In this paper, I investigate the impact of environmental disaster movies at the box office on Corporate Environmental Performance (CEP). It is well documented that the mass media influences public and investor sentiments. However, little is known about the effect of movies at the box office although movies may have stronger influence on the public than other mass media such as television, newspapers, and magazines do because people, regardless of age and gender, enjoy watching movies. In addition, there has been extensive research over the drivers and effects of firm’s environmental performance for past decades, but there is a lack of empirical evidence on the relationship between public sentiment and corporate environmental behaviors. Using the box office data in the U.S., I find that firms significantly increase their environmental performance in the subsequent year of the premiere of environmental movie(s). More importantly, the impact of corporate environmental performance on financial performance such as ROA and operating cash flow is stronger when environmental movie(s) is premiered in the previous year.

Keywords: Environmental movies; corporate environmental performance; corporate financial performance public sentiment; mass media