Exploring Generation Z’s Investment Patterns and Attitudes towards Greenness

Abstract

Financial technology is quickly developing, making the financial industry more accessible and encouraging individual investor engagement in the investing process. Generation Z, characterised by a high level of digital literacy, curiosity, and receptivity to innovation, tends to very quickly make decisions and rapidly consume. Since 2007, there has been an increase in the number of articles analysing investor behaviour, drawing on insights from financial and psychological theories. The purpose of this exploratory study is to categorise the behaviour of students surveyed by the type of their investments, while at the same time assessing their willingness to choose green investments. The survey used in the analysis not only aims at collecting data but also educates students on the importance of critical self-awareness and the identification of their emotions to make rational, responsible investment decisions and, at the same time, to form a responsible investor who understands that investing is not only a way to earn a return but also can make a positive impact on the world when green investments are chosen. This study shows that studying students tend to be very rational and interested in contributing to greening the world; however, they are still hesitant to put their theoretical skills into practise and are more likely to provide theoretical support for green investments rather than actually invest. Respondents are grouped according to their potential investment behaviour. The proportions of groups are assessed using statistical inference with a precision of 95% that allowed to propose the method of deriving confidence intervals for each group estimation and, thus, making estimates both reliable and available as statistical estimations.