Consumer preferences and marketing strategies for “green shares”

Abstract

Socially responsible investment (SRI) has gained importance as about one out of eight US dollars is currently invested based on screening in the USA. However, European private investors are generally much more reluctant to invest in shares, and in Austria, only 7 percent of private households hold shares. There is nevertheless some interest in "green shares" (a sub-class of SRI comprising shares that are screened for their least impact on the environment) as a representative survey recently exhibited that 8 percent of respondents were definitely interested in holding "green shares". Econometric estimates of an empirical model explaining the respondents' willingness to invest in green shares showed that education, income, environmental awareness and the expected profit are the main explanatory variables. Based on these results, conclusions are drawn regarding marketing strategies for "green shares". In particular, credibility both regarding financial aspects (competitive return), and environmental and social criteria have to be guaranteed to make more consumers interested in investing in green shares.

Ignorant advice – customer advisory service for ethical investment funds

“…Thus, the importance of this market segment is still limited, although different research studies provide evidence that the financial performance of ethical investment funds is, on average, at least not worse than the general market performance (see, e.g., Cummings, 2000;Dowell et al, 2000;Rennings et al, 2004;Rivoli, 2003;Schröder, 2003). Surveys among private investors also show that the market potential is far from being realized: While interest in these funds is relatively high, knowledge about their characteristics and availability is very scarce (Getzner and Grabner-Kräuter, 2004;Hennig-Thurau et al, 2003). This paper starts with analysing the information deficits in the market for investment funds in general and for ethical funds in particular.…”

Understanding demand for retail socially responsible investments: a survey of individual investors and financial consultants

“…International fund managers should be aware that criteria preferences are country specifi c. Although some authors posit that we are approaching a new phase in SRI, where investors abandon the traditional exclusionary criteria ('sin stocks') in favour of a more comprehensive strategy to infl uence corporate behaviour (Dillenburg et al, 2003), the truth is that there are still cultural and individual preferences for screening criteria and for SRI strategies (EUROSIF, 2003;Getzner and Grabner-Kraüter, 2004;Hill et al, 2007). Therefore, to successfully launch SRI products in other countries, it is crucial to understand cultural values and preferences, to 'localize' the offer.…”

“…Getzner and Grabner-Kraüter, 2004;Jayne and Skerratt, 2003;Lewis and Mackenzie, 2000b;McLahan and Gardner, 2004;Rosen et al, 1991). The structure of the questionnaire and the variables measured were as follows.…”

Profiling the Environmental Sustainability-Conscious (ESC) Consumer: Proposing the S-P-P Model

“…Straughan and Roberts (1999) sustained that such variables, if significant, offer easy and efficient ways for marketers to segment the market and capitalize on green attitudes and behaviour. Accordingly, some authors have supported the use of demographic variables as the beginning point of any serious attempt to profile the sustainability conscious segment (for example, Roberts, 1990;Ottman & Reilly, 1998;Straughan & Roberts, 1999;Getzner & Grabner-Kräuter, 2004). Supporting this perspective, Banyte et.…”