Does the Stock Market Value Brands? A Qualitative Investigation into Ladbroke Group's Decision to Change Name

This paper uses a market signalling perspective to examine investor reactions to firm announcements. Its primary focus is on the increasingly important role of behavioural finance in influencing investor decisions to buy stocks and also examines the controversial issue of brand accounting. Through a series of qualitative interviews with both industry experts and hotel executives, this study has partially confirmed that the stock market values strong brand names more than others. Fashionable, international and socially responsible brands appear to be valued most highly by investors. By analysing the decision of Ladbroke Group PLC to change its name to Hilton Group PLC new insights are offered into why corporations might wish to change names. The research reveals that as companies are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of corporate reputation, they are managing their corporate names more actively and treating them as corporate brands rather than merely trade names. However, the lack of a consistent and universal method for measuring brand equity continues to limit the extent to which the brand-stock market relationship can be explore