Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is: A Profile of Ethical Investors

Abstract

This research sought to determine why people chose to invest in Earth Sanctuaries Limited (ESL), which conserves ecosystems and breeds endangered species as its corporate mission, an unequivocally ethical objective. Investors were surveyed to assess the relative importance of financial versus ecological considerations. Demographic and investor behavior attributes of ESL shareholders were compared with those of Australian shareholders as reported by an Australian Stock Exchange survey. The results showed that the environmental mission of ESL took pre-eminence over financial considerations for these investors. Comparison of the two groups revealed significant differences in most variables.