The effect of guerrilla marketing on company share prices: An event study analysis

This study analyzes a hand-collected sample of 803 guerrilla marketing campaigns from 2007 to 2017 to examine the impact on abnormal share price performance.
Davis and Davis

MANAGEMENT SLANT

  • Guerrilla marketing campaigns, on average, are associated with significantly positive movements in company stock prices.
  • Campaigns utilizing emotional appeals, especially joy, are associated with significantly positive movements in company stock prices.
  • Campaigns invoking humor are associated with significantly negative abnormal company returns in cross-sectional analysis.
  • Campaigns utilizing rational appeals, especially those making claims of high quality, are associated with significantly negative movements in company stock prices.
  • The interaction of the form of appeal (emotional versus rational) with the product type (hedonic versus utilitarian) is significantly associated with abnormal company returns.

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