False Signaling – A Cross-disciplinary Review and a Research Agenda

False signaling is an omnipresent phenomenon that damages the efficiency of markets. Despite this empirical relevance, our knowledge of what false signaling specifically is, when it occurs, and which remedies exist are scattered over different fields and little conceptual work has been done to integrate false signaling succinctly into signaling theory. This both hampers progress in the development of a central theory in management and related disciplines and restricts our ability to explain a highly problematic everyday phenomenon. To resolve this issue, this paper provides a cross-disciplinary review on false signaling by organizations and organizational agents. I outline how false signaling has been theorized, and what the reasons, consequences, and remedies for false signaling are, based on our current knowledge in different disciplines. I then outline where theory work is needed to fully incorporate false signaling into signaling theory.