IDLab Seminar: The Impact of Social Media Comments on the Profitability of Russian Companies

On November 19, 2025, Ilya Naidanov, a graduate of the PhD program in Applied Economics, presented at the research seminar of the International Laboratory of Intangible-driven Economy (IDLab). He shared findings from the study titled "The Impact of Social Media Comments on the Profitability of Russian Companies," conducted jointly with Marina Zaveryaeva, a research fellow at the laboratory. The research was carried out with the support of the Russian Science Foundation (RSF) grant № 23-78-10149 "Factors of Intensification of SME Resources under External Uncertainty."

The study examined how user-generated content and corporate content on VK (VKontakte) are associated with the return on assets (ROA) of Russian companies — both large enterprises and those in the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector. User-generated content was represented by comments, while corporate content was assessed based on the volume and characteristics of companies’ official posts. The authors analyzed the sentiment, readability, and lexical diversity of this content to determine how these features influence profitability. The dataset included more than 500,000 user comments and corporate posts collected from the official VK pages of companies of all sizes between 2014 and 2023.

The findings indicate that the sheer volume of user comments or corporate posts has no significant effect on profitability. Similarly, features of corporate content — such as the number of media attachments or lexical diversity — showed no statistically significant impact. The key factor positively associated with higher ROA was the alignment of positive sentiment between user comments and corporate posts. Notably, positivity from only one side — either users or the company alone — did not yield a statistically significant effect. The strongest effects were observed in the business-to-business (B2B) sector. In contrast, no meaningful relationships were found for companies operating in the business-to-consumer (B2C) segment.

The study underscores that for B2B companies — regardless of size, whether large firms or SMEs — it is not the volume of online communication that matters, but rather the presence of a positively aligned and coherent dialogue with their audience. It is the quality of interaction, not its quantity, that is linked to improved profitability.