Acting for Good, Being Good or Feeling Good? Exploring Factors Influencing Individual Investors’ Willingness to Invest in Green Funds

Fabrice Hervé (1) , Sylvain Marsat (2)

1 CREGO - Centre de Recherche en Gestion des Organisations
2 CleRMa - Clermont Recherche Management

This paper empirically investigates the determinants of willingness to do good of green investment within a real-world context. Using data from a questionnaire administered between December 2021 and January 2022 to French individual investors, we find that “being good” (altruism) and “acting for good” (perceived impact) exert a substantial influence on both the decision-making process and the amount invested in green funds, while positive emotions (warm glow) are not significantly linked. This research highlights the core importance of altruism in green investment decision.

Keywords: Green Investment; Individual Investors; Altruism; Impact Investing; Warm Glow; Sustainable Finance JEL Classification: D14; G11; G41; G51; Q54

Domains: Business administration; Economics and Finance

Fabrice Hervé, Sylvain Marsat. Acting for Good, Being Good or Feeling Good? Exploring Factors Influencing Individual Investors’ Willingness to Invest in Green Funds. Finance Research Letters, 2024, pp.105736. ⟨10.1016/j.frl.2024.105736⟩. ⟨hal-04624853⟩