Impressions management: lessons from the oil industry

In the late 1990s, after over a century of extracting hydrocarbons, the petroleum industry faced a growing scientific consensus that pollution from fossil fuels is a major cause of global warming. Operationally and in terms of their global image, oil and gas companies faced a serious dilemma.
Two major players, Exxon and British Petroleum, took very different approaches in their corporate communications strategies, the outcomes of which offer valuable lessons in impressions management.