Celebrity Endorsement and the Attitude Towards Luxury Brands for Sustainable Consumption

TLDR

The study examines how celebrity credibility, familiarity, luxury brand value, and sustainability awareness shape attitudes toward celebrity, brand, and purchase intentions for sustainable luxury goods. Using a conceptual model grounded in prior research, the authors surveyed 514 UK consumers of top luxury brands in 2019 to test relationships among these variables. Results show that celebrity credibility strongly increases purchase intentions for sustainable luxury goods, offering theoretical and practical implications while noting study limitations and future research directions.

Abstract

Taking into consideration the increasing role of sustainability in the luxury industry, our study investigates the role of celebrity credibility, celebrity familiarity, luxury brand value, and brand sustainability awareness on attitude towards celebrity, brand, and purchase intention for sustainable consumption. For this, we explored relationships among these variables to test a conceptual model which is developed using existing knowledge available in academic research on this topic. Data for testing were collected from high-end retail stores in the UK about the world top luxury brands by brand value in 2019, also acknowledged for their major engagement in sustainability. Findings from a survey of 514 consumers suggest that celebrity credibility is a very strong key to increasing purchase intentions of sustainable luxury goods. The study has important implications for the expansion of current literature, theory development and business practices. Limitations of the study are also outlined, and directions for future research are considered too.