To trust or not to trust

: the impact of mandatory sustainability reporting guidelines and audit in the electric vehicle industry

Abstract

This thesis researches the impact of mandatory sustainability reporting guidelines and audit on trust using the example of the electric vehicle industry. In 2022, the European Union legislated the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, under which companies are obligated to report their sustainability information based on the binding European Sustainability Reporting Standards starting 2024. Besides the binding guidelines, the information will also be checked by an independent auditor. This new Directive is replacing the Non-Financial Reporting Directive from 2014, which neither had binding guidelines nor required an assurance of the information by an auditor. To research the effect of binding guidelines and audit, a survey experiment was conducted in the context of the two Directives. The study discovered that binding guidelines and audit had a significant positive effect on trust in the reported information. Furthermore, it revealed that an increased level of trust and a positive attitude towards the product, in this case Battery Electric Vehicles, positively influenced the purchase decision. It was therefore concluded that the progress in sustainability reporting was necessary to enhance the credibility and reliability of the information, and that higher trust levels also had positive effects for companies.

Date of Award	28 Jun 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Sérgio Moreira (Supervisor)