Corporate ESG issues and retail investors’ investment decision: a moral awareness perspective

Abstract

The specific goal of this study is to find out how retail investors consider company ESG issues while making investment decisions, with their moral awareness (MA) serving as a moderator. The framework's foundations are the norm activation model (NAM) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB). The report is based on a questionnaire survey that was completed by 599 retail investors in Dhaka and Chattagram, Bangladesh. To examine the data and verify the theories, the PLS path modeling approach is employed. Six hypotheses are investigated using structural equation modeling; five are found to be significant and one to be non-significant. All of the hypotheses are positive. The findings of the research demonstrate that when making investment decisions, investors take a company's social, environmental, and governance issues into account. The moral awareness of investors seems to influence their investment decisions as well. By presenting empirical data on the relationship between business ESG issues and investment decisions with moderating impacts on investors' moral awareness, the paper advances the field of behavioral finance research. It implies that corporate advertising tactics may support global reporting requirements, draw impact investors, and promote moral and environmental education. To safeguard ESG concerns and promote sustainable growth of the capital market and economy, governments should enact laws, rules, and directives.