The Influence of Communication Channel Interactivity on Investors’ Response to Managements’ Linguistic Choices

dc.contributor.author MacKenzie, Nikki
dc.contributor.author Bennett, Bradley
dc.contributor.author Wang, Elaine
dc.date.accessioned 2019-12-06T18:35:18Z
dc.date.available 2019-12-06T18:35:18Z
dc.date.issued 2019-08-29
dc.description.abstract More firms are now disseminating financial information via the internet, and digital technology allows firms to communicate in a more interactive manner compared to traditional paper-based communication channels. Further, various levels of interactivity exist even within online communication channels. We conduct an experiment to examine how online communication channel interactivity affects investor information processing, as evidenced by investors’ reactions to managers’ linguistic choices within financial disclosures, i.e., term specificity (firm-specific versus general terms) and language extremity (moderately versus extremely positive language). We find that a more interactive channel causes investors to be more sensitive to managers’ linguistic choices, and there is an interactive effect of term specificity and language extremity on investment willingness. Specifically, when managers use moderately (extremely) positive language, investors are more (less) willing to invest in a company with its financial disclosures containing firm-specific (versus general) terms. However, such an interactive effect is much weaker when the communication channel is less interactive. Our findings are important for investors, managers, and regulators to understand how investors’ perceptions and investment decisions could be changed when information is communicated via a more interactive channel.
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10125/64867
dc.subject disclosure channels
dc.subject language extremity
dc.subject concrete language
dc.title The Influence of Communication Channel Interactivity on Investors’ Response to Managements’ Linguistic Choices
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
HARC_2020_paper_158.pdf
Size:
1.27 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description: