Investors’ Blind Side – An Experimental Investigation of Green Claims in the Context of Financial Decision Making

The demand for socially responsible investment is steadily growing, and so do the financial options that private investors face. The plurality of alternatives however complicate the task of making a good investment decision, forcing investors to carefully screen the given infor-mation. Yet, the majority of investors does not succeed in overcoming these difficulties, run-ning into serious financial miseries. Applying tenets of the Elaboration Likelihood Model to the context of financial decision making this thesis reports on an experimental study that in-vestigates the mechanisms underlying such investment decisions. It is expected that financial decision making is influenced by the level of involvement and, additionally, by the presence of a green claim. Results confirm the latter assumption, providing a significant main effect of the environmental label. This effect is even intensified when participants exhibit strong green consumption values. Contrary to the expectation however, the findings do not reveal any sub-stantial impact of involvement. An interaction with the green claim likewise failed to reach statistical significance. Results suggest that involvement, in contrast to rational assumption, may be of minor importance for the investment decision. Implications of these findings are discussed from several angles and directions for future research are proposed.