Greening the retail banking industry: Evidence from German bank account consumers

IF 7.5 1区经济学 Q1 BUSINESS, FINANCE

International Review of Financial Analysis Pub Date : 2025-05-12 DOI:10.1016/j.irfa.2025.104326

Sophie Maria Anneke Klein , Friedemann Polzin

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Abstract

While investor behaviour in relation to sustainable finance products has recently received scholarly attention, consumer adoption of these products remains poorly understood. This study investigates the reasoning behind adopting sustainable bank accounts at the household level using a quantitative approach with a nationally representative sample of 1501 consumers in Germany. The most important determinant for adopting these accounts was sustainable finance self-efficacy – in other words, the perceived impact that the consumer can make by using the product. Other significant determinants include the consumers' willingness to pay a premium for the sustainability characteristic. Sustainable values, trust in bank in provider, and financial literacy are less relevant drivers of adoption. The study identified five distinct consumer clusters with different levels of adoption to generate more targeted industry and policy responses due to limited uptake. The results highlight the need for product providers and policymakers to raise awareness of the impact of private finances on sustainability in order to accelerate the adoption of sustainable banking products.

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绿色零售银行业：来自德国银行账户消费者的证据

虽然投资者对可持续金融产品的行为最近受到了学术界的关注，但消费者对这些产品的采用情况仍然知之甚少。本研究利用德国1501名消费者的全国代表性样本，采用定量方法，调查了在家庭层面采用可持续银行账户背后的原因。采用这些账户最重要的决定因素是可持续金融自我效能——换句话说，消费者通过使用产品可以产生的感知影响。其他重要的决定因素包括消费者愿意为可持续性特征支付溢价。可持续价值观、对银行和供应商的信任以及金融知识是不太相关的采用驱动因素。该研究确定了采用程度不同的五个不同的消费者群体，以产生更有针对性的行业和政策响应。研究结果表明，产品提供商和政策制定者需要提高对私人融资对可持续性影响的认识，以加快可持续银行产品的采用。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

International Review of Financial Analysis BUSINESS, FINANCE-

CiteScore

10.30

自引率

9.80%

发文量

366

期刊介绍： The International Review of Financial Analysis (IRFA) is an impartial refereed journal designed to serve as a platform for high-quality financial research. It welcomes a diverse range of financial research topics and maintains an unbiased selection process. While not limited to U.S.-centric subjects, IRFA, as its title suggests, is open to valuable research contributions from around the world.