Financial news sentiment, journalists' practice, and audience behaviour: Chinese initial public offerings in 2022

Lyu, Yuhuang 2026. Financial news sentiment, journalists' practice, and audience behaviour: Chinese initial public offerings in 2022. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University. Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

This study examines how financial journalism shapes IPO-related news and influences retail investor behavior and pricing dynamics in China’s A-share market, where individual investors dominate daily trading (Tan et al., 2023). While existing scholarship has debated whether media attention or sentiment affects IPO underpricing, few studies have explored the broader production and reception of IPO news within China’s unique commercialized and regulated media environment. This research addresses the gap by investigating how news coverage, journalistic practices, and investor responses interact to shape IPO outcomes. Using a mixed-methods approach, it analyzes 5,988 news articles on 239 IPOs in 2022 for attention and sentiment patterns, complemented by interviews with seven financial journalists and a survey of 512 retail investors. The findings show that IPO coverage was often negative in tone before launch but turned more positive on the offering day. Pre-IPO sentiment was significantly negatively correlated with IPO underpricing, while positive sentiment on the launch day was positively associated with it – suggesting that shifts in media tone may influence pricing outcomes. Investor survey results further reveal that nearly 70% of respondents read IPO news regularly and make trading decisions based on it, highlighting the news media’s strong behavioral impact. Meanwhile, journalists acknowledged that advertising and public relations revenues can influence editorial choices, with some admitting that commercial pressures encourage aggressive reporting or positive framing in various stages to maintain relationships with issuers and intermediaries. These findings suggest that IPO news sentiment plays a critical role in shaping retail investor behavior and contributing to underpricing, thereby distorting market efficiency. This distortion is not solely a product of information quantity but also of sentiment direction and the commercial incentives driving media production. The study advances i our understanding of how financial media, market actors, and investors co-construct IPO narratives in an emerging market context, with implications for journalism’s normative role, investor protection, and regulatory oversight.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Date Type:	Completion
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Schools > Journalism, Media and Culture
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	26 May 2026
Last Modified:	28 May 2026 13:26
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/187204

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