Against the backdrop of India's SDG commitment with SEBI introducing BRSR and allowing different ESG categories in mutual funds, this paper aims to analyse the determinants of retail investors' intention for ESG investment through Fintech platforms in India.
We employ the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), extending it with context-specific antecedents to attitude while including moral norms and information quality as determinants of intention. A two-stage analysis was conducted with PLS-SEM followed by necessary condition analysis (NCA) applied to survey data of 416 respondents.
Awareness, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and perceived risk are significant determinants of Attitude towards ESG investments through Fintech platforms. Further, Attitude, PBC, Moral Norms and Information Quality significantly affect adoption intention. Attitude, PBC and IQ emerge as prominent necessary conditions.
We propose a comprehensive model for predicting retail investors' intention of ESG investment through fintech platforms. To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first studies to investigate investor intentions for ESG investment via fintech using theoretical lens of TPB extended with attitudinal antecedents, moral norms and information quality. This study provides novel insights by integrating investor values and technological aspects with attitudinal, social and control beliefs in investment decisions. Combining PLS-SEM with NCA provides additional uniqueness and a richer understanding of the necessary and sufficient conditions for retail ESG investment intention in the era of digital finance.
