Analyst Reaction to War-Related Language: Source Domains and the Role of Market Structure and Market Share

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Salvado, Joao Cotter; Crilly, Donal
• 署名单位: Universidade Catolica Portuguesa; University of London; London Business School
• 刊物名称: ORGANIZATION SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1047-7039
• DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2021.15728
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: analyst reaction; strategy communication; war language; acquisition announcements; conceptual metaphor theory; risk-as-feelings perspective; quantitative text analysis

摘要

Corporate executives often use metaphors, particularly those derived from war imagery, when communicating their strategic intentions. This study examines the influence of metaphorical framing in corporate communication, particularly its effect on analyst reactions to firms' acquisition announcements. We theorize and analyze the impact of metaphor families that either emphasize or downplay competition while considering the diverse source domains from which these metaphors originate. We propose a theoretical framework that integrates conceptual metaphor theory with the risk-as-feelings perspective, suggesting that certain metaphors can evoke visceral perceptions of danger. Our findings reveal that using metaphors in acquisition announcements generally elicits negative reactions. Notably, metaphors from the competition family, especially war-related ones signifying competitive aggression, evoke stronger adverse reactions. The detrimental impact of war language substantially diminishes in contexts where aggressive competition is expected. We contribute to strategic communication research by highlighting the contingent influence of metaphorical framing on audience reactions, emphasizing the importance of metaphor families, source domains, and contextual factors.