The use of Facebook pages as voluntary disclosure media: An analysis of intellectual capital disclosures in ASX 200 companies

Abstract

Researchers in the past have used annual reports to analyse intellectual capital (IC) disclosures. In response to the recent concern on the timeliness issue of annual reports, this research provides empirical evidence on IC disclosures among top Australian companies, using their Facebook pages. The similar focus of previous IC disclosures in the annual reports and the previous core focus of social media indicates that social media is viable alternative media for companies to disclose IC. Furthermore, Facebook has been the most popular social media among Australians and Australian businesses. This research is important in that it addresses IC disclosures from the social media perspective, an area of research in non-marketing disclosure study in social media which is under investigated. This research documents that Facebook has been used by ASX 200 high IC companies to disclose their IC information. Similar to previous research on IC disclosures research in annual reports, this research reveals that external capital is the most disclosed category on companies' Facebook pages and customers are the most disclosed IC sub-category. Further, this research also documents a two-way communication process on the companies' Facebook pages and shows that the companies have responded and communicated well with their stakeholders.