In today’s fashion-focused culture, the luxury sector has benefitted from increased public interest for a very long time—both in positive and controversial ways and it still displays potential for ideological debate. Moreover, with the sustainability phenomenon reaching its peak, luxury brands face the challenge of integrating as much in their business practice and communicating it credibly—being urged to develop an ethical stature appropriate for our age. Existing literature on the topic displays consumers’ opposing viewpoints on the relationship between luxury and sustainability as incompatible or prematurely compatible with reaching a common ground. However, more recent research focuses on ethical dimensions of sustainability to be used as communication strategies by luxury brands in order to increase credibility and set the tone for future sustainability endeavors in the luxury sector. Four focus groups with Millennials and Gen Z Romanian luxury consumers were conducted in order to investigate their views on the research topic. To achieve an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon, the researcher has followed three major directions for study: the consumer perspective on the luxury and sustainability paradox, the attitude-behavior gap and its factors, and expectations on how to reach alignment between personal and corporate values in terms of sustainability. This research confirms the existence of an attitude behavior gap between the positive outlook on luxury and sustainability, which does not translate into purchase behavior. The most relevant finding addresses the cause of the attitude behavior gap, which stems from practical considerations: the financial capacity to afford sustainable luxury products. As highlighted by most participants, the low affordability contributes to the ambivalent attitude towards luxury and sustainability, along with limited accessibility and availability of products. Moreover, for luxury brands to become truly sustainable, more transparent sustainability communication is required to align the personal and corporate values. Lastly, the results emerging from the analysis may constitute the basis for sustainability communication strategies in order to remove the ambivalence expressed by consumers regarding the relationship between luxury and sustainability.

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Dr. Vidhi Chaudhri
hdl.handle.net/2105/65092
Media & Business
Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication

Ana-Maria Zamfir. (2022, June 27). Luxury and Sustainability: From Paradox to Potential Romanian Consumer Perspective on Sustainability Communication in the Luxury Fashion Industry. Media & Business. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2105/65092