Corporate Green Innovation and Retail Investor Behaviour: An Extended Theory of Planned Behaviour Perspective from India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31305/ijmds.v15n10.005Keywords:
Green innovation, Retail investors, Theory of planned behaviour, Sustainable investment, Investment behaviour, PLS-SEM, IndiaAbstract
Corporate green innovation is increasingly regarded as a strategic response to climate risk, yet its ability to mobilise private capital depends on how individual investors perceive and act upon it. Drawing on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and signalling theory, this study develops and tests an extended model in which attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, environmental concern, and perceived benefits shape retail investors’ intention to invest in green-innovative firms, and, in turn, intention drives actual investment behaviour. Survey data collected from 410 retail investors in India were analysed using PLS-SEM. The measurement model satisfies the criteria for reliability, convergent validity and discriminant validity, and all six hypothesised paths were supported. Perceived benefits and attitude were the strongest predictors of investment intention, followed by subjective norms, environmental concern and perceived behavioural control. Together, the five antecedents explained 57.8% of the variance in investment intention, and intention exerted a strong effect on investment behaviour. A cross-validated predictive ability test confirmed the model’s out-of-sample predictive power. The findings indicate that retail investors reward green innovation primarily through a return-oriented lens that is reinforced by value-based and social motives, and that a considerable intention–behaviour gap persists. The study extends the TPB to the firm-innovation context of an emerging market and offers implications for corporate disclosure strategy, green product design by asset managers, and the investor relevance of sustainability reporting regulation.
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