Google Search intensity and stock returns in frontier markets: Evidence from the Vietnamese market¹

The study investigates the impact of investor attention on stock trading by modeling the relationship between Google Search intensity and stock return with stocks listed in frontier markets in Vietnam from October 2016 to October 2021. The study has three findings. First, the study confirms the price pressure hypothesis and attention theory that Google Search intensity positively affects stock returns. Second, this study indicates that the impact of Google Search intensity on stock price is short-term. The positive effect is within the week of searching and reverses the following week, although the reverse force is not strong. Third, the relationship is more robust during COVID-19 than in the pre-pandemic period, suggesting that after a shock, more new individual investors enter the market, the impact of GSVI on stock return is more substantial.