Advertising, Investor Attention, and Stock Prices: Evidence from a Natural Experiment

63 Pages Posted: 20 Jul 2014 Last revised: 4 Jun 2020

See all articles by Erik J. Mayer

Erik J. Mayer

University of Wisconsin-Madison, Finance Department

Date Written: June 3, 2020

Abstract

I test whether advertising affects stock prices through an investor attention channel. I use corporate sponsorships of college football bowl games as a natural experiment that provides variation in advertising exposure that is unrelated to firm fundamentals. Sponsoring firms' stocks experience large increases in investor attention, abnormally high turnover, and temporary price pressure that is related to bowl games' TV-ratings and score differentials. Retail investors are net buyers of sponsors' stocks, whereas institutional investors initially remain neutral and then start selling, ultimately driving a reversal toward fundamental values. These findings shed light on who wins/loses when advertising attracts investor attention.

Keywords: advertising, investor attention, market efficiency, stock price, retail investor, institutional investor, natural experiment

JEL Classification: G12, G14, G11, M37

Suggested Citation

Mayer, Erik J., Advertising, Investor Attention, and Stock Prices: Evidence from a Natural Experiment (June 3, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2468181 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2468181

Erik J. Mayer (Contact Author)

University of Wisconsin-Madison, Finance Department ( email )

975 University Avenue
Madison, WI 53706
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://sites.google.com/site/erikjmayer/

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