The role of social media in enhancing investor relations in South Africa

Abstract

The purpose of this research has been to understand the profession and discipline of investor relations in publicly listed entities in South Africa, and their response to the opportunities and threats of using social media as another channel of communication. These responses include the rationale, and strategies pursued and practised in order to enhance investor relations. To gain an understanding of whether the investor relations practitioners see the role of social media to enhance their programmes, a qualitative research with an exploratory design was conducted on thirteen organisations listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange main board with a market capitalisation amount exceeding R4.5 billion per annum. It was discovered that investor relations was formalised in the form of strategies formulated and the internal and JSE-regulated practices performed suggest that they take pursuit of investor relations seriously. Furthermore, despite the widespread usage or social media for customer engagement purpose, investor relations practitioners do not yet regard social media as a tool that could supplement disclosure requirements as well provide non financial information about companies. This purpose is currently being served by the dedicated investor relations websites only. Based on findings made, investor willingness will also drive the use of social media. Some of the recommendations made include engaging the JSE for the endorsement of social media, implementation of maturity models and engaging investors on their information needs when making investment decisions.