The Reaction and perception of financial stakeholders: Does the auditor name effect their decision? An experimental survey in an emerging market, Turkey

Abstract

This paper empirically investigates the impact of the brand name of an independent auditing company on the perception of financial stakeholders. The purpose of this paper is to understand how the decision making process of the financial stakeholders proceed when they are faced with financial issues. A sample of financial stakeholders are asked to evaluate the financial performance of a public manufacturing company given the balance sheet, income statement, and the audit opinion letter. The study explored the changes in their reactions to decisions like willingness to give a loan, willingness to advise investment in shares of the company, and willingness to cooperate business wise with the company when the classification of the auditor switches from international to national. The statistical analysis of the survey significantly reveals that the financial stakeholders are influenced by the brand name of the auditor.