thesis subject :
Sustainable Luxury : An Exploration and Paths Forward.
Thesis start date :
Septembre 2024
Name of thesis supervisor(s) :
Mickaël FLACANJI (Bordeaux) & Jonas HOLMQVIST (KEDGE)
Thesis abstract :
Sustainability is one of the most discussed and important topics today in luxury, with firms increasingly engaged in more ethical, non-traditional practices. However, this emerging field suffers from fragmentation and conceptual confusion, impeding theory development. The same confusion is echoed in managerial practices, as many luxury firms profess sustainability, yet often in limited ways and at odds with the original meaning of the concept. Additionally, the sustainable luxury field is underdeveloped in several key areas, including ethics and services. This thesis combines three manuscripts into one. The first starts by conducting a systematic literature review to highlight the current fragmentation in the marketing literature, identifying a plethora of conflicting conceptualizations and creating a definition and key premises for sustainable luxury. The second continues by examining the relationship of ethical luxury services, which has not been examined in the literature to this point. Finally, the last paper finishes by examining consumer perceptions on the sustainable practices of a key luxury industry, luxury restaurants, through interviews with managers and consumers.
Together, the three sections of this thesis combine to offer a variety of theoretical and managerial implications of sustainable luxury by calling for conceptual clarity, examining ethics, and further researching how sustainable and ethical services differ from traditional luxury products.
