The Marketing of Sustainability and CSR Initiatives by Luxury Brands: Cultural Indicators, Call to Action, and Framework

Abstract

This conceptual study addresses the sustainable development (SD) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of global luxury brands and their lack of information dissemination on these endeavors to the luxury consumer market. Strategies for global luxury companies to connect their consumers to the sustainability messages that underlie their core values and inform their business operations are still nascent in the luxury brand management literature. A case study tracing the SD and CSR initiatives of leading luxury conglomerate, LVMH, since the inception of its environmental department (i.e., 1992–2017) was conducted alongside an in-depth historical review of the larger luxury goods industry. This approach allowed for concurrent examination of LVMH’s sustainability initiatives over time and within the context of the evolving luxury goods environment (e.g., changing luxury consumer motivations and values). Data were collected from primary and secondary data sources. Two theoretical foundations, experiential marketing (e.g., Atwal & Williams, 2009; Pine & Gilmore, 1998) and sustainable luxury value (Hennigs et al., 2013), shaped the study. Findings revealed a conceptual framework for sustainable luxury brand communication (SLBC) that can serve as a guide for global luxury brands with sustainability programs in varying stages of development. The SLBC framework proposes the order in which brands communicate their SD and CSR initiatives to the luxury market, with the goal of educating and helping fuel the shift in consumer values toward a more sustainable paradigm. This research contributes to the growing body of literature on luxury brands’ sustainability programs and their impact at the consumer and corporate-level.