Measuring the use of online corporate annual reports through the analysis of web server logs

• Main Author: Allam, Amir Ali
• Published: University of Birmingham 2005
• Subjects: 657
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.633067

The current study investigates a novel area of accounting research; the use of online annual reports by corporate Websites' visitors. This study is of a cross-disciplinary nature as it involves knowledge from different fields including accounting, mass communication and computer science. It is argued that the examination of communication theory may provide insights into how best to enhance the value relevance of accounting information. The Internet, as a new means of communication, has many possible effects on the way accounting information is disseminated and the way its usage can be investigated. Traditional methods, including questionnaires and interviews, have been used to study the usage of annual reports. This study explores and applies a novel method, Web Server Log Analysis, to study how online annual reports are accessed by users. The study investigated the Web Server Log Files of six companies and found that the most accessed sections of online annual reports are the Notes to the Financial Statements, the Chairman Statement, and the Profit and Loss Account. Narrative sections were accessed more frequently compared to the financial sections of the annual report. In addition, the non-statutory sections were found to be more accessed by users compared to the statutory ones.