How do investors interpret fluctuations in a firm’s reputation over time? In this paper, Nguyen, Jiang, and Lin move beyond the traditional view of reputation as a stable, cumulative asset. Drawing on a socio-constructionist perspective, they conceptualize reputation instability (erratic shifts in a firm’s standing relative to industry peers) as a meaningful market signal in its own right. Using panel data across four major U.S. industry groups over 21 years, the authors show that reputation instability introduces ambiguity into investor evaluations.
Authors and Affiliations:
• Huy Will Nguyen (Montclair State University)
• Rui Jiang (University of Texas at Dallas)
• Zhiang (John) Lin (University of Texas at Dallas)
