Empirical Research on the Influence of Corporate Social Media Engagement with Accounting Topics on Stock Returns

Digital economy has fundamentally reconfigured the relationship between corporations and investors. With their substantial data reserves and multifaceted content, Social media platforms are becoming important channels for investors to acquire information, express perspectives, and shape investment decisions. This study utilizes data from Zhihu, a prominent Chinese social media platform, to examine listed A-share companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges. It further explores how topic-based interactions on corporate social media influence investor behavior and stock market dynamics, with particular emphasis on the functional and emotional implications of earnings-related and non-earnings-related discussions. Findings show that: first, there is a positive correlation between the level of engagement with corporate accounting topics and stock returns; Second, interactions on earnings-related topics provide investors with functional investment benefits, while discussions on non-earnings topics offer emotional benefits; Third, compared with interactions on non-earnings topics, engagement with earnings-related discussions exerts a stronger influence on investor sentiment and, consequently, on stock returns.The findings reveal the fundamental patterns of investor online engagement, thus providing support for enterprises to develop and implement market intervention strategies.