Positive luxury: A consumer-centric approach to bridging luxury and sustainability

Abstract

This study explores the concept of luxury through the lens of sustainability, questioning conventional interpretations and promoting a broader comprehension of luxury’s compatibility with sustainability. It also explores the potential positive effects of luxury consumption and production at various scales—individual (micro), industry (meso), and environment (macro). This research, adopting a positive theory approach and aligning with the transformative luxury research (TLR) stream, proposes a novel framework termed “positive luxury.” This framework, informed by consumer insights, introduces additional pillars of sustainable practices in the luxury sector that yield positive impacts. These pillars encompass ecological, social, and economic aspects, as well as ethical governance, supply chain integrity, philanthropy, well-being, and diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI). The findings underscore the significance of a consumer-centered perspective and reveal the nuanced positive impacts that consumers perceive from each of these pillars. Furthermore, the study advances existing works by classifying sustainable pillars into either “core” or “incipient” qualities, while responding to the TLR stream’s call for a focus on well-being outcomes. The findings have implications for policymakers and luxury businesses alike, offering potential directions for future research.