Is Bad News Difficult to Read? A Readability Analysis of Differently Connoted Passages in the Annual...

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Bibliographische Detailangaben
Beteiligte: Thoms, Claudia, Degenhart, Anke, Wohlgemuth, Katharina
In: Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 34, 2020, 2, S. 157-187
veröffentlicht:
SAGE Publications
Medientyp: Artikel, E-Artikel

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Umfang: 157-187
ISSN: 1050-6519
1552-4574
DOI: 10.1177/1050651919892312
veröffentlicht in: Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Sprache: Englisch
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Kollektion: SAGE Publications (CrossRef)
Inhaltsangabe

<jats:p>This study examines the strategic use of readability to obfuscate negative news in a German financial communication context. Combining a manual and an automated content analysis, the authors assess the tone and readability of three parts (chairman’s address, share-price development, and development in the fiscal year) of the 2014 annual reports of the 30 companies listed in the German stock index DAX. The results indicate that positively connoted passages in annual reports are not necessarily easier to read than negatively connoted passages. Furthermore, the readability of the annual report varies depending on the part and its function within the report.</jats:p>