The COVID-19 pandemic and climate change issues present evident interdependencies which justify the spread of connected beliefs. We examine possible changes in individuals’ pro-environmental behavior in light of this pandemic, using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) framework. A questionnaire survey was submitted to the same sample of individuals, before and during the pandemic. Our evidence, based on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), shows that the COVID-19 pandemic has not led to a weakening in TPB construct relationships, or in related Pro-Environmental Behavior (PEB). Conversely, through our Partial Least Squares-Multi-Group Analysis (PLS-MGA), we show that individuals with greater awareness of interdependencies between the COVID-19 and climate change exhibit both higher Intention and reinforced Pro-Environmental Behaviors. This finding reveals interesting policy implications in terms of innovative behavioral drivers that should be employed to steer public support towards climate-oriented initiatives.

In March 2020, the European Commission published the EU Taxonomy, a classification system of economic activities that can be considered environmentally sustainable. Motivated by this policy initiative, we propose a bibliometric analysis, based on the Web of Science database for the period January 1990–March 2020, regarding the extant scientific production related to the EU Taxonomy environmental objectives and macro-sectors. We find that a considerable number of scientific works—161,595 publications—have investigated Taxonomy-related areas, showing that the EU Taxonomy defined a working method, based on the cooperation among regulators, academics, and industry, representing a valuable example of evidence-based policy making. Furthermore, topic modelling analysis shows that extracted papers focused on improvements in production processes, innovation, and environmental performance. Thus, exploiting time and geographic patterns of the scientific publications, we perform a multivariate analysis to investigate its relationship with subsequent levels of pollution. Our evidence shows that, for the past, a higher level of EU Taxonomy-related publications is associated with a lower level of CO₂ emissions, supporting the view that scientific production has a societal impact in terms of environmental sustainability. Accordingly, now that EU Taxonomy-related topics have been incorporated into policy measures, further positive environmental effects are expected from here on out.

Purpose: – The purpose of this paper is to explore how psychological variables are related to real-life insurance consumption. Specifically, the authors focus on whether emotions and psychological traits can improve the predictability of insurance demand, taking traditional socioeconomic variables under control.Design/methodology/approach: – The approach used was in-person survey, based on a traditional questionnaire, the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale and a psycho-physiological task (Iowa Gambling Task (IGT)).Findings: – A selective role of emotions and psychological traits has been proven to exist when comparing different insurance policies. Life and casualty insurance are affected by emotional arousal to losses; indemnity insurance by fear of the unknown, whereas health insurance by impulsivity.Research limitations/implications: – The findings indicate that individual insurance consumption may be amplified by not cognitive components. Future research should concentrate on testing the effect of further psychological traits related to pure risk coverage.Practical implications: – The results may be of interest for insurers in order to know what drives insurance demand with respect to different kinds of pure risks.Social implications: – For policymakers, it is important to understand how psychological factors affect consumer behavior in order to incorporate such perspective into modern insurance policy measures. An analysis of such factors may also increase the self-consciousness of insurance consumers and enrich consumer self-protection.Originality/value: – The authors propose an interdisciplinary approach to analyze insurance demand and test different kinds of insurance coverage, suggesting not homogenous hedging behaviors in relation to specific ambiguous events.

This paper investigates how different representations of financial information may be appraised in terms of complexity and usefulness, and how financial disclosure influences individuals’ risk perception. By using a consumer testing analytical approach, we run a survey on a sample of Italian investors: 254 bank customers were submitted 4 different templates, each combining a different typology of data (historical and prospective) and framing (words, numbers and charts) to indicate the same level of risk and return of four real-life financial instruments. Representation formats partially overlap with those mandated by regulators and used within the financial industry. Results show that the perceived riskiness of financial products is affected by the way information is disclosed. Perceived complexity of the financial information disclosure intensifies perception of riskiness of the product solicited. Gender, age, personal traits, behavioural biases and financial knowledge, do also play a role. Overall, given investors’ heterogeneity and behavioural biases, neither simplifying disclosure nor a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach may be sufficient to ensure correct risk perception and to prevent unbiased investment choices.

Purpose: The literature on the drivers affecting retail investor preferences towards socially responsible investments (SRIs) has increased significantly over recent years, revealing several influencing factors. Given the wide variety and ambiguity of the available evidence, the purpose of this paper is to analyse the existing literature on this topic and develop a new unified approach to study this phenomenon.Design/methodology/approach: We conducted a systematic literature review, followed by a research profile analysis and a thematic analysis, which uncovered four major emerging foci: the research outcome type, the external environment, sociodemographic characteristics and the internal dimension of retail investors.Findings: Our analysis revealed that studies investigating investor preferences often neglected to consider the concurring influence of multiple perspectives. In fact, we observed how the literature has not yet adequately addressed the mediating and moderating effects of the various factors that determine retail investor decisions regarding SRI.Research limitations/implications: In response to these shortfalls, we propose a new integrated conceptual framework that may inspire scholars to conduct further studies to refine our understanding of investor preferences towards SRI.Practical implications: This framework offers some suggestions on how to expand future research and underline some managerial and policy interventions aimed at developing the retail demand for these products.Originality/value: To our knowledge, this is the first study to perform a systematic review on the drivers of SRIs, elaborating a new conceptual framework to understand the dynamics of retail investor sustainable preferences.