The value relevance of involuntary disclosure: first evidence from listed companies operating in the food industry

This research aims to investigate the issue of corporate involuntary disclosure that is generated through social media, which are considered drivers for the spread of companies' intellectual capital value to the various parties to whom external company disclosure is addressed. Defining whether companies' involuntary disclosure is value relevant for stakeholders and, primarily, for investors, emerges as a relevant element for this research to understand how companies need to strategically invest in the social media management to improve new forms of disclosure. Social media involuntary disclosure is measured by popularity metrics related to the companies' social media profiles and we want to analyse empirically if these popularity metrics affect companies' financial performance and provide useful information for investors' management decision affecting the corporate disclosure landscape. The research provides both a systematic literature review and an empirical study in the context of European food listed companies to enrich previous conflicting literature results.