Proceedings of the 2026 11th International Conference on Financial Innovation and Economic Development (ICFIED 2026)

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Research on the Impact of Online Public Opinion on Corporate ESG Evaluation—A Case Study of Meituan

Authors
Huizhi Feng1, Guochao Wan1, *
1School of Management, Chengdu University of Information Technology, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
*Corresponding author. Email: wgc@cuit.edu.cn
Corresponding Author
Guochao Wan
Available Online 29 April 2026.
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6239-642-5_82How to use a DOI?
Keywords
ESG; online public opinion; event study method; stakeholder theory
Abstract

ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) has become an essential pathway for firms to address multidimensional risks and achieve sustainable, high-quality growth. Using the 2020 “rider rights dispute” involving Meituan - a typical social responsibility incident in the platform economy - as a focal event, this study applies the event study method with an event window of [-3, +5] trading days to examine how online public opinion influences corporate ESG evaluation, incorporating measurements of cumulative abnormal returns (CAR) and t-statistical tests to validate market response robustness. The findings indicate that intense online public opinion, amplified by social media dissemination, can trigger significant negative market reactions, thereby pressuring firms to undertake substantive governance and responsibility reforms to restore and enhance their ESG profile. Overall, the evidence confirms that online public opinion exerts a direct and measurable influence on corporate ESG evaluation, particularly through the social (S) dimension centered on employee rights protection, offering targeted implications for labor-intensive platform enterprises in ESG management.

Copyright
© 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the 2026 11th International Conference on Financial Innovation and Economic Development (ICFIED 2026)
Series
Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research
Publication Date
29 April 2026
ISBN
978-94-6239-642-5
ISSN
2352-5428
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6239-642-5_82How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - CONF
AU  - Huizhi Feng
AU  - Guochao Wan
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/04/29
TI  - Research on the Impact of Online Public Opinion on Corporate ESG Evaluation—A Case Study of Meituan
BT  - Proceedings of the 2026 11th International Conference on Financial Innovation and Economic Development (ICFIED 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 801
EP  - 807
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-642-5_82
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-642-5_82
ID  - Feng2026
ER  -