"Will They Merge?" - Financial Event-Related Information Processing in Social Media

A merger is a complex process and for investors it represents a situation of uncertainty on many levels. Investors may engage in online information exchange in order to reduce informational uncertainty. Social media can facilitate effective information exchange among investors. Drawing on the concepts of information processing and sense-making, I investigate information processing activities on blogs related to merger-related uncertainty. Furthermore, I investigate information generation, information depth, and the variety of information provided by blogs related to the completion likelihood of a merger. The analysis shows that financial event-related uncertainty can be related to information processing activities in social media.