Abstract: M&A is a strategic choice for enterprises to realize competitive advantage by using external resources. This paper takes the acquirers in A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen as research samples from 2011 to 2015, and investigates the relationship between the expected performance feedback, the competitive pressure of the industry and M&A behavior, and the moderating effect of competitive pressure on the relationship between expected performance feedback and mergers and acquisitions. The results show that when the expected performance feedback is negative, with the widening of expected performance gap, the M&A intention and scale will rise first and then fall, showing inverted U- shaped relationship; industry competition pressure promotes the M&A positively, when the expected performance of the organization is not realized, the competitive pressure of the industry has a significantly positive effect on the inverted U-shaped relationship between expected performance gap and M&A behavior.The above conclusions deepen the understanding of expected performance feedback, indirectly investigate the division mechanism between enterprise executives and shareholders or board of directors in the process of enterprise M&A decision-making under the expectation performance gap, and provide a new perspective for influence factors of M&A behavior, which has theoretical significance and practical reference value for managers and shareholders how to close the expected performance gap and prevent M&A risk though rational M&A decision-making.

Key words: expected performance feedback, industry competitive pressure, enterprise mergers and acquisitions