Its use creates (1) greater recall and, when the photo leads off, (2) more favorable recall of the message.

That's the word in the September issue—169th consecutive month (since September 1983)—of the industry monitor, Sid Cato's Newsletter on Annual Reports.

Lead story in the September issue is that 85 of 100 annuals feature use of the CEO's photograph. That's been a constant for the last dozen years, "give or take one or two," according to Cato. Peak year was 86% among 1988 and 1990 annuals.

He said "as far back as 1984 annuals, 83 of 100 CEOs were being pictured," essentially the same as today.

Cato said "The boss is pictured...without fellow-officers going-on three of four times (73%). In two of three instances (65%), the boss' photo leads off the letter to shareholders."

Subscribers to his monthly newsletter range from corporate CEOs to communications and financial officers, in countries from Japan to Australia, Switzerland and Belgium to Finland, Sweden, Israel, the U.K. and Taiwan, as well as Canada and Mexico. Latest subscriber: a CEO based in Prague, Czechoslovakia. And, the most recent, Malaysia.