And Action: TV Sentiment and the US Consumer

Posted: 10 Nov 2010 Last revised: 24 Aug 2012

See all articles by Matthias Uhl

Matthias Uhl

University of Zurich - Department Finance

Date Written: January 1, 2012

Abstract

With a novel dataset, we test whether sentiment in TV news can be used as a proxy for consumer sentiment in order to explain changes in private consumption growth in the United States. The University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment is taken to compare its explanatory power with TV sentiment in classical consumer behavior models. We find that TV sentiment can be used at least as good a proxy for consumer sentiment as the Index of Consumer Sentiment, while TV sentiment can best explain private consumption behavior with personal income and savings.

Keywords: TV sentiment, consumer sentiment, private consumption

JEL Classification: D12, E21

Suggested Citation

Uhl, Matthias, And Action: TV Sentiment and the US Consumer (January 1, 2012). Applied Economics Letters, Vol. 19, No. 11, 2012, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1706008 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1706008

Matthias Uhl (Contact Author)

University of Zurich - Department Finance ( email )

Schönberggasse 1
Zürich, 8001
Switzerland

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