Academic Journal
You Catch More Flies with Honey: An Examination of Techniques to Mitigate Client Reactions to Increased Professional Skepticism.
| Τίτλος: | You Catch More Flies with Honey: An Examination of Techniques to Mitigate Client Reactions to Increased Professional Skepticism. |
|---|---|
| Συγγραφείς: | Eutsler, Jared1 (AUTHOR), Holderness Jr., D. Kip2 (AUTHOR), Robertson, Jesse C.1 (AUTHOR), Curtis, Mary B.1 (AUTHOR) |
| Πηγή: | Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory. Feb2026, Vol. 45 Issue 1, p73-98. 26p. |
| Θεματικοί όροι: | *Client relations, *Impression management, *Expectancy theories, *Auditing, Affect (Psychology), Skepticism, Professional-client communication |
| Περίληψη: | SUMMARY: Professional skepticism (PS) is essential to audit quality but can harm auditor-client relations. We rely on Expectancy Violations Theory (EVT) to predict that clients negatively react to higher than expected PS. We also examine whether auditors can use various impression management strategies to mitigate these detrimental outcomes. Experimental results indicate that higher than expected PS creates negative affect toward the auditor, which in turn reduces client cooperation and harms auditor-client relations. Furthermore, auditors' use of ingratiation reduces the negative affect resulting from higher than expected PS and helps auditors maintain client cooperation (using two measures of client evidence provision) and client relations. Of particular importance, results indicate increased PS does not improve evidence collection unless the auditor actively alleviates client negative affect caused by increased PS. Thus, auditors' use of ingratiation may improve perceptions of client service and lead to increased audit quality, rendering the application of PS more effective. Data Availability: Please contact the authors. JEL Classification: M42. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory is the property of American Accounting Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | Business Source Index |
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| Header | DbId: bsx DbLabel: Business Source Index An: 191263279 RelevancyScore: 1470 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 1470.35424804688 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: You Catch More Flies with Honey: An Examination of Techniques to Mitigate Client Reactions to Increased Professional Skepticism. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Eutsler%2C+Jared%22">Eutsler, Jared</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Holderness+Jr%2E%2C+D%2E+Kip%22">Holderness Jr., D. Kip</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Robertson%2C+Jesse+C%2E%22">Robertson, Jesse C.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Curtis%2C+Mary+B%2E%22">Curtis, Mary B.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR) – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Auditing%3A+A+Journal+of+Practice+%26+Theory%22">Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory</searchLink>. Feb2026, Vol. 45 Issue 1, p73-98. 26p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Client+relations%22">Client relations</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Impression+management%22">Impression management</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Expectancy+theories%22">Expectancy theories</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Auditing%22">Auditing</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Affect+%28Psychology%29%22">Affect (Psychology)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Skepticism%22">Skepticism</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Professional-client+communication%22">Professional-client communication</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: SUMMARY: Professional skepticism (PS) is essential to audit quality but can harm auditor-client relations. We rely on Expectancy Violations Theory (EVT) to predict that clients negatively react to higher than expected PS. We also examine whether auditors can use various impression management strategies to mitigate these detrimental outcomes. Experimental results indicate that higher than expected PS creates negative affect toward the auditor, which in turn reduces client cooperation and harms auditor-client relations. Furthermore, auditors' use of ingratiation reduces the negative affect resulting from higher than expected PS and helps auditors maintain client cooperation (using two measures of client evidence provision) and client relations. Of particular importance, results indicate increased PS does not improve evidence collection unless the auditor actively alleviates client negative affect caused by increased PS. Thus, auditors' use of ingratiation may improve perceptions of client service and lead to increased audit quality, rendering the application of PS more effective. Data Availability: Please contact the authors. JEL Classification: M42. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory is the property of American Accounting Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.2308/AJPT-2022-094 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 26 StartPage: 73 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Client relations Type: general – SubjectFull: Impression management Type: general – SubjectFull: Expectancy theories Type: general – SubjectFull: Auditing Type: general – SubjectFull: Affect (Psychology) Type: general – SubjectFull: Skepticism Type: general – SubjectFull: Professional-client communication Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: You Catch More Flies with Honey: An Examination of Techniques to Mitigate Client Reactions to Increased Professional Skepticism. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Eutsler, Jared – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Holderness Jr., D. Kip – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Robertson, Jesse C. – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Curtis, Mary B. IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 02 Text: Feb2026 Type: published Y: 2026 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 02780380 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 45 – Type: issue Value: 1 Titles: – TitleFull: Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory Type: main |
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