Conference Programme
Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available). Note that the schedule is subject to changes.
|
Daily Overview |
| Session | |
|
Parallel Session 02: Customers, Nonmarket Stakeholders, and Corporate Sustainability Location: Seminar Room 7 (Level 2) Session Chair: Guoli Chen, INSEAD | |
    | |
Shifting the Spotlight: Do Firms Change Their Advertising Strategies after ESG Reputation-Damaging Events? 1: Singapore Management University; 2: EDHEC Business School; 3: City University of Hong Kong This study uses granular data on firms’ advertising expenditures to examine how firms adjust advertising spending following ESG incidents across local markets. We find that firms on average reduce advertising immediately after ESG incidents, consistent with a visibility reduction strategy aimed at managing negative stakeholder perceptions. These reductions are concentrated in environmental and social (E&S) incidents and are stronger in regions with higher E&S sensitivity. Further analyses show that reductions are not driven by efforts to address underlying E&S issues but instead reflect a tactical reallocation of advertising expenditures away from high-sensitivity regions to low-sensitivity regions. The negative valuation effects of E&S incidents are significantly mitigated when firms reduce advertising spending in the month following the incidents. We also find spillover effects, as firms cut advertising when their suppliers or product-market peers experience E&S incidents. Our findings uncover a complex corporate visibility strategy varying across geographic market and over time. | |