How the Sustainability Efforts of a Luxury Fashion Brand Affects Consumer Behavior in Young Adults, Primarily Gen Z and Millennials

Details

Supervisors

Desmet, Carlos

Faculty

Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [120] en sciences de gestion, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to perform a theoretical analysis of consumer behavior towards the sustainability efforts of luxury fashion brands, specifically in the context of Gen Z and Millennials. The definition for sustainability used in this paper is that of the United Nations Brundtland Commission’s 1987 definition which is described as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” with a focus on the 3 pillars of sustainability: economic, social, and environmental sustainability. In order to analyze this subject, the main research question was dissected into 5 sub-research questions. These questions tackle the steps that the luxury fashion industry is taking to adopt sustainability, the priorities of luxury fashion customers when making purchasing decisions, how these customers are adopting sustainability, and what kind of behavior do these customers display when faced with a sustainable alternative to their favorite luxury fashion brand, and how luxury fashion brands can utilize this behavior to their benefit. These sub-research questions were answered using both the theoretical literature review conducted, as well as the practical study conducted using primary qualitative methodology of 4 in-depth interviews and quantitative methodology through an online survey that was distributed to 200 respondents. The results of this research were theoretical due to the limitations it faced, providing recommendations for future scholars and academics to dig deeper into the specified topics.