Gerenciamento de Impressão nas Cartas do Presidente: um estudo multicasos de companhias listadas na B3 envolvidas em fraudes ou irregularidades contábeis

Abstract

This study analyzes how Impression Management manifests itself in the Chairman's Statements of five companies listed on B3 (Brasil, Bolsa, Balcão). The research covers the cases of accounting fraud or irregularities involving Americanas, Via Varejo, IRB Brasil RE, Banco Panamericano, and OGX, examining the fiscal years preceding and following the public disclosure of each event. Twenty-five Management Reports were analyzed within a time window before and after the disclosure of the event, combining two complementary layers: the lexical analysis of emotional content and the coding of rhetorical strategies, carried out using Atlas.ti software and drawing on content analysis. At the lexical level, occurrences classified as joy predominate, present even in fiscal years of confirmed fraud; at the rhetorical level, the analysis highlights thematic manipulation through omission, with rhetorical manipulation shifting in function across the window, from optimistic hyperbole before the event to external attribution and institutional victimization afterward. Notably, the integrated reading of the layers shows that the positive emotional signal may be related, to a large extent, to the lexical correlate of the rhetorical strategy, and may not necessarily reflect actual performance. The study contributes by documenting the use of Impression Management in a mandatory disclosure document within the Brazilian context of accounting fraud or irregularities, operationalizing the integration of the lexical and rhetorical dimensions.