Financial Information and Brand Value

5Determinants of Brand Disclosure

In order to refine the findings of the previous section, we conducted a study with the objective of identifying the elements that promote greater brand communication and disclosure of information related to brands.

5.1. The offer of information related to brands

Annual reports do not provide the same level of information on intangible assets. With regard to brands, we will examine the conditions for voluntary financial reporting.

Depoers (2000) found, from a sample of 102 listed French companies, that the supply of voluntary information is positively influenced by the determinants of company size and percentage of foreign turnover.

We will focus on the determinants of brand disclosure that reduce the information asymmetry desired by business leaders. Indeed, our case study in Chapter 3 shows that managers do not want to communicate the information necessary to understand individual brand value. As Astolfi (2012, p. 286) points out, “a manager who has acquired brands may be blamed for these acquisitions if the brands concerned fall into disuse.” We will investigate the determinants or factors that lead a company to disclose more financial information related to brand value.

Information concerning the value of intangible assets is provided in certain cases in companies’ annual reports. This information is provided in order to make the necessary data for an analysis of brand value available. The annual report is the basis for a great deal of ...