Perceived Importance and Utilization of ESG Information Among Investors

This study examined individual investors’ perceptions of the importance of corporate ESG management and the extent to which ESG information is utilized in actual investment decision-making. The purpose was to identify priority ESG attributes where perceived importance exceeds practical utilization. Data were collected from 304 individual investors in South Korea using a structured questionnaire. The Borich needs assessment model and the Locus for Focus (LF) were identified. The findings showed that investors generally regarded ESG management factors as important, but their actual utilization in investment decisions was significantly lower. Borich show that the largest needs were observed in the social dimension and disclosure dimension. In constrast, the governance dimension was the only sub-category in which the importance-utilization gap was not statistically significant, suggesting that governance criteria are already relatively well-integrated into individual investment practice. The LF analysis produced investment priority hierarchy, where waste reduction and recycling practice, community engagement and social contribution as the two highest-priority ESG investment needs overall, followed closely by labor rights and employee welfare system. These three items are all placed in QI (High Importance, High Difference). Items located in QII (Low Importance, High Difference), including non-discriminatory hiring, ESG management within supply chains, and ESG performance metrics and indicators, represent emerging priorities that investors may not yet fully appreciate but whose utilization gaps are substantial. This study makes three key contributions. First, it applies the Borich needs assessment approach to ESG investment prioritization among individual investors, providing an importance-weighted ranking of ESG factors. Second, it demonstrates that informational and structural barriers hinder the translation of perceived ESG importance into actual investment use, with the social dimension showing the largest gap. Third, it identifies a governance habituation effect, suggesting that repeated exposure to governance factors leads to their routine incorporation into investment decisions beyond stated importance.