{"id":12063,"date":"2026-05-14T15:58:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T10:28:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/?p=12063"},"modified":"2026-05-14T15:58:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T10:28:28","slug":"the-role-of-esg-awareness-in-shaping-sustainable-mutual-fund-investment-behaviour-among-retail-investors-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/index.php\/volume4-issue42\/the-role-of-esg-awareness-in-shaping-sustainable-mutual-fund-investment-behaviour-among-retail-investors-in-india\/","title":{"rendered":"The Role of ESG Awareness in Shaping Sustainable Mutual Fund Investment Behaviour among Retail Investors in India"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-vivid-cyan-blue-color has-text-color\"><strong>Author: Gurulingu P<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>DOI Link:<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.70798\/Bijmrd\/04041020\"> <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.70798\/Bijmrd\/04042021\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.70798\/Bijmrd\/04042021<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Abstract:<\/strong> Environmental, Social and Governance, commonly known as ESG is being increasingly discussed across the Indian financial markets as a paradigm shift in the last few years under the underlying assumption that retail investors now have an awakening towards sustainability and corporate responsibility. This research-based paper attempts to summarise empirical findings from thirty peer-reviewed academic papers and thus attempts in its deliberation, the extent to which this consciousness of ESG principles translate into investment decisions within that domain of sustainable mutual funds among Indian retail investors. The introduction frames the research as one between a higher level of ESG constructs, and empirical realities that investors are dealing with on the ground, which would establish the research question at the center of the inquiry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The analytical segment draws a nuanced picture of what is behind ESG-laden investment behavior. While the data confirm a steady rise in awareness around ESG, especially in more educated, younger and higher income cohorts, the impact of this awareness on the actual choice of portfolio is tempered by an interplay of psychological, social and financial factors. The treatise mentioned that attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, religious values, and risk perception have significant influence on the intentions of investors. Crucially, governance attributes are given a higher weight in investor attention, as compared to environmental or social factors (a finding consistent with a larger body of literature on institutional prioritisation). Nevertheless, the overriding priority for most of the participants is still the expectation of financial returns; numerous investors have indicated that they are willing to incorporate ESG considerations only when the prospective gains are not obviously undermined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Concluding on a reflective note, the article provides a rich overview of the theoretical frameworks which are prevalent as of today, i.e. from the Theory of Planned Behaviour over Sustainable Finance Theory, together with a critical appraisal of the methodological choices made throughout the reviewed studies. The synthesis highlights the practical implications for a host of stakeholders &#8211; policy makers are being called upon to design incentives that balance return maximisation and sustainability, fund managers are urged to develop products that transparently balance ESG criteria and financial performance while scholars are urged to carry out further empirical work with a stronger focus on longer time horizons to disentangle the dynamic evolution of investor sentiments in the context of India\u2019s rapidly changing retail investment landscape. Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing has become a revolutionary paradigm in the Indian financial markets, due to a heightened consciousness among retail investors regarding sustainability and corporate responsibility. This research article draws upon the empirical evidence of 30 scholarly studies to analyse the effect of ESG awareness on the sustainable mutual fund investment behaviour of the Indian retail investors. The results of the analysis show that while ESG awareness has been increasing, especially among educated, younger, and higher-income segments, this is translated into actual investment behavior through multiple psychological, social, and financial factors. Key findings show that attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, religious values, and risk perception have a significant influence on investment intentions, where governance factors were given more priority than environmental or social criteria. However, there is still a predominant financial return expectations to which many investors are willing to embrace ESG investments provided there is no compromising of return. This article offers a comprehensive review of the theoretical frameworks, methodologies, empirical results and practical implications for policy makers, fund managers and researchers interested in promoting sustainable finance in India\u2019s retail investment context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Keywords:<\/strong> Esg Investing, Sustainable Finance, Mutual Funds, Investor Behaviour, Financialliteracy, Responsible Investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-ast-global-color-1-color has-text-color\"><strong>Page No: 166-179<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-ast-global-color-6-background-color has-background wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/166-179.pdf\">download journal<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Author: Gurulingu P DOI Link: https:\/\/doi.org\/10.70798\/Bijmrd\/04042021 Abstract: Environmental, Social and Governance, commonly known as ESG is being increasingly discussed across the Indian financial markets as a paradigm shift in the last few years under the underlying assumption that retail investors now have an awakening towards sustainability and corporate responsibility. This research-based paper attempts to summarise &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/index.php\/volume4-issue42\/the-role-of-esg-awareness-in-shaping-sustainable-mutual-fund-investment-behaviour-among-retail-investors-in-india\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The Role of ESG Awareness in Shaping Sustainable Mutual Fund Investment Behaviour among Retail Investors in India<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":"","_joinchat":[]},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":false,"author_link":"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/index.php\/author\/asraful-alibiswas\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/index.php\/category\/volume4-issue42\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Volume4 Issue4(2)<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Author: Gurulingu P DOI Link: https:\/\/doi.org\/10.70798\/Bijmrd\/04042021 Abstract: Environmental, Social and Governance, commonly known as ESG is being increasingly discussed across the Indian financial markets as a paradigm shift in the last few years under the underlying assumption that retail investors now have an awakening towards sustainability and corporate responsibility. This research-based paper attempts to summarise&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12063"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12063"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12063\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12065,"href":"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12063\/revisions\/12065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}