2026 Volume 76 Issue 4 Pages 138-145
The purpose of this study is to clarify the meanings and differences that are inherent in various measurement scales of tone—an indicator of positive and negative polarity—which have not been thoroughly examined in the accounting field. Specifically, Multiple regression analyses were conducted on transcripts of financial results briefings held by firms listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange between 2018 and 2021. The aim of the present study is to explore the relationship between tone and business performance as measured by several scales, and therefore, these results have been compared and discussed. To facilitate a more nuanced analysis, previously employed tone measurement scales have been reclassified into two categories: tone and sentiment, each of which representing indicators of positive and negative polarity. A key finding of this study is that tone demonstrates a positive relationship with financial performance, whereas positive sentiment shows no significant association with ROA. This suggests that managers may be manipulating impressions to their advantage at financial results briefings. In addition, the results also suggest that the differences in the frequency of occurrence of positive and negative words can be used not only as a measure of tone, but also as a measure of sentiment, which may lead to the identification of clues for strategic disclosure behavior by managers.
