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Journal of Banking & Finance Vol. 161 2024

Can information provision and preference elicitation promote ESG investments? Evidence from a large, incentivized online experiment

Marcel Seifert1,2; Florian Spitzer2; Simone Haeckl3; Alexia Gaudeul4; Erich Kirchler1,2; Stefan Palan5; Katharina Gangl1,2

1 University of Vienna · 2 Institut für Höhere Studien - Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS) · 3 University of Stavanger · 4 European Commission · 5 University of Graz

open access

Abstract

Sustainable investing is characterized by considerations of both financial returns and ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) impacts. We investigate how information about these two aspects, individually and in combination, affects investors’ decision to invest sustainably and their satisfaction with the information they received. We also test whether different ESG preference elicitation modes affect these investment decisions and investors’ satisfaction. We conduct an incentivized online experiment with two samples, experienced retail investors and a representative sample of the Austrian population in terms of age and gender (N = 2,254 in total). We find that both financial return information and ESG impact information stimulate ESG investment. Providing both types of information does not have a greater effect than presenting either one alone. Finally, we find no effect on satisfaction and the ESG preference elicitation mode significantly affects neither investment decisions nor satisfaction.

DOI
10.1016/j.jbankfin.2024.107114
Volume
161
Pages
107114
Language
en
Sources
openalex crossref bibtex:phds-export.bib

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