Analysis of Impression Management
Analysis of Impression Management Essay Sample
Self presentation is the other name given to impression management. It is an effort that people make that is geared towards controlling other people’s perceptions on them. It is also applied in managing the appearance of events as well as objects by controlling the information that is in the public domain. It is therefore an image management strategy that is aimed at giving out a particular image to the recipients. The images that people strive to deliver are mostly those in line with the corporate strategy or the intended purposes.
According to Goffman, (1959) Individuals as well as organizations are bound to establish and maintain impressions that are in line with the image they want to establish in public. The first goal in impression management is for one to portray an image that will be in line with what they would like to be thought of by the group or individual they are working with, this is known as first impressions. The sociological basis of impression management is that perception is reality.
Different people, are shaped by their environment and their audiences and these see interaction as a performance. It is in view of this that, they always strive to stage a performance that is congruent with the intended image to the audience. Impression management encompasses response to the audiences reception. Some people may fail to respond to the audiences reception while others may try to respond to gain positive results.
The response to the audience are in the domain of self-monitoring, the other two perspectives in impression management are self verification and its in this effort that one enters into self concept to conform the audience to your own style. Impression management therefore comprises of complex performances in an effort to portray a specific image to the audience. Self monitoring entails efforts to fit ones actions to parameters that will make it more socially acceptable. This entails efforts to understand the feelings of others and express them through your own actions.
Impression management has grown to be almost a market on its own. It is the backbone of public relations. This implies that, for any personality to endear himself to the public he has to do things and make statements that are acceptable to the public. The same applies to the corporate institutions. The manner in which their products are marketed is a part of impression management. Similarly the manufacturing companies consider impression management as a key consideration in deciding the manner in which their products are to be packaged as well as the shape in which these products appear. The changing of the character, either of an individual or a corporate body to fit situations ins called situationism. This is a practice that enables marketers to respond to public statements.
Impression management therefore encompasses the portrayal of a front persona as opposed to a back persona. the front persona is mainly the image that we intend the people to develop of us.
The main disadvantage with the impression management is that, it encompasses passing information that one wishes to be consumed and at times concealing vital information. this implies that the information released to the public is censored. Similarly, consumers might fail to get the right information about goods since advertising comes with a lot of impression management. Interviewers also get a hard time in getting the right candidates for jobs due to the act of impression management. All the same impression management is key to any successful interaction since , as it is widely known, first impressions last.
Work Cited
Goffman, E. Self presentation in daily life. Michigan: Doubleday publishers, 1959.ss