The Content of Tweets and the Usefulness of YouTube and Instagram in Corporate Communication

Abstract

This study examines the content of corporate tweets related to earnings announcements and the incremental usefulness of YouTube and Instagram in disseminating earnings news. Textual analysis of tweets reveals that investors react more strongly to a firm’s communication on Twitter when it (i) includes financial information, (ii) mentions the CEO or the CFO, (iii) includes a visual element, and (iv) posts are written in a moderate tone. Tweets related to earnings announcements are particularly useful when retail ownership is high. Incrementally to Twitter, YouTube videos and Instagram posts do not have, on average, positive incremental effects on the price response to earnings news.