The Value of “Brand” in the Chinese Stock Market: The Impact of Brand Attention on Stock Performance and the Moderation Role of Investor Sentiment

Using a database of more than 1.1 million comments from the largest Chinese stock discussion forum Eastmoney, we explore the value of “brand” in the Chinese stock market by empirically investigating the impact of brand attention on stock performance and the moderation role of investor sentiment, as well as the heterogeneity of these effects across companies with different brand values. It finds that brand attention has a positive impact on stock returns and stock trading volume. Investor sentiment has a positive impact on stock returns while having a negative impact on stock trading volume. Investor sentiment positively moderates the impact of brand attention on stock returns, but negatively moderates the impact of brand attention on stock trading volume. The impact of brand attention and investor sentiment on stock performance varies across companies with different brand values. It is more pronounced in companies with high brand value than in companies with a relatively low brand value, while the negative effect of investor sentiment on stock trading volume is lower in companies with high brand value, which highlights the importance of brand-building to improve stock performance.