New product announcement: spokesperson a manifestation of increasing firm value

Before introducing new products, companies make announcements regarding the launch of the product which influences stock market yields of the announcing companies. Information content of the new product announcement has never been an exclusive focused stream of research. Therefore, an assessment of the impact of the content characteristics of the new product announcement on the shareholder value and the impact of source credibility (spokesperson) in making such announcements is a major gap in the existing literature. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

First, the standard event study methodology has been employed on the sample to measure the abnormal gains/losses accruing to the announcing firms. Second, moderated regression analysis (MRA) is employed to identify the characteristics of the new product announcement and to check the role of the spokesperson in creating shareholder value.

The results of the event study indicate that the abnormal returns are generated during the new product announcement. The results of MRA disclose the variables having a positive and a significant influence on the effective returns of the announcing companies. Likewise, the role of the spokesperson has come out brightly as a credible communicator.

The research provides a direction to the announcing companies regarding the content of the announcement leading to a positive perception among the investing community. Likewise, it also provides direction to the investor community about the characteristics of the announcement content they give weight age in forming a perception of strength in evaluating the new product announcement, to which they are largely unaware.