Medical firms’ online Q&A interactions: effect of language style on investor engagement

Purpose This study aims to investigate how language styles used by medical firms on digital question and answer (Q&A) platforms influence investor engagement. It examines the linguistic characteristics of managerial responses and compares their effects across industries, with a focus on the distinctive demands of medical communication. Design/methodology/approach We analyze a panel dataset of 1,223 firm-month observations, constructed from 13,549 individual responses provided by 70 medical firms on a major Chinese web-based firm-investor Q&A platform over a 24-month period (2020–2021). Content analysis is used to assess linguistic features, such as first-person usage, uncertainty, understandability and concreteness. A two-way fixed effects model with clustered robust standard errors is employed. We also perform subgroup and cross-industry analyses to validate the findings and highlight the distinct linguistic patterns in medical firms. Findings Managerial responses featuring first-person pronouns, uncertainty, understandability and similarity significantly enhance the number of investor engagements in the medical sector. Using language with higher uncertainty, achievement orientation and lower concreteness encourages more detailed investor questions. Additionally, while some linguistic traits (e.g. achievement-related terms and understandability) positively influence engagement across industries, the effects of first-person language, uncertainty and concreteness are uniquely strong in medical firms. Originality/value This study analyzes how specific language styles affect investor engagement in medical firm communications via digital Q&A platforms. It provides empirical evidence on the need for tailored language strategies in health-sector investor communication.