Framing the Market: How Brand Visibility and Sentiment Shape Stock Reactions in the US, China, and India?

This study explores the dynamic interplay between brand visibility, investor sentiment, and stock market reactions across the United States, China, and India. Leveraging signalling and media framing theories, we develop a novel Brand Visibility Score (BVS) that incorporates sentiment polarity, topic salience, and engagement metrics derived from financial social media platforms. Using panel regression models and marginal analysis over 5,490 firms from 2017 to 2023, we find that brand visibility significantly enhances stock returns and contributes to volatility, with investor sentiment acting as a critical moderator. The effects are more pronounced in emerging markets, reflecting greater sensitivity to media signals and investor mood. Moreover, the impact varies across different levels of media visibility, where firms in higher visibility tiers experience stronger market reactions to sentiment shifts. The findings underscore the importance of media visibility as a behavioural driver in financial markets and offer new insights into how digital brand exposure and sentiment collectively shape asset pricing outcomes in varying institutional contexts. JEL Classification: G12, G14, M31, G15, C58.