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Ignorant advice – customer advisory service for ethical investment funds

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  • Ulf Schrader

Abstract

Ethical investment is a growing but still small market in many countries. One obstacle for further diffusion is the lack of information transparency. The actors with the highest potential to improve transparency and to develop ethical funds into mass market products are large retail banks. To realize this potential they have to meet a high service quality standard in their financial advice about ethical funds. Based on a mystery shopping study in Germany, this paper reveals that large retail banks are not yet ready to act as diffusion agents for ethical funds. No advisor demonstrated the initiative to inform customers proactively about ethical funds and some bank employees even falsely denied their existence. Additionally, the scope and accuracy of the information provided was very limited. If banks want to change this situation they can apply a range of strategic, instrumental, and transformational marketing measures. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Ulf Schrader, 2006. "Ignorant advice – customer advisory service for ethical investment funds," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(3), pages 200-214, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:15:y:2006:i:3:p:200-214
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.525
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Claudia Tarantola & Paola Vicard & Ioannis Ntzoufras, 2012. "Monitoring and Improving Greek Banking Services Using Bayesian Networks: an Analysis of Mystery Shopping Data," Quaderni di Dipartimento 160, University of Pavia, Department of Economics and Quantitative Methods.
    3. Nadine Strauß, 2021. "Communicating Sustainable Responsible Investments as Financial Advisors: Engaging Private Investors with Strategic Communication," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-18, March.
    4. Ballestero, Enrique & Bravo, Mila & Pérez-Gladish, Blanca & Arenas-Parra, Mar & Plà-Santamaria, David, 2012. "Socially Responsible Investment: A multicriteria approach to portfolio selection combining ethical and financial objectives," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 216(2), pages 487-494.
    5. Kristin Heinemann & Bernhard Zwergel & Stefan Gold & Stefan Seuring & Christian Klein, 2018. "Exploring the Supply-Demand-Discrepancy of Sustainable Financial Products in Germany from a Financial Advisor’s Point of View," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-20, March.
    6. Matthew Haigh & James Guthrie, 2010. "Management practices in Australasian ethical investment products: a role for regulation?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(3), pages 147-163, March.
    7. Andreas G.F. Hoepner & John O.S. Wilson, 2012. "Social, Environmental, Ethical and Trust (SEET) Issues in Banking: An Overview," Chapters, in: James R. Barth & Chen Lin & Clas Wihlborg (ed.), Research Handbook on International Banking and Governance, chapter 24, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Emma Avetisyan & Kai Hockerts, 2017. "Consolidation of the ESG Rating Industry as an Enactment of Institutional Retrogression," Post-Print hal-01695693, HAL.
    9. David Risi & Falko Paetzold & Anne Kellers, 2021. "Wealthy Private Investors and Socially Responsible Investing: The Influence of Reference Groups," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-24, November.
    10. Felipe Arias Fogliano de Souza Cunha & Erick Meira de Oliveira & Renato J. Orsato & Marcelo Cabus Klotzle & Fernando Luiz Cyrino Oliveira & Rodrigo Goyannes Gusmão Caiado, 2020. "Can sustainable investments outperform traditional benchmarks? Evidence from global stock markets," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 682-697, February.
    11. Ana Garcia-Bernabeu & Antonio Benito & Mila Bravo & David Pla-Santamaria, 2016. "Photovoltaic power plants: a multicriteria approach to investment decisions and a case study in western Spain," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 245(1), pages 163-175, October.
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