Consumer attention and company performance: Evidence from luxury companies

Abstract

Previous research has shown that investor attention, measured by Google searches for company tickers, can predict companies’ returns. However, for companies offering luxury goods in consumer-driven industries, consumer attention might be even more important. Therefore, for each company in the S&P Global Luxury Index we construct a measure of consumer attention based on Google searches for brands related to each company. Our findings suggest that consumer attention predicts the stock returns of these companies to a greater degree than investor attention. The economic significance of these findings is demonstrated by highly profitable trading strategies.