CRISIS COMMUNICATION ON LINKEDIN: HOW CEO CONTENTS ON COVID-19 AFFECT SME MARKET OUTCOMES

This paper investigates how CEO communication on LinkedIn related to COVID-19 content influenced the stock market performance during the pandemic period. Prior research highlights the importance of executive visibility and media presence in enhancing firm recognition, investor interest, and financial outcomes. Building on this foundation, this paper analyzes the contents published on LinkedIn by CEOs from 142 listed small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), focusing on the content they shared during the crisis period. Our results indicate that firms led by CEOs with higher posting activity on pandemic-related contents tend to perform better in the market. More in dept, the study provides a qualitative text analysis of LinkedIn posts, emphasizing content explicitly related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The contribution and the novelty of this research lie in this focus: by analyzing crisis-related keywords and themes, the paper offers insights into how CEOs addressed uncertainty, demonstrated leadership, and engaged investors during a period of systemic disruption by sharing specific content types. These findings position executive communication, particularly during negative events, as a strategic tool with potential market impact. The study offers theoretical and practical implications for understanding CEO behavior, digital identity management, and investor relations in times of crisis.