Proceedings of the 2025 4th International Conference on Public Service, Economic Management and Sustainable Development (PESD 2025)

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Research on How Divergent ESG Rating Criteria Influence Investor Behavior and Financial Market Outcomes

Authors
Jingping Qu1, *
1School of Economics, Guangzhou College of Commerce, Guangzhou, 510000, China
*Corresponding author. Email: 1607554981@qq.com
Corresponding Author
Jingping Qu
Available Online 22 December 2025.
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6463-916-2_17How to use a DOI?
Keywords
ESG ratings; investment decision-making; market performance; responsible investment
Abstract

With the growing emphasis on sustainable and responsible investing, ESG ratings have become an important reference for investors. However, the lack of consistency among ESG rating agencies raises concerns about the reliability and comparability of such ratings. This study investigates the implications of divergent ESG rating standards for investment decisions and market performance, with a particular focus on how rating discrepancies influence investor perceptions, capital allocation, and stock price behavior. Through qualitative content analysis and a case study of Tesla Inc., this paper explores how ESG rating divergence weakens the signaling effect of ESG information in financial markets. The findings suggest that inconsistent ESG ratings reduce the informational value of ESG ratings, increase market uncertainty, and potentially distort asset pricing. This study deepens our understanding of the challenges posed by unstandardized ESG assessments and advocates for greater transparency and convergence in evaluation frameworks.

Copyright
© 2025 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the 2025 4th International Conference on Public Service, Economic Management and Sustainable Development (PESD 2025)
Series
Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research
Publication Date
22 December 2025
ISBN
978-94-6463-916-2
ISSN
2352-5428
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6463-916-2_17How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2025 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - CONF
AU  - Jingping Qu
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/22
TI  - Research on How Divergent ESG Rating Criteria Influence Investor Behavior and Financial Market Outcomes
BT  - Proceedings of the 2025 4th International Conference on Public Service, Economic Management and Sustainable Development (PESD 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 139
EP  - 147
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-916-2_17
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-916-2_17
ID  - Qu2025
ER  -