Gender in socially responsible investment: an application of norm activation model

Understanding the unprecedented impact of business operations on societal ethical and sustainable financial decision-making, this study focuses on investor's pro-environmental personal norms along with egoistic values and observes the comparative effect of male and female on socially responsible investment (SRI) intention in an emerging market. A two-step structural equation model was employed to analyse construct reliability and validity and to test hypotheses and overall model predictability. The results indicate that awareness of consequences (AC) and ascribed responsibility (AR) substantially impact personal norms. Personal norms based on AC and AR were shown to be significant but scored lower than economic or egoistic considerations for SRI. In addition, the relationship between the awareness of consequences and personal norms exhibited a full mediation effect of ascribed responsibility. The moderating role of gender was also established between egoism and intention of young investors.