Effect of ESG Awareness on Sustainable Investment Decisions: An Experimental Study

Abstract

The future of Earth depends on the investment choices of companies and individuals. Over the past decade, investment decisions of individuals have been intensely studied by researchers in developed countries. Yet, very few studies focused on these investment decisions in developing countries using an experimental approach. This study adopts an experimental approach to examine the impact of ESG awareness on the sustainable investment decisions of undergraduate students in Egypt. In the experiment, subjects were asked to watch a video on investment basics (control) and investment and ESG basics (treatment). After that, the subjects were asked to choose between two choices, one sustainable (ESG choice) and one unsustainable with and without a return difference. After controlling for demographic characteristics, personal traits, financial knowledge, and risk tolerance, the results indicate that ESG awareness increases the probability of making sustainable investment decisions. Moreover, the findings indicate that sustainable investing among individuals is conditional on higher or equal returns than conventional investing. The study provides practical insights for professionals and policy recommendations.