Advertising Response to Financial Misreporting and the Implications for Firm Value
Keywords:
Advertising Spending, Restatements, Brand Crisis Management, Reputation Management, Financial MisconductAbstract
Do firms adjust advertising spending around accounting-based brand scandal events such as fraudulent restatement announcements? To address this question, this study presents an empirical assessment of firm-level advertising spending around fraudulent restatement announcements. This analysis is guided by opposing propositions presented in the brand scandal and marketing-finance literature regarding expectations for firm-level advertising response to brand scandals. To test these opposing conjectures, an empirical investigation is conducted on a sample of 136 firms accused of financial reporting fraud. The dataset is constructed using the SEC and Department of Justice enforcement action database for corporate misrepresentation compiled by Karpoff, Lee, and Martin (2008a) (KLM) and annual Compustat industrial files. The potential implications of advertising spending on post-restatement firm value are also assessed. The results of this study indicate that, on average, firms reduce advertising expenditures around fraudulent restatement announcements. The reduction in advertising is shown to effectively mitigate the potential damages to firm value. In addition to generating support and managerial guidance regarding the relevance of advertising expenditures to a firm's reputation management strategies, this paper is the first known study to investigate the relationship between advertising spending and an accounting-based brand scandal. This study also makes multiple contributions to the advertising, brand scandal, and reputation management literature.
References
Belo, F., Lin, X., & Vitorino, M. A. (2014). Brand capital and firm value. Review of Economic Dynamics, 17(1), 150-169.
Benoit, W. L. (1995). Accounts, excuses, and apologies: A theory of image restoration strategies (First edition). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Benoit, W. L. (2015). Accounts, excuses, and apologies: A theory of image restoration strategies (Second edition). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Benoit, W. L. (2013). Image repair theory and corporate reputation. In Carroll, C. E. (Ed.) The Handbook of Communication and Corporate Reputation, (213-221). John Wiley & Sons.
Chamberlin, E. (1933). The theory of monopolistic competition. Cambridge: Harvard University.
Chemmanur, T., & Yan, A. (2009). Product market advertising and new equity issues. Journal of Financial Economics, 92(1), 40-65.
Chen, Y., Ganesan, S., & Liu, Y. (2009). Does a firm's product-recall strategy affect its financial value? An examination of strategic alternatives during product-harm crises. Journal of Marketing, 73(6), 214-226.
Cheng, Q., & Farber, D. B. (2008). Earnings restatements, changes in ceo compensation, and firm performance. The Accounting Review, 83(5), 1217-1250.
Cleeren, K., Dekimpe, M. G., & Helsen, K. (2008). Weathering product-harm crises. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 36(2), 262-270.
Cleeren, K., Van Heerde, H. J., & Dekimpe, M. G. (2013). Rising from the ashes: How brands and categories can overcome product-harm crises. Journal of Marketing, 77(2), 58-77.
Cohen, D., Mashruwala, R., & Zach, T. (2010). The use of advertising activities to meet earnings benchmarks: Evidence from monthly data. Review of Accounting Studies, 15(4), 808-832.
Comanor, W. S., & Wilson, T. A. (1974). Advertising and market power. Harvard University Press.
Coombs, W. T. (1998). An analytic framework for crisis situations: Better responses from better understanding of the situation. Journal of Public Relations Research, 10(3), 177-191.
Coombs, W. T. (2012). Ongoing crisis communication: Planning, managing, and responding. (Third edition). Sage Publications.
Coombs, W. T. (2013). Situational theory of crisis: Situational crisis communication theory and corporate reputation. In Carroll, C. E. (Ed.) The Handbook of Communication and Corporate Reputation, (262-278). John Wiley & Sons.
Coombs, W. T. (2015). Ongoing crisis communication: Planning, managing, and responding. (Fourth edition) Sage Publications.
Currim, I. S., Lim, J., & Kim, J. W. (2012). You get what you pay for: the effect of top executives’ compensation on advertising and R&D spending decisions and stock market return. Journal of Marketing, 76(5), 33-48.
Farber, D. B. (2005). Restoring trust after fraud: Does corporate governance matter? The Accounting Review, 80(2), 539-561.
Gomulya, D., & Boeker, W. (2014). How firms respond to financial restatement: CEO successors and external reactions. Academy of Management Journal, 57(6), 1759-1785.
Grullon, G., Kanatas, G., & Weston, J. P. (2004). Advertising, breadth of ownership, and liquidity. Review of Financial Studies, 17(2), 439-461.
Hirshleifer, D., Low, A., & Teoh, S. H. (2012). Are overconfident CEOs better innovators? The Journal of Finance, 67(4), 1457-1498.
Huang, Y., & Wei, S. X. (2012). Advertising intensity, investor recognition, and implied cost of capital. Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, 38(3), 275-298.
Joshi, A., & Hanssens, D. M. (2010). The direct and indirect effects of advertising spending on firm value. Journal of Marketing, 74(1), 20-33.
Karpoff, J. M., Lee S. L., & Martin G. S., (2008a). The cost to firms of cooking the books. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 43(3), 581-611.
Karpoff, J. M., Lee, D. S., & Martin, G. S. (2008b). The consequences to managers for financial misrepresentation. Journal of Financial Economics, 88(2), 193-215.
Keller, K. L. (2007). Advertising and brand equity. In Tellis, G., and Ambler T, (Eds.), The Sage Handbook of Advertising (54-70). London: Sage Publications.
Lou, D. (2014). Attracting investor attention through advertising. The Review of Financial Studies, 27(6), 1797-1829.
Luo, X., & Donthu, N. (2006). Marketing's credibility: A longitudinal investigation of marketing communication productivity and shareholder value. Journal of Marketing, 70(4), 70-91.
Luo, X., & de Jong, P. J. (2012). Does advertising spending really work? The intermediate role of analysts in the impact of advertising on firm value. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 40(4), 605-624.
Madsen, J., & Niessner, M. (2019). Is investor attention for sale? The role of advertising in financial markets, the role of advertising in financial markets. Journal of Accounting Research, 57(3), 763-795.
Moorthy, S., & Zhao, H. (2000). Advertising spending and perceived quality. Marketing Letters, 11(3), 221-233.
Murphy, D. L., Shrieves, R. E., & Tibbs, S. L. (2009). Understanding the penalties associated with corporate misconduct: An empirical examination of earnings and risk. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 44(01), 55-83.
Romanus, R. N. (2019) Earnings quality and investor reaction to restatement announcements. Advances in Business Research, 9(1), 46-63.
Rubel, O., Naik, P. A., & Srinivasan, S. (2011). Optimal advertising when envisioning a product-harm crisis. Marketing Science, 30(6), 1048-1065.
Rust, R. T., Ambler, T., Carpenter, G. S., Kumar, V., & Srivastava, R. K, (2004). Measuring marketing productivity: Current knowledge and future directions. Journal of Marketing, 68(4), 76-89.
Sellnow, T. L., & Seeger, M. W, (2013). Theorizing crisis communication (Vol. 5). John Wiley & Sons.
Srivastava, R. K., Shervani, T. A., & Fahey, L. (1998). Market-based assets and shareholder value: A framework for analysis. Journal of Marketing, 62(1), 2-18.
Sharpe, S., & Hanson, N. (2018). Can socially irresponsible firms benefit from corporate advertising? Journal of Strategic Marketing, June, 1-12.
Wilson, W. M. (2008). An empirical analysis of the decline in the information content of earnings following restatements. The Accounting Review, 83(2), 519-548.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).