ACCOUNTING FOR YOUR ACTIONS - HOW STAKEHOLDERS RESPOND TO THE STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST ORGANIZATIONS

This study examined how stakeholders perceive the legitimacy of impres sion management strategies potentially used by environmental activist organizations following their ''illegitimate'' actions. ''Illegitimate '' actions are those which are seen as undesirable or violate societal norms. A sample of 150 individuals (50 activist organization members, 50 government officials, and 50 college students) completed a questio nnaire containing four hypothetical scenarios describing ''illegitimat e'' actions. Each scenario was followed by eight message strategies. R espondents rated the perceived legitimacy of each message strategy. St akeholder groups differed significantly in how legitimate they thought the strategies of Bolstering, Diffusion of Responsibility, Denounceme nt, Justification, Aesthetisizing, Necessitating, Transcendence, and I ntimidation were in accounting for the questionable actions. A signifi cant difference due to level of severity was found for the justificati on strategy. Implications for environmental advocates as well as resea rchers interested in extending the organizational-level impression man agement literature and institutional theory are discussed.