our conscious or unconscious orchestration of a carefully designed presentation of self so as to create a certain impression that fits our goals or needs in a social interaction
According to Erving Goffman, the characteristic of much social interaction in which people maintain the image that goes along with their social or professional role.
The tendency for people to strategically alter how they present themselves in order to achieve interpersonal goals. go to glossary index
the intentional enactment of practiced behavior which is intended to convey to others one’s desirable personal characteristics and social qualities.
this assumes that, contrary to static trait-based explanations of human behaviour, social life is much more dynamic and creative. From this perspective individuals are seen as being constantly involved in ‘impression management' attempting to define themselves and the encounter they are involved in. Individuals are concerned with the effectiveness of their own impression management activities and those they are interacting with. This perspective has been criticized for underestimating the extent to which roles and behaviour in them are predetermined, for example by the distribution of power.
Salesperson may manipulate impressions of self in order to achieve a move favorable response.
In sociology and social psychology, impression management is the process through which people try to control the impressions other people form of them. It is usually synonymous with self-presentation.