Based on a sample of financial holding companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange,
we examine the impact of media coverage of corporate social performance on corporate
financial performance. Our findings are as follows. First, information about a firm’s social
actions provided by the media is more relevant than provided by the financial holding company
(FHC) itself, and the quantity of news articles about positive social activities of FHCs is
positively correlated with financial performance; however, strikingly, that of news articles
about FHCs’ negative social activities is also positively correlated with financial performance.
In addition, we find that news articles about FHCs’ positive social activities for shareholders
will trigger a positive evaluation by shareholders; however, rather interestingly, news articles
about FHCs’ positive (negative) social activities for employees will trigger a negative
(positive) evaluation by shareholders. But if the news articles about FHCs’ positive social
activities for employees are initiated by the media, rather than by the company itself, they will
trigger a positive evaluation by shareholders. Therefore, the evidence suggests that “doing
good” can be expected to be “doing well” if the positive CSP information is provided by the
media, rather than by the company itself.
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