Does social media attention influence audit reporting conservatism? Evidence from China

Based on stock forum data of companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges from 2009 to 2021, we examine whether and how companies' social media attention affects audit reporting conservatism. We find that companies' social media attention is positively related to audit reporting conservatism, and this positive association is more pronounced when auditors are geographically distant from their clients. Furthermore, we observe that the effect of social media attention on audit reporting conservatism is stronger for clients with lower information transparency, lower internal control quality, and higher client importance.