Joint study by the HWG LU and the Grisons University of Applied Sciences examines private individuals' willingness to pay for socially and/or ecologically sustainable banking products.
In a joint research project, the Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society (HWG LU) and the Swiss University of Applied Sciences Graubünden examined the willingness of private individuals to pay for sustainable financial products. The project, led by Prof. Dr. Marcus Sidki (HWG LU) and Prof. Dr. Andreas Nicklisch (Graubünden University of Applied Sciences) with the collaboration of Igor Ivanov (Nuremberg University of Technology), was funded by the Foundation for Science of the German Savings Banks and Giro Association. The final report is now available.
At the heart of the study was the question of whether private individuals in Germany are willing to pay for financial products offered by banks to incorporate sustainability aspects. To this end, a representative survey was conducted in October 2022 among 2,000 people in Germany with regard to their preferences for sustainability in banking products. The participants were asked about three product categories: savings bonds, accounts and investment funds.
The respondents had to choose between conventional and sustainable product variants as part of an online decision-making experiment.
The results of the study are clear: many people in Germany have a clear preference for sustainable banking products - regardless of the three product categories examined: savings certificates, accounts and investment funds. It is irrelevant whether the banking products have environmental, social or a combination of both sustainability attributes. However, the study also shows that the same people often have little or no willingness to pay higher fees or forego returns.
Link to the full version of the study: https://www.stiftung-wissenschaft.de/xpage/s-wissenschaft.nsf/xpNeuesDoc.xsp?documentId=E29F653150FB43EAC1258B9E003F6BB8&action=openDocument
Specialist contact:
Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society
Prof. Dr. Marcus Sidki
Chair of Economics
Tel. 0621 5203-558
Email: marcus.sidki@ 8< SPAM protection, please remove >8 hwg-lu.de
