【报告主题】PROFANITY AND THE COMPANY-INVESTOR RELATIONSHIP
【主讲嘉宾】于瑶，University of Massachusetts-Amherst (UMass Amherst)Assistant Professor of Accounting
【报告时间】2023年7月25日 10:00
【报告地点】会计学院106室
【内容提要】
Despite the growing prevalence of using profanity in business settings, the literature has been relatively silent on the effects of profane language on investors. Additionally, current trends suggest that investors increasingly rely on factors other than expected returns when deciding between potential investments (Gallup 2022). Specifically, many investors are deciding to invest in companies that they are passionate about, identify with, admire, and/or with whom they share similar values. In this study, we examine how a CEO’s use of profanity in an earnings conference call causes investors to place more weight on their perceived relationship (exchange versus communal) with the company in making investment decisions. Using a laboratory experiment with graduate business students assuming the role of current investors participating in an earnings conference call, we predict and find that when a CEO’s responses to analysts’ questions contained profanity, investment willingness is higher for investors that hold a communal (versus exchange) relationship with the company. We find no effect of relationship on investment willingness in the absence of profanity. We further find that investors’ perceived closeness with the company mediates the interaction between relationship and profanity on investment willingness.