Date of Award
9-2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)
First Advisor
Michal Strahilevitz
Abstract
How do Environmental (E), Social (S), and Governance (G) scores vary when examined under a hedonic-utilitarian lens? The happiness and guilt associated with hedonic (pleasure oriented) products have been shown to increase altruism and prosocial behavior as compared to utilitarian (need oriented) products. Based on this we examine whether Social- and Environmental-pillar scores for firms associated with hedonic products and/or services will be greater than for firms associated with utilitarian products and/or services. To test these hypotheses, data from the Thompson-Refinitiv ESG database were used to compare the ESG pillar scores between hedonic and utilitarian firms. The research finds higher Environmental pillar scores for hedonic firms than for utilitarian firms. For Social scores the difference between hedonic and utilitarian firms was not significant; however, there was a significant difference between the firm groups in their Governance scores: utilitarian firms had higher scores than their hedonic counterparts.
Creative Commons License
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Recommended Citation
Loomas, Timothy, "When E and G Disagree: ESG Scores Between Hedonic and Utilitarian Firms" (2024). Executive DBA Dissertations. 7.
https://digitalcommons.stmarys-ca.edu/executive-dba/7
