Talk Intentions, Walk Realities: Exploring <scp>ESG</scp> Implementation Gaps in <scp>V4 SMEs</scp>

ABSTRACT This study investigates the phenomenon of ESG (environmental, social, governance) decoupling in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) across the Visegrad Group (V4) countries: Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, and Hungary. While ESG frameworks are increasingly adopted as a strategic response to sustainability challenges, their implementation in the SME sector remains fragmented and often symbolic. Drawing on institutional theory and using survey data from 1392 SMEs, the study operationalises decoupling as a firm‐level signed Talk–Walk gap (ESGd i = Talk i − Walk i ) capturing misalignment between communicated ESG readiness (Talk) and implemented ESG practices (Walk). The results indicate measurable ESG decoupling across all four countries. Although descriptive country‐level averages show small shifts (with Poland exhibiting slightly higher alignment and Hungary a larger descriptive gap), the overall distribution of ESGd does not differ significantly across countries. Bivariate and multivariate analyses show that external institutional pressures, including regulatory demands, partner and supply‐chain requirements, customer expectations, and finance‐related requirements, are positively associated with ESG decoupling, although the relative importance of specific pressures varies across countries. This suggests that SMEs may increase ESG signalling faster than implementation when internal capabilities are constrained. The study extends ESG decoupling research to SMEs in a Central and Eastern European context and highlights the need for policy and market instruments that support capability building and enable substantive ESG integration beyond compliance.