The effects of language power and communication mode on investor judgments

In this study, I examined how, in the context of the question and answer (Q&A) segment of earnings calls, language power contained in a manager’s speech (powerful or powerless) interacts with the mode by which the manager’s speech is communicated to investors (audio recording or written transcri...

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Main Author: Goh, Clarence Shihao
Other Authors: Tan Hun Tong
Format: Theses and Dissertations
Language:English
Published: 2016
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/65981
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-659812024-01-12T10:09:04Z The effects of language power and communication mode on investor judgments Goh, Clarence Shihao Tan Hun Tong Nanyang Business School DRNTU::Business::Finance::Investments In this study, I examined how, in the context of the question and answer (Q&A) segment of earnings calls, language power contained in a manager’s speech (powerful or powerless) interacts with the mode by which the manager’s speech is communicated to investors (audio recording or written transcript) to influence investor judgments of the attractiveness of a target company as an investment opportunity (i.e. persuasion). I used a controlled experiment to provide insights into this research question. I found that that language power in a manager’s speech had no influence on investor judgments of a target company when earnings call information is transmitted via written transcripts. In contrast, when earnings call information was transmitted via audio recordings, investor judgments were more negative when the manager speaking on the call used powerless language than when he used powerful language. In addition, when earnings calls were transmitted via audio recordings, the valence of participants’ speaker-related thoughts were more negative when the manager used powerless language in his speech than when he used powerful language. The results also showed that the effects of language power on investor judgments were mediated by the valence of participants’ speaker-related thoughts when earnings calls were transmitted via audio recordings. Further analysis that I conducted provided evidence to suggest that non-verbal hesitations might have compensated for the negative effects of other powerless language cues (i.e. verbal hesitations and hedges) on investor judgments when earnings calls were transmitted via audio recordings. My study extends the literature on linguistic analysis by using an experiment to hold constant other aspects of a manager’s speech, and showing that language power plays an incremental role in influencing investor judgments. It is also the first to examine the relative effects of audio and text based disclosure on investor judgments. DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (NBS) 2016-02-15T02:39:02Z 2016-02-15T02:39:02Z 2016 Thesis Goh, C. S. (2016). The effects of language power and communication mode on investor judgments. Doctoral thesis, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/65981 10.32657/10356/65981 en 85 p. application/pdf
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider NTU Library
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic DRNTU::Business::Finance::Investments
spellingShingle DRNTU::Business::Finance::Investments
Goh, Clarence Shihao
The effects of language power and communication mode on investor judgments
description In this study, I examined how, in the context of the question and answer (Q&A) segment of earnings calls, language power contained in a manager’s speech (powerful or powerless) interacts with the mode by which the manager’s speech is communicated to investors (audio recording or written transcript) to influence investor judgments of the attractiveness of a target company as an investment opportunity (i.e. persuasion). I used a controlled experiment to provide insights into this research question. I found that that language power in a manager’s speech had no influence on investor judgments of a target company when earnings call information is transmitted via written transcripts. In contrast, when earnings call information was transmitted via audio recordings, investor judgments were more negative when the manager speaking on the call used powerless language than when he used powerful language. In addition, when earnings calls were transmitted via audio recordings, the valence of participants’ speaker-related thoughts were more negative when the manager used powerless language in his speech than when he used powerful language. The results also showed that the effects of language power on investor judgments were mediated by the valence of participants’ speaker-related thoughts when earnings calls were transmitted via audio recordings. Further analysis that I conducted provided evidence to suggest that non-verbal hesitations might have compensated for the negative effects of other powerless language cues (i.e. verbal hesitations and hedges) on investor judgments when earnings calls were transmitted via audio recordings. My study extends the literature on linguistic analysis by using an experiment to hold constant other aspects of a manager’s speech, and showing that language power plays an incremental role in influencing investor judgments. It is also the first to examine the relative effects of audio and text based disclosure on investor judgments.
author2 Tan Hun Tong
author_facet Tan Hun Tong
Goh, Clarence Shihao
format Theses and Dissertations
author Goh, Clarence Shihao
author_sort Goh, Clarence Shihao
title The effects of language power and communication mode on investor judgments
title_short The effects of language power and communication mode on investor judgments
title_full The effects of language power and communication mode on investor judgments
title_fullStr The effects of language power and communication mode on investor judgments
title_full_unstemmed The effects of language power and communication mode on investor judgments
title_sort effects of language power and communication mode on investor judgments
publishDate 2016
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/65981
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