Effects of Advertising, Customer Satisfaction, and Research and Development on a Firm's Systematic and Unsystematic Risks

Abstract

In this study, we examine how advertising, customer satisfaction, and research and development (RD these risks being metrics of interest to both finance executives and senior management. Our studies' findings extend prior studies that primarily considered the effects of marketing initiatives on performance metrics, focusing only on systematic risk. We estimate empirical models by the pooled ordinary least squares and the time-series fixed-effects regression analysis. The results significantly support our hypotheses that higher advertising and higher customer satisfaction lower a firm's total risk, systematic risk and unsystematic risk. R&D is significantly associated with higher levels for a firm's total risk, systematic risk, and unsystematic risk. In addition, these effects are robust to alternative estimates of risks, estimating systematic risk and unsystematic risk using both CAPM and the Fama-French three-factor asset pricing model.