AVERTING EXPECTED CHALLENGES THROUGH ANTICIPATORY IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT - A STUDY OF HOSPITAL BILLING

Existing theory and research on organizational impression management f ocuses on how spokespersons use remedial tactics, following image-thre atening events, to put their organization in the best possible light. By contrast, little theory or research has considered how organization s use impression management tactics to avert undesirable responses to upcoming events. This paper uses a qualitative and inductive study of billing procedures at three large hospitals to develop theory about ho w organization members use impression management tactics to fend off s pecific, expected challenges to organizational practices that are ambi guously negative. We found that hospitals use anticipatory impression management tactics to: (1) distract, diminish, or overwhelm patients' attention to hospital charges; and (2) to induce emotions that lead pa tients to simplify their information processing of those charges. Hosp itals appear to use such anticipatory obfuscations both to fend off pa tients' initial challenges and to prevent their existing challenges fr om escalating. We discuss these findings in terms of their contributio ns to theories of symbolic management, social influence, and routine s ervice encounters.