IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v119y2014i1p45-57.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Catch-22 of Responsible Luxury: Effects of Luxury Product Characteristics on Consumers’ Perception of Fit with Corporate Social Responsibility

Author

Listed:
  • Catherine Janssen
  • Joëlle Vanhamme
  • Adam Lindgreen
  • Cécile Lefebvre

Abstract

The notion of “responsible luxury” may appear as a contradiction in terms. This article investigates the influence of two defining characteristics of luxury products—scarcity and ephemerality—on consumers’ perception of the fit between luxury and corporate social responsibility (CSR), as well as how this perceived fit affects consumers’ attitudes toward luxury products. A field experiment reveals that ephemerality moderates the positive impact of scarcity on consumers’ perception of fit between luxury and CSR. When luxury products are enduring (e.g., jewelry), a scarce product is perceived as more socially responsible than a more widely available one and provokes positive attitudes. However, this effect does not appear for ephemeral luxury products (e.g., clothing). The perceived fit between luxury and CSR mediates the combined effects of scarcity and ephemerality on consumers’ attitudes toward luxury products. This study provides valuable insights that luxury brand managers can use to design their CSR and marketing strategies. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Catherine Janssen & Joëlle Vanhamme & Adam Lindgreen & Cécile Lefebvre, 2014. "The Catch-22 of Responsible Luxury: Effects of Luxury Product Characteristics on Consumers’ Perception of Fit with Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 119(1), pages 45-57, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:119:y:2014:i:1:p:45-57
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-013-1621-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10551-013-1621-6
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-013-1621-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jeffery Bray & Nick Johns & David Kilburn, 2011. "An Exploratory Study into the Factors Impeding Ethical Consumption," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 98(4), pages 597-608, February.
    2. Inman, J Jeffrey & Peter, Anil C & Raghubir, Priya, 1997. "Framing the Deal: The Role of Restrictions in Accentuating Deal Value," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 24(1), pages 68-79, June.
    3. Nueno, Jose Luis & Quelch, John A., 1998. "The mass marketing of luxury," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 61-68.
    4. Tanya L. Chartrand & Joel Huber & Baba Shiv & Robin J. Tanner, 2008. "Nonconscious Goals and Consumer Choice," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(2), pages 189-201, April.
    5. Lynn, Michael, 1989. "Scarcity effects on desirability: Mediated by assumed expensiveness?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 257-274, June.
    6. Axel Stock & Subramanian Balachander, 2005. "The Making of a "Hot Product": A Signaling Explanation of Marketers' Scarcity Strategy," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 51(8), pages 1181-1192, August.
    7. Kemp, Simon, 1998. "Perceiving luxury and necessity," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 591-606, October.
    8. Alan Pomering & Sara Dolnicar, 2009. "Assessing the Prerequisite of Successful CSR Implementation: Are Consumers Aware of CSR Initiatives?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 85(2), pages 285-301, April.
    9. Gierl, Heribert & Huettl, Verena, 2010. "Are scarce products always more attractive? The interaction of different types of scarcity signals with products' suitability for conspicuous consumption," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 225-235.
    10. Iain Davies & Zoe Lee & Ine Ahonkhai, 2012. "Do Consumers Care About Ethical-Luxury?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 106(1), pages 37-51, March.
    11. Veblen, Thorstein, 1899. "The Theory of the Leisure Class," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number veblen1899.
    12. Verhallen, Theo M. M. & Robben, Henry S. J., 1994. "Scarcity and preference: An experiment on unavailability and product evaluation," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 315-331, June.
    13. Heckler, Susan E & Childers, Terry L, 1992. "The Role of Expectancy and Relevancy in Memory for Verbal and Visual Information: What Is Incongruency?," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 18(4), pages 475-492, March.
    14. Verhallen, Theo M. M., 1982. "Scarcity and consumer choice behavior," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 2(4), pages 299-322, December.
    15. J.B. (Hans) Opschoor, 2009. "Sustainability," Chapters, in: Jan Peil & Irene van Staveren (ed.), Handbook of Economics and Ethics, chapter 69, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    16. Xinshu Zhao & John G. Lynch & Qimei Chen, 2010. "Reconsidering Baron and Kenny: Myths and Truths about Mediation Analysis," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 37(2), pages 197-206, August.
    17. Jean-Noël Kapferer & Vincent Bastien, 2009. "The specificity of luxury management: Turning marketing upside down," Post-Print hal-00493180, HAL.
