Measuring the extent of investor relations on the web: A multidimensional approach

摘要

Web-based reporting practice has become widely acknowledged as an innovative way of disseminating and communicating business and financial information. Although prior studies suggest that financial and business reporting on the Internet is emerging, little is currently known about the use of the Web by listed companies for investor relations (IR) communication. This paper seeks to propose a multi-dimensional approach that measures web-based IR activities by considering not only the use of corporate website for information dissemination but also for communication directed at interactive dialogue. The proposed dimensions include content, design, timeliness, and interactivity. Importantly, this paper considers interactivity as one of the main measuring dimensions of IR activities on the Web, which has been overlooked in previous studies. Hence, this paper provides not only an update for the existing measuring dimensions of web-based IR but also insights into the use of interactive tools. This paper contributes in two principal ways. First, the paper introduces to the academic literature a four-dimensional framework (content, design, timeliness, and interactivity) for measuring the extent of IR on the Web. Second, the paper explores the potential of enhancing web interactivity with the investment community that certain tools can bring and integrate into a communication platform.