Web users identify most postively with term 'responsible investment' says new report

News

Web users identify most postively with term 'responsible investment' says new report

Finance | Vibeka Mair | 11 Mar 2010

The term 'responsible investment' is regarded positively with web surfers, while the term 'ethical investment' attracts some cynicism, according to a new report on how online communities regard investments which take environmental, social and governance factors into account.

Responsible Investment Online 2009 collected data from nearly 100 million blogs, social networks, online communities and other consumer generated media platforms over three months. Online conversation tracked had included at least one of the following search terms:

cleantech
environmental, social, governance (ESG) investment
ethical investment
green investment
responsible investment
socially responsible investment
sustainable investment

It found that the three terms attracting the most positive associations online were 'responsible investment' (74 per cent of conversations); 'cleantech' (69 per cent) and 'sustainable investment' (62 per cent).

'Ethical investment' was rated positively in 58 per cent of online conversations monitored, however the report noted that the term attracted some cynicism as "the concept ethical can vary significantly from person to person and it is not easily unpacked with clarity".

'Green investment' was the term most used in online conversations to encapsulate investments which took environmental, social and governance factors into account.

Further, the report uncovered a number of broad themes emerging in online conversations on responsible investment.

It found the global financial crisis had driven online conversations to have an increasingly global focus on sustainability, and a rise in the focus on companies to take a proactive environmental, social and governance approach.

Also, it found over ten million blog posts injected environmental, social, green, clean, responsible and governance concepts into investment conversations and decision-making.

Comments

[Cancel] | Reply to:

Name *

Email *

Organisation

Job Title

Comments *

Verification *

* Please read our Community Standards

Close »

Community Standards

The civilsociety.co.uk community and comments board is intended as a platform for informed and civilised debate.

We hope to encourage a broad range of views, however, there are standards that we expect commentators to uphold. We reserve the right to delete or amend any comments that do not adhere to these standards.

We welcome:

Robust but respectful debate
Strongly held opinions
Intelligent relevant discussion
The sharing of relevant experiences
New participants

We will not publish:

Rude, threatening, offensive, obscene or abusive language, or links to such material
Links to commercial organisations or spam postings. The comments board is not an advertising platform
The posting of contact details for yourself or others
Comments intended for malicious purpose or mindless abuse
Comments purporting to be from another person or organisation under false pretences
Gratuitous criticism, commentary or self-promotion
Any material which breaches copyright or privacy laws, or could be considered libellous
The use of the comments board for the pursuit or extension of personal disputes

Be aware:

Views expressed on the comments board are left at users’ discretion and are in no way views held or supported by Civil Society Media
Comments left by others may not be accurate, do not rely on them as fact
You may be misunderstood - sarcasm and humour can easily be taken out of context, try to be clear

Please:

Enjoy the opportunity to express your opinion and respect the right of others to express theirs
Confine your remarks to issues rather than personalities

Together we can keep our community a polite, respectful and intelligent platform for discussion.