Purpose
This study aims to examine whether, and how, perceived product scarcity strengthens the attitude–behavior relation in the case of sustainable luxury products.
Design/methodology/approach
Three online studies were conducted to examine the moderating role of perceived product scarcity on the attitude–willingness to pay (WTP) relationship in the case of sustainable luxury products. A preliminary study (n = 208) examined the existence of an attitude–WTP gap toward a sustainable luxury product (i.e. a bag). Study 1 (n = 171) investigated the moderating effect of perceived scarcity induced by a limited quantity message on the relationship between consumer attitude and the WTP for a sustainable luxury product (i.e. a pair of shoes). Study 2 (n = 558) replicated these findings using a different product category (i.e. a wallet) while controlling for demographic variables and examined the moderating role of consumer characteristics on the scarcity effect.
Findings
Consumers’ perceived scarcity for sustainable luxury products positively moderated the relationship between product attitudes and their WTP for the products. The moderating effect of perceived scarcity was significant for consumers regardless of their tendency toward socially responsible consumption and their preference for product innovativeness. Meanwhile, the scarcity effect was influenced by the consumers’ attitude toward the brand of sustainable products.
Practical implications
This research provides empirical evidence for marketers with clear managerial implications concerning how to immediately promote consumers’ acceptance of sustainable luxury products.
Originality/value
This study is the first to examine the role of scarcity strategy on strengthening the attitude–behavior relation for sustainable luxury products.
The Consumer Styles Inventory (CSI) developed by Sproles and Kendall, Journal of Consumer Affairs, 1986, 20: 267-279, is one of the most widely used instruments to classify consumers by their decision making styles. With changes in consumption culture attributable to the coexistence of global and local consumer culture in the past few decades, it is essential to reaffirm that the CSI measurement instrument is valid for contemporary consumers and can be applied in various contexts. This study, therefore, aimed to present a set of CSI validation procedures using contemporaneous participants and targeting two groups of participants in the United States. Two sets of exploratory factor analysis using the main data set (n = 390) were performed and confirmatory factor analysis was applied to the main data set and the cross-validation data set (n = 172). Results from both the exploratory factor and confirmatory factor analyses seem to validate the eight underlying consumer characteristics of CSI.
Consumers are increasingly interested in environmental issues, which have raised their expectations of firms’ environmentally conscious efforts. The purpose of this study is to investigate how green messages in advertisements conveying a firm’s commitment to the environment can effectively influence consumer attitudes and behavioral intentions. Furthermore, this study examines the psychological mechanism underlying such an effect. The results of two studies show that firms’ eco-friendly efforts as revealed in advertisements for luxury products generated favorable attitudes in consumers and increased their behavioral intentions more than firms’ eco-friendly efforts as revealed in advertisements for mass products. This process was driven by trust in the ad message, especially for consumers of luxury brands and who are not confused by green message. This research provides empirical evidence that green ads presenting a firm’s commitment to the environment can effectively influence consumers when brands are used to promote eco-friendly products in luxury markets.
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