ESG Information Adoption in the Investment Industry: Individual Investors' Intention and Actual Use Based on UTAUT

As environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards become increasingly institutionalized in global capital markets, understanding how investors adopt and use ESG information has emerged as an important research issue. While prior studies have primarily examined the financial performance implications of ESG practices at the firm level, relatively limited attention has been paid to the behavioral mechanisms underlying investors’ ESG information usage. This study addresses this gap by applying the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) framework to explain individual investors’ intention to use and actual usage of ESG information. Survey data were collected from 304 South Korean investors through a professional research firm. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the reliability and validity of the measurement model. Structural equation modeling was then employed to test the hypothesized relationships among performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, behavioral intention, and actual usage behavior. The results indicate that social influence (SI) exerts the strongest effect on intention to use ESG information, followed by effort expectancy (EE) and performance expectancy (PE). Intention to use ESG information significantly predicts actual ESG information usage behavior, and facilitating conditions (FC) also have a direct positive effect on usage behavior. The model explains 29.7% of the variance in behavioral intention and 54.9% of the variance in actual usage behavior. Bootstrapping analyses further confirm the significant mediating role of behavioral intention in linking the three antecedents to usage behavior. These findings suggest that ESG information adoption is shaped not only by instrumental performance considerations but also by normative pressures and structural support mechanisms. By extending UTAUT to the ESG investment context, this study contributes to both technology acceptance research and sustainable finance literature, offering theoretical insight and practical implications for policymakers and financial service providers seeking to promote responsible investment practices.