Читать книгу Marketing for Sustainable Development - Группа авторов - Страница 27

Can the luxury sector still avoid its environmental and social obligations to society at a time when all other sectors of activity are facing increasing pressure from various stakeholders to tackle the challenges of sustainable development? In addition to strengthened environmental regulations and strong activism from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), consumers have shown a deep concern for societal issues.

It is obvious that, in this context, luxury companies must follow this movement at the risk of receiving blame; they have long been scrutinized because of their significant economic growth. Moreover, this sector has often been the subject of strong criticism linked to social issues. For example, the salespeople at a Gucci store in Shenzhen, China, denounced inhumane working conditions in 2011. The film Blood Diamond, for its part, revealed to the public the impact of the illegal trade of precious stones (destined for Western luxury businesses), in exchange for weapons, in terms of inter-ethnic massacres, notably in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

These controversies around the practices of luxury companies present a significant risk to brand image. A commitment to sustainability could mitigate this risk and be a differentiating factor on the market, especially as consumers have expressed new expectations of product quality that take sustainability into account.

More than that, the luxury industry should assume a leadership position in terms of a commitment to sustainability (Davies et al., 2012). Firstly, it acts as a model for other sectors to follow, as it is often a source of creativity. Secondly, the luxury industry has significant financial resources that would allow it to make responsible investments.

However, if luxury companies choose to engage in responsible activities, they are confronted with the difficulty of convincing others of the suitability of this strategic choice. Perceived contradictions between the values of sustainable development (sharing, donations, second-hand goods, recycling, etc.) and those of luxury (exclusivity, hedonism, ostentatiousness, etc.) can create a dissonance in the minds of consumers (Dekhili and Achabou 2016). In addition, responsible practices (the use of recycling and vegetable materials, etc.) can have a negative impact on the perceived quality; luxury products have historically been associated with the use of high-quality raw materials (Achabou and Dekhili 2013; Dekhili et al. 2019).

The aim of this chapter is to shed light on the issues related to the luxury industry’s commitment to sustainable development. In particular, it proposes to highlight the actions that marketing can offer luxury companies to bring together two notions that may seem contradictory: luxury and sustainable development.

Our contribution will be structured around two main sections. First, we will discuss the strategic interest for luxury brands in integrating sustainable development issues, as well as the risks associated with this choice. Second, we will detail the sources of the perceived contradiction between luxury and sustainable development, and will present solutions to overcome it. For illustrative puposes, an interview conducted with the founder of an innovative luxury start-up, Just Ananas, which supports animal welfare, is included.