This paper presents the results of financial return analyses after 133 articles regarding social and environmental news were published in Svenska Dagbladet. During the period from 2006 to 2015 Swedish Large Cap companies were analysed after the news announcements, using the event study methodology. The study shows that abnormal returns were significant for only three events at the announcement date. A regression analysis shows that firms issuing ESG reports do not significantly have distinct returns from non-issuing firms when in the news. The study shows that firms producing consumer goods or services experienced 0.5 percent significant return differences compared to other firms in the pre-announcement period (two days). Findings also suggest that there are no significant differences between different industries when in the news regarding social and environmental aspects. An analysis of means shows no implications of differences regarding articles of: equality, employees, society or environment. This study concludes that voluntary corporate responsibility acts are not premiered when a firm is in the news regarding social or environmental events.

This work is based on an assumption that human decision-making process is following several approximate rules (heuristics) that causes predictable and systematic errors in judgement (cognitive biases). Although this stand point is typical for fields like behavioural economics or behavioural law and economics, there is no reason to not apply this logic also on other discipline like a mass media communication studies. This work offers an analysis of the information market where supply side is represented by producers of information (e.g. media organizations) and demand side is represented by consumers of those information (audience). The analysis is focused on factors that cause perceived description of a particular event can vastly differ from this event. One of those cognitive biases which cause different perception of the same media content is called hostile media effect. In respect to this effect, sympathizers with a socially controversial topic tend to perceive information in the mass media as hostile to their own opinion. Previous research concluded that hostile perception is mainly caused by a reach of information which is explained by the selective categorization - although individuals with different worldview can see the same content, they perceive it with a different valence. The valence of the...