Abstract
Purpose: This study investigates how fashion consumers reconcile desires for sustainable luxury with intrinsic luxury values. It examines how global warming (GW) beliefs, organic fashion motivations, and intrinsic luxury values shape new luxury practices, such as shopping at online flash sales, rental websites or secondhand platforms.
Design/methodology/approach: The research constructs a theoretical model based on a prestige-seeking consumer behavior (PSCB) framework to examine relationships among GW beliefs, organic fashion motivations, hedonic and functional luxury values, and new luxury practices. Data collected from 410 questionnaires administered to panelists in the US via an online survey were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) to investigate the relationships and test the hypotheses.
Findings: The findings reveal that GW beliefs enhance both hedonic and functional luxury values. Organic fashion motivations increase hedonic luxury values but decrease functional luxury values. Hedonic values are positively associated with new luxury practices, while functional (i.e. perfectionist) values are negatively associated with most practices, except for a null effect on shopping at flash sales. In the model's first stage, hedonic and perfectionist effects are equally represented; however, in the second stage, hedonic values are more prominent in motivating new luxury practices.
Originality/value: Drawing on PSCB, this study constructs an integrated model to examine the links of GW and organic fashion motivations to intrinsic luxury values and new luxury practices. The model enhances luxury literature by offering new insights on how hedonic and perfectionist effects influence new luxury practices in the digital age.