Ada María Pérez-Pico

Purpose: Twitch in recent years due to COVID-19 has become a very relevant streaming platform. Among the contents that are streamed on the platform are the events known as Twitch Rivals, which are organized by Twitch itself. These events bring together several of the platform’s biggest streamers to compete in certain video games. The objective of this paper is to analyze the impact of these events on the stock returns of video game companies through the event study methodology and determine possible strategies that lead to positive returns using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). Design/methodology/approach: Event study methodology was applied from 2019 to 2022 with the aim of knowing if the effect is the same or different, since a drop in Twitch statistics has recently been detected, either due to the “return to normality” from COVID-19 and/or to the appearance of new platforms like Kick (Patterson, 2023; Campbell, 2022). Also, the paper analyzes the best strategies that videogame companies could follow on Twitch Rivals to obtain positive returns. For that, fsQCA method was applied. Findings: The results obtained suggest that there is indeed an influence of events on stock returns and that this influence is different depending on the year. Moreover, four possible successful strategies were found. Originality/value: This paper shows the relationship between Twitch Rivals and the returns of video game companies, showing the relevance that streaming has for them. The paper proposes possible strategies to be considered by video game companies that organize Twitch Rivals to obtain positive returns.

Organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) can be defined as discretional, voluntary and useful informal behaviour that is not directly acknowledged by the organisation’s formal reward system. Such behaviour refers to actions that go beyond performing the tasks defined as part of one’s job. Previous studies have shown that organisations that promote OCB can notably improve their productivity and efficiency. It is therefore important to know what causes employees to engage in OCB rather than just limiting themselves to doing what is strictly expected at work. However, it is more important to know why they do not engage in OCB. Using a sample of public prison employees and the fsQCA method, this study examines how the combined effects of organisational characteristics, leadership behaviours and individual characteristics lead to the absence of OCB. The results indicate that the absence of affective commitment, or job satisfaction, or interactional justice is a necessary condition for the absence of OCB. Four conditions are identified as sufficient, and the absence of affective commitment and the presence of laissez-faire leadership are found to be the most relevant conditions for the absence of OCB. Managerial implications and directions for future studies are discussed at the end of the paper.

The influence of social network sentiment on stock market indices and companies has been proven in several studies. However, the influence of social network sentiment on sustainability indices and sustainable companies has not been analyzed so far. Therefore, this study analyzed the influence of social network sentiment on sustainability indices (S&P 500 Environmental & Socially Responsible Index) and focused on variations of this influence on sustainable and non-sustainable companies, namely, in companies included in the Information Technology sector. To this end, two methodologies were used: GARCH (1,1) models and logit-probit models. The results showed that social network sentiment influences S&P 500 Environmental & Socially Responsible Index’s volatility; this influence was greater than the influence of social network sentiment when considering the S&P 500 Index. Additionally, the results showed that social network sentiment influences sustainable companies’ returns but had no effect on unsustainable companies’ returns. These results highlighted the importance of managing the companies’ profiles in social networks and their corporate image in general, because investors will consider these aspects to design their investment strategies.

This research analyzes investors’ activity through social media and these media's influence over the Chicago Board Options Exchange Market Volatility Index (VIX) using a logit model and a fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). The logit results show that social media sentiment influences stock markets. Meanwhile, the fsQCA results show that the investors’ profile is important for explaining how social media influence the stock market. Particularly, holding period combined with experience in technical investors contributes to avoiding a raise in market risk, whereas for nontechnical investors message sentiment and experience form the combination that contributes to avoid a raise in market risk.