The Sustainable Development Goals as new business norms: A survey experiment on stakeholder preferences

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were set by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 to work towards a sustainable society in which economic prosperity is achieved and social and environmental concerns are met. Under the SDGs, businesses are expected to assume increasingly active roles. However, little is known about the relationship between the preferences of stakeholders and businesses' contributions to the SDGs. This study, therefore, investigates whether the SDGs can function as business norms by examining stakeholder support for sustainable practices. Specifically, the study examines preferences for companies that contribute to the SDGs and the effects of raising awareness regarding the inherent nature of the SDGs on stakeholders' preferences. To this end, we used a nationwide online survey dataset conducted in Japan (n = 6043) and employed a combination of conjoint analysis and an information treatment experiment. The results showed that implementing the SDGs increased stakeholders' preferences for companies. However, a gap existed between the stakeholders' preferred SDGs and the companies' priorities concerning the SDG implementation. The findings suggest that increasing stakeholders' awareness is effective in closing the gap.

Automated summary

The study examines whether SDGs can function as business norms by investigating stakeholder support for sustainable practices. Results show that implementing SDGs increases stakeholders' preferences for companies, but a gap exists between stakeholders' preferred SDGs and companies' priorities. Increasing stakeholders' awareness is effective in closing this gap.