Résumé
We study the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis on impression management strategies employed by French listed companies. Given the significant impact ofthe crisis on companies' financial results, we examine whether managers have modified the way they present information related to non-GAAP earnings, through the use of obfuscation strategies. Data on impression management were manually collected from annual press releases issued by SBF 120 firms during the period 2018-2020. We observe a general decrease in the level of impression management following the COVID-19 crisis, especially for companies in the most affected industries. Nevertheless, this decline is less pronounced for companies that underperformed relative to their industry sector and for companies who experienced a significant drop in financial performance (irrespective of their sector). Our results suggest that companies whose drop in performance could be attributed to internal factors (very unfavorable results, results below industry standards) remain concerned with their image and maintain their level of impression management despite the crisis.