Predicting brand equity by text-analyzing annual reports

A firm’s public disclosure, such as its annual report, usually carries information of what it has done and/or will do. Since brand equity is a result of a firm’s branding efforts resulting from its long-term culture, strategy, and execution, an interesting but understudied issue is whether the information revealed in the text of a firm’s public disclosure predicts its brand equity. In this study, we propose that how managers think and therefore...