Corporate Social Responsibility and Media Visibility —Brazilian Companies’ Donations during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Recent behavioral finance studies have focused on understanding how online investors react to corporate giving announcements. This research analyzed Google Trends search indexes during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic for companies that made donations and also examined the variation in their financial returns. The study aimed to determine whether donor companies experienced greater growth in media visibility during the pandemic compared to non-donor companies. Using a sample of 289 organizations listed on the Brazilian Stock Exchange and employing the “differences in differences” method, the study found no statistical significance when the pandemic effect was applied, leaving the hypothesis on visibility inconclusive. However, favorable results were observed without the pandemic effect, consistent with studies demonstrating a link between social actions and positive consumer responses. As a result, Google Trends proved to be a valid predictor of Brazilian financial data, with the behavior of marketing variables in relation to search trends reinforcing ongoing research on the tool’s potential to gauge public sentiment and market fluctuations.