Quantifying the impact of CEO social media celebrity status on firm value: Novel measures from digital gatekeeping theory

Xin Bao; Baiqing Sun; Meini Han; Han Lin; Raymond Y.K. Lau

doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2023.122334

Author(s)

Xin Bao
Baiqing Sun
Meini Han
Han Lin
Raymond Y.K. Lau

Related Research Unit(s)

Detail(s)

Original language	English
Article number	122334
Journal / Publication	Technological Forecasting and Social Change
Volume	189
Online published	18 Jan 2023
Publication status	Published - Apr 2023

Link(s)

DOI	DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2023.122334 Final Published version
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Link to Scopus	https://www.scopus.com/record/display.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85146422960&origin=recordpage
Permanent Link	https://scholars.cityu.edu.hk/en/publications/publication(5873e2db-0902-4b5a-ba0b-fdbc47f2bc79).html

Abstract

Recent literature has acknowledged the role of CEO social media presence in shaping firm strategic outcomes. We contribute to this literature by invoking the CEO's public recognition on social media as an essential part of the CEO social media presence and examining its impact on firm value. Based on the digital gatekeeping theory, we root on public recognition to develop two new measures of CEO celebrity status on social media: CEO social media prominence and tenor. Our empirical analysis reveals that both measures are positively associated with firm value. Moreover, we find that CEO awards from mass media positively moderate the association between CEO social media prominence and firm value. Our empirical analysis reveals that CEO social media prominence positively relates to firm value via advantages from firm sales, reputation, and risk management, while CEO social media tenor improves firm value via reputation enhancement. Collectively, our evidence suggests that CEO social media celebrity status is an important factor that top leaders and firms impound into their firm social media management strategies.