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Negative News and Investor Trust: The Role of $Firm and #CEO Twitter Use

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  • W. BROOKE ELLIOTT
  • STEPHANIE M. GRANT
  • FRANK D. HODGE

Abstract

We examine how CEOs can facilitate the development of investor trust that helps mitigate the effects of negative information. Results from an experiment show that investors trust the CEO more and are more willing to invest in the firm when the CEO communicates firm news followed by a negative earnings surprise through a personal Twitter account than when the news and surprise comes from the CEO via a website or from the firm's Investor Relations Twitter account or website. A follow‐up experiment shows that repeating the negative news does not incrementally affect investors who received the news from the CEO's Twitter account, but does further negatively impact investors who received the news via other disclosure mediums, especially those who received the news via the Investor Relations Twitter account. Our results have implications for firms and executives considering the costs and benefits of communicating with investors via Twitter.

Suggested Citation

  • W. Brooke Elliott & Stephanie M. Grant & Frank D. Hodge, 2018. "Negative News and Investor Trust: The Role of $Firm and #CEO Twitter Use," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(5), pages 1483-1519, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:joares:v:56:y:2018:i:5:p:1483-1519
    DOI: 10.1111/1475-679X.12217
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    2. Ciaran Heavey & Zeki Simsek & Christina Kyprianou & Marten Risius, 2020. "How do strategic leaders engage with social media? A theoretical framework for research and practice," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(8), pages 1490-1527, August.
    3. Julian U. N. Vogel & Feixue Xie, 2023. "Do(n’t) believe everything you hear about disclosure: Twitter and the voluntary disclosure effect," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 37(2), pages 161-189, June.
    4. Lijuan Bai & Xiangbin Yan, 2023. "Impact of social media capability on firm performance: new evidence from China," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(1), pages 118-136, February.
    5. Ying Cao & Yuanying Chi & Jianbin Wei, 2023. "Internal Control, Negative News, and Corporate Performance An Empirical Analysis Based on China's Strategic Emerging Enterprises," Advances in Management and Applied Economics, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 13(1), pages 1-2.
    6. Soon‐Yeow Phang & Hien Hoang, 2021. "Does positive CSR increase willingness to invest in a company based on performance? The incremental role of combined assurance," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(4), pages 5631-5654, December.
    7. Gibson, Rajna & Sohn, Matthias & Tanner, Carmen & Wagner, Alexander F., 2021. "Earnings Management and Managerial Honesty: The Investors' Perspectives," LawFin Working Paper Series 7, Goethe University, Center for Advanced Studies on the Foundations of Law and Finance (LawFin).
    8. Hao, Jing, 2023. "Retail investor attention and corporate innovation in the big data era," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    9. Erica E. Harris & Daniel G. Neely & Gregory D. Saxton, 2023. "Social media, signaling, and donations: testing the financial returns on nonprofits’ social media investment," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 658-688, June.
    10. Le Lin & Ke Liao & Deren Xie, 2023. "When Investors Speak, Do Firms Listen? The Role of Investors' Dividend‐related Complaints from Online Earnings Communication Conferences," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 59(1), pages 32-75, March.
    11. Anubhav Sarkar & Swagata Chakraborty & Sohom Ghosh & Sudip Kumar Naskar, 2022. "Evaluating Impact of Social Media Posts by Executives on Stock Prices," Papers 2211.01287, arXiv.org, revised Dec 2022.
    12. Cookson, J. Anthony & Niessner, Marina & Schiller, Christoph M., 2022. "Can Social Media Inform Corporate Decisions? Evidence from Merger Withdrawals," SocArXiv 56yrj, Center for Open Science.
    13. Mohammed S. Albarrak & Ngan Duong Cao & Aly Salama & Abdullah A. Aljughaiman, 2023. "Twitter carbon information and cost of equity: the moderating role of environmental performance," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 13(3), pages 693-718, September.
    14. Winston Jerónimo Silvestre & Ana Fonseca & Sandra Naomi Morioka, 2022. "Strategic sustainability integration: Merging management tools to support business model decisions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2052-2067, July.
    15. Changchun Zhu & Na Li & Jing Ma, 2023. "Environmental backgrounds of CEOs and corporate environmental management information disclosure: The mediating effects of financing constraints and media attention," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(6), pages 2885-2905, November.
    16. W. Brooke Elliott & Brian T. Gale & Jessen L. Hobson, 2022. "The Joint Influence of Information Push and Value Relevance on Investor Judgments and Market Efficiency," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(3), pages 1049-1083, June.

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