A Quantitative Analysis of Sustainable Finance Preferences: Choice Patterns, Personality Traits and Gender in SDG 7 Investments

Carlos Díaz-Caro (), Francisco-Javier Fragoso Martínez, Eva Crespo-Cebada and Ángel-Sabino Mirón Sanguino ()
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Carlos Díaz-Caro: Department of Finance and Accounting, Faculty of Business, Finance and Tourism, Universidad de Extremadura, Avda. de la Universidad, 10071 Cáceres, Spain
Francisco-Javier Fragoso Martínez: Department of Finance and Accounting, Faculty of Economics, Universidad de Extremadura, Avda. De Elvas, 06007 Badajoz, Spain
Eva Crespo-Cebada: Department of Economics, Universidad de Extremadura, Avda. Adolfo Suárez, s/n, 06007 Badajoz, Spain
Ángel-Sabino Mirón Sanguino: Department of Finance and Accounting, Faculty of Business, Finance and Tourism, Universidad de Extremadura, Avda. de la Universidad, 10071 Cáceres, Spain

Risks, 2025, vol. 13, issue 11, 1-31

Abstract: The analysis carried out in this work shows that sustainable investment decisions aimed at SDG 7 are mainly driven by objective financial attributes, especially the level of risk and the type of providing institution. The empirical analysis is based on 873 valid responses, balanced by gender and income levels, which enables us to capture heterogeneity in sustainable investment preferences. This study contributes to the literature by jointly examining personality traits and gender as explanatory factors of willingness to pay for investments aligned with SDG 7. In the general model, strong risk aversion—particularly to high risk—and a positive valuation of cooperatives stand out over factors such as explicit reference to SDG 7 or personality traits, which are not significant. Gender segmentation reveals substantial differences: women display a much higher risk aversion and a greater willingness to pay for investing in cooperatives and, to a lesser extent, in sustainable institutions; in this group, extraversion is negatively associated with the choice of SDG 7 funds. For men, risk remains key but with lower penalization, and provider type carries more moderate weight; no relevant link with personality traits is detected. Thus, the gender effect hypothesis is fully confirmed, while the personality hypothesis is partially supported. These results suggest that the design of sustainable financial products should be a WTP adapted to differentiate demographic and behavioral profiles in order to mobilize private capital toward the energy transition.

Keywords: sustainable investing; SDG 7; choice experiment; willingness to pay; Big Five personality traits; socially responsible finance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C G0 G1 G2 G3 K2 M2 M4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jrisks:v:13:y:2025:i:11:p:226-:d:1797042

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