Financial Data at Corporate Web Sites: Do Information Clienteles Matter?

This study examines whether the nature of financial information provided at Web sites varies across firms with differences in three information clienteles: individual investors, financial analysts and the business press. Our findings are consistent with theories that link effective and persuasive information content (subjective/benefit-related versus objective/attribute-related) with the expertise level of the consumer (novice versus expert). Specifically, we find that companies with higher levels of individual ownership are more likely to provide information which is benefitrelated and suitable for users with relatively low levels of financial expertise. Conversely, information emphasized by firms with greater analyst following is generally objective, attribute-related data, as expected for users with greater expertise. Companies with higher press following tend to provide information which exhibits attributes of both benefitand attribute-related data.