Financial data at corporate Web sites: do information clienteles matter?

The study examines whether the nature of financial information provided at Web sites varies across firms with differences in three information clienteles: individual investors, financial analysts and the business press. Our findings are consistent with theories that link effective and persuasive information content (subjective/benefit-related versus objective/attribute-related) with the expertise level of the consumer (novice versus expert). Specifically, we find that companies with higher levels of individual ownership are more likely to provide information which is benefit-related and suitable for users with relatively low levels of financial expertise. Conversely, information emphasized by firms with greater analyst following is generally objective, attribute-related data, as expected for users with greater expertise. Companies with higher press following tend to provide information which exhibits attributes of both benefit- and attribute-related data.