ABSTRACT
This research explores consumers’ emotions towards luxury brands that carry socially responsible attributes, which we refer to as responsible luxury. It differentiates emotional responses between frequent luxury consumers (those who frequently purchase luxury items) and occasional consumers (who rarely purchase luxury products). The key results suggest that frequent customers were happier than occasional customers after seeing an advertisement for a responsible luxury brand. On the other hand, occasional customers tended to react negatively to a responsible luxury advertisement and were happier after seeing a traditional luxury advertisement (i.e., without any mention of social responsibility). These results have implications for luxury marketing theory and practice, mainly how luxury brands communicate with different customer segments classified by their purchase behavior patterns. By communicating their socially responsible actions primarily to frequent customers, luxury brands can potentially enhance their customers’ emotional well-being and the social impact of their actions.
