September 12, 2026 by Segun Showunmi, Ibadan
Researcher links social media marketing, investor relations to corporate value
A researcher, Akinbowale Adebusola, has said social media marketing and structured investor relations could play a major role in driving corporate value among listed service companies in Nigeria.
In a new study, Akinbowale, a doctoral researcher in the Department of Accounting at Babcock University, examined 22 service companies listed on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX), using responses from 392 top management executives.
The study found a strong statistical relationship between social media marketing, investor relations and corporate value creation, with the combined variables accounting for about 72 per cent of the variation in corporate value creation.
According to the findings, when firm size was introduced as a control variable, the model’s explanatory power increased to about 74.7 per cent.
Akinbowale said the findings showed that social media had evolved beyond a promotional tool and was becoming increasingly important in how companies communicate with customers, investors and other stakeholders.
The study also underscored the importance of structured investor relations in strengthening corporate communication and enhancing stakeholder confidence, particularly among companies operating in Nigeria’s service sector.
She stated that one of the strongest variables identified in the research was Social Media Advertising (SMAD), which recorded standardised beta coefficients ranging from 0.344 to 0.507 across the regression models examined.
The study also examined several indicators of corporate value, including market share price, asset growth, earnings per share, market capitalisation and economic value added.
“Market Share Price recorded the highest explanatory power, with an adjusted R-squared value of 0.67, followed by Asset Growth at 0.54 and Earnings Per Share at 0.50.
“Market Capitalisation recorded an adjusted R-squared value of 0.34, while Economic Value Added stood at 0.31.”
Akinbowale’s findings further indicated that firm size had a statistically significant negative moderating effect, suggesting that larger organisations may not derive the same level of benefit from social media marketing as smaller, more agile firms.
The study therefore highlights the potential competitive advantage available to medium-sized companies capable of responding more quickly to changing digital trends and audience behaviour.
The research involved executives with more than 10 years of operational experience and achieved a reported response rate of 98.5 per cent. The research team also tested the reliability of the instruments, with Cronbach’s alpha values ranging from 0.87 to 0.95.
The findings come as Nigerian businesses increasingly rely on digital platforms to build brand visibility, engage consumers, communicate with investors and manage corporate reputation.
However, the study’s statistical relationship should not be interpreted as proof that social media investment alone causes increases in corporate value. Rather, it provides evidence of a significant association between the examined digital marketing/investor-relations variables and measures of corporate value.
For corporate executives, Akinbowale’s findings point to the growing need to treat digital communication as part of the broader corporate strategy rather than as a peripheral marketing activity.
Her study therefore offers fresh evidence for boards, chief financial officers, and investor-relations professionals as they consider how to integrate digital engagement into corporate value-creation strategies in Nigeria.
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