Linguistic Characteristics of Corporate Narrative Disclosure in the Digital Era: A Systematic Review

ABSTRACT

Narrative disclosure has become an essential component of corporate communication as digital technologies reshape how firms interact with stakeholders. The rise of e‐government and corporate digital transformation has been accompanied by profound changes in corporate disclosure practices, including greater transparency, wider adoption of digital reporting, and the expansion of disclosure across ESG reports, corporate websites, and FinTech platforms. This study systematically reviews 205 articles published between 2010 and early 2026 using the Theory, Context, Characteristics, and Methodology (TCCM) framework. The review finds that prior research primarily examines linguistic characteristics, including tone, readability, complexity, sentiment, uncertainty, and forward‐looking language. These characteristics function as outcomes of firm, governance, managerial, and institutional factors while influencing the judgments and decisions of investors, analysts, auditors, creditors, consumers, and digital platform users. The review also reveals a shift from traditional disclosure settings to digital communication environments. Methodologically, the literature is dominated by archival data, econometric analysis, and computational text analysis, whereas qualitative, experimental, and mixed method studies remain less common. By synthesizing fragmented evidence, this study develops an integrated understanding of how e‐government and corporate digital transformation jointly reshape corporate narrative disclosure. It also identifies theoretical, methodological, and contextual gaps to guide future research.