Impression Management Activity in Vision, Mission, and Values Statements: A Comparison of Commercial and Charitable Organizations

This article investigates the extent to which vision, mission, and values (VM&V) statements play a role in corporate identity management by commercial and charitable organizations. Impression management (IM) theory was used to analyze how these statements could influence stakeholders’ impressions of an organization. A qualitative empirical study was conducted to explore VM&V statements on the websites of 100 commercial and 100 charitable organizations, using content analysis to identify IM activity in the statements. The findings have implications for academics and managers, as there were evidently gaps between theory and practice. Many of the commercial and charitable organizations underutilized VM&V statements as corporate identity cues, and there is subsequently potential for greater use of these statements as part of corporate identity management by organizations in both sectors. Managers should also ensure that the influence of the statements on stakeholders’ impressions of the organization aligns with the desired corporate image.