innovative and effective communication approaches that foster stakeholder engagement while addressing the gap between current and desired perceived image.
Among the various approaches that can address this issue, researchers have been focusing their studies on impression management (IM) in recent years, as it plays a key role in shaping innovative communication frameworks between individuals and organisations. Managerial performance is not directly observable by stakeholders, who instead assess it indirectly through the information disclosed in company reports prepared by managers.
This dynamic creates strong incentives for managers to shape stakeholder perceptions by strategically presenting information in a favourable manner. Organisations strategically design their disclosures and communications to align with social norms and expectations, enhancing their legitimacy and social acceptance. This approach helps build resilience and credibility by fostering trust, shaping a favourable perception of their performance among stakeholders.
In response to the need to develop innovative communication approaches that utilise emerging technologies, the monographic work offers a contribution to the academic literature, characterised by insights in the social, informatics and psychological areas, aimed at highlighting potential drivers influencing stakeholder engagement for sustainable growth.
In fact, this monograph aims to explore how emerging technologies and impression management tactics contribute to the ongoing discussion on stakeholder engagement strategies adopted by the organisation, offering managerial and organisational insights that address managers' communication strategies across different channels. Furthermore,
To this end, multiple case study perspectives are adopted to empirically test digital content and tools to innovate corporate communication, corroborating considerations on the use of IM strategies to influence and engage various stakeholder categories, providing social and managerial implications