    18. Park, C Whan & Milberg, Sandra & Lawson, Robert, 1991. "Evaluation of Brand Extensions: The Role of Product Feature Similarity and Brand Concept Consistency," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 18(2), pages 185-193, September.
    19. Carlos J. Torelli & Alokparna Basu Monga & Andrew M. Kaikati, 2012. "Doing Poorly by Doing Good: Corporate Social Responsibility and Brand Concepts," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 38(5), pages 948-963.
    20. Sungchul Choi & Alex Ng, 2011. "Environmental and Economic Dimensions of Sustainability and Price Effects on Consumer Responses," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 104(2), pages 269-282, December.
    21. Jean-Noël Kapferer, 2004. "The New Strategic Brand Management," Post-Print hal-00786821, HAL.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Parguel, Béatrice & Delécolle, Thierry & Valette-Florence, Pierre, 2016. "How price display influences consumer luxury perceptions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 341-348.
    2. Gierl, Heribert & Huettl, Verena, 2010. "Are scarce products always more attractive? The interaction of different types of scarcity signals with products' suitability for conspicuous consumption," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 225-235.
    3. Hwang, Yookyung & Ko, Eunju & Megehee, Carol M., 2014. "When higher prices increase sales: How chronic and manipulated desires for conspicuousness and rarity moderate price's impact on choice of luxury brands," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(9), pages 1912-1920.
    4. Shin, Hyunju & Eastman, Jacqueline K. & Mothersbaugh, David, 2017. "The effect of a limited-edition offer following brand dilution on consumer attitudes toward a luxury brand," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 59-70.
    5. Kukar-Kinney, Monika & Xia, Lan, 2017. "The effectiveness of number of deals purchased in influencing consumers' response to daily deal promotions: A cue utilization approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 189-197.
    6. Janssen, Catherine & Vanhamme, Joëlle & Leblanc, Sina, 2017. "Should luxury brands say it out loud? Brand conspicuousness and consumer perceptions of responsible luxury," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 167-174.
    7. Naïade Anido Freire & Leïla Loussaïef, 2018. "When Advertising Highlights the Binomial Identity Values of Luxury and CSR Principles: The Examples of Louis Vuitton and Hermès," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(4), pages 565-582, July.
    8. Mundel, Juan & Huddleston, Patricia & Vodermeier, Michael, 2017. "An exploratory study of consumers’ perceptions: What are affordable luxuries?," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 68-75.
    9. Joëlle Vanhamme & Adam Lindgreen & Gülen Sarial-Abi, 2023. "Luxury Ethical Consumers: Who Are They?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(3), pages 805-838, March.
    10. Béatrice Parguel & Thierry Delécolle & Pierre Valette-Florence, 2014. "The impact of price display on perceptions of luxury: a masstige perspective," Working Papers halshs-00948953, HAL.
    11. Hoenow, Nils Christian & Kirk, Michael, 2021. "Does competitive scarcity affect the speed of resource extraction? A common-pool resource lab-in-the-field experiment on land use in northern Namibia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    12. Ostovan, Nima & Khalili Nasr, Arash, 2022. "The manifestation of luxury value dimensions in brand engagement in self-concept," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    13. Santhiya Ramasamy & Karpal S. Dara Singh & Azlan Amran & Mehran Nejati, 2020. "Linking human values to consumer CSR perception: The moderating role of consumer skepticism," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 1958-1971, July.
    14. Catherine Janssen & Joëlle Vanhamme, 2015. "Theoretical Lenses for Understanding the CSR–Consumer Paradox," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 130(4), pages 775-787, September.
    15. Anja Marie Bundgaard & Rikke Dorothea Huulgaard, 2019. "Luxury products for the circular economy? A case study of Bang & Olufsen," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 699-709, July.
    16. Ina Garnefeld & Eva Böhm & Lena Klimke & Andrea Oestreich, 2018. "I thought it was over, but now it is back: customer reactions to ex post time extensions of sales promotions," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 46(6), pages 1133-1147, November.
    17. Karatzas, Stelios & Kapoulas, Alexandros & Priporas, Constantinos Vasilios, 2019. "Consumers' perceptions on complexity and prospects of ethical luxury: Qualitative insights from Taiwan," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 224-232.
    18. Peschel, Anne O., 2021. "Scarcity signaling in sales promotion: An evolutionary perspective of food choice and weight status," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    19. Stępień Beata, 2018. "Snobbish Bandwagoners: Ambiguity of Luxury Goods’ Perception," Journal of Management and Business Administration. Central Europe, Sciendo, vol. 26(1), pages 79-99, March.
    20. Marlene Vock, 2022. "Luxurious and responsible? Consumer perceptions of corporate social responsibility efforts by luxury versus mass-market brands," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 29(6), pages 569-583, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:119:y:2014:i:1:p:45-57. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.