Brand equity and firm sustainable performance: The mediating role of analysts' recommendations

Abstract

Current literature has overlooked the signaling effects of the brand on a firm's sustainable performance through financial analysts. This study posits that financial analysts may serve as the information bridge connecting brand equity and a firm's sustainable performance by providing professional recommendations of stock investments to public investors. Using a longitudinal archived dataset of Chinese listed firms, we found that: (1) brand equity improves the level of analysts' recommendations for a focal firm's stock, and also reduces the inconsistency of analysts' recommendations; (2) industrial competition further strengthens the positive impact of brand equity on analysts' recommendation level and strengthen its negative impact on recommendation inconsistency; (3) analyst recommendations mediate the relationship between brand equity and a firm's sustainable performance in terms of abnormal return, systematic and idiosyncratic risk. These findings emphasize the importance of financial analysts' recommendations in influencing the value of brand equity on sustainable firm performance.