Luxury as a Sustainable Service: A Push–Pull–Mooring Perspective

Abstract

With the rapidly changing global landscape on sustainability, the luxury industry is now embracing circularity in consumption. Similarly, consumers are also evolving and changing the way they consume luxury by shifting from ownership-based models to access-based models. To uncover the underlying notions of sustainability in luxury, this conceptual article proposes the luxury as a sustainable service (LaSS) framework. It analyses consumers’ adoption of access-based, second-hand and co-ownership-based luxury models that are sustainable in their core. The study also attempts to advance the push–pull–mooring (PPM) theory by grounding the LaSS framework that further substantiates why consumers shift (or not) towards sustainable luxury. We identify push factors (voluntary conscious lifestyle, social norms, emotions of gratitude), pull factors (pro-environment behaviour, mindful consumption, warm glow) and mooring factors (materialism, social status, hedonic values, sunk cost) that play a key role in the transition of consumers towards adoption of LaSS. The LaSS framework has immense scope of being empirically tested and deeply fathom the fast-changing luxury consumer behaviour in a nuanced manner. Luxury practitioners can refer to the LaSS framework to formulate better strategies for consumers who are ready to adopt a sustainable luxury consumption regime.

Do consumer values and perceived readiness impact secondhand luxury consumption? A goal-framing theory approach

“…Secondhand is defined as “the acquisition of second-hand objects through methods and places of exchange that are generally distinct from those for new products” (Guiot and Roux, 2010 p. 356). Notably, research has approached the subject of secondhand luxury in a general sense, overlooking the basic premise behind secondhand consumption-pro-environmental consumption, except for a few studies like Sun et al (2021) who emphasize that “by selling your pre-loved bag, you’re extending its life and helping the environment” (p. 29) and Agrawal et al (2022) who calls pre-owned luxury as a circular model, “ascribing to slow fashion philosophy” (p. 8). At par with the “opportunity to save money” (Amatulli et al , 2018, p. 13), self-fulfillment (Kessous and Valette-Florence, 2019) and social standing (Lee et al , 2015); sustainable luxury preferences are an equally relevant motivation to buy secondhand luxury (Hu et al , 2019), empirical evidence on which is insufficient.…”

Exploring young consumer's adoption of secondhand luxury: insights from a qualitative study

“…Growing concern for the planet and an intensifying urge to experience luxury have led to alternative consumption forms (Agrawal et al, 2022). Resultantly, the secondhand luxury (SHL) market is accelerating four times faster than the luxury industry's growth (Luxebook, 2020).…”