Consumers’ Cooperation with Sustainability Programs: The Role of Luxury Branding and Profit Motive Attribution

Abstract

In this research, we investigate consumers’ willingness to cooperate with luxury versus non-luxury hotels’ environmental protection programs. We find that while consumers’ cooperation with non-luxury hotels becomes less favorable when consumers perceive the sustainability program to have a profit motive, consumers’ cooperation with luxury hotels remains high even when consumers perceive the hotel’s sustainability program to be profit-driven. We find a similar pattern for customer loyalty. In addition, we find that this interactive effect emerges when affective attitudes toward luxury brands are strong. These results contribute to the literature by identifying a condition where profit motive attribution does not hurt consumer conservation intentions and by revealing a condition where luxury brands may benefit from sustainability programs. We discuss theoretical and practical implications as well as directions for future research.