Sustainability claim, environmental misconduct and perceived hypocrisy in luxury branding
Purpose: This paper aims to examine consumers’ evaluation of and reaction to the coexistence of brand misconduct and sustainability claims through a series of studies. Design/methodology/approach: The research questions are examined across three studies. Consumer’s scepticism of corporate social res...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
2023
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/96366 |
| _version_ | 1848766143528960000 |
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| author | Cheah, Isaac Shimul, Anwar Sadat Teah, Min |
| author_facet | Cheah, Isaac Shimul, Anwar Sadat Teah, Min |
| author_sort | Cheah, Isaac |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Purpose: This paper aims to examine consumers’ evaluation of and reaction to the coexistence of brand misconduct and sustainability claims through a series of studies. Design/methodology/approach: The research questions are examined across three studies. Consumer’s scepticism of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is considered the driver of brand distance. Brand hypocrisy is postulated to mediate the relationship between scepticism to CSR and brand distance. Furthermore, brand trust and desire for exclusivity are tested as moderators of brand hypocrisy and brand distance. Findings: The findings showed that environmental misconduct leads to perceived brand hypocrisy and brand distancing. When luxury brands take action to remedy their actions, the perceived brand hypocrisy and brand distancing decrease. In addition, brand trust and desire for exclusivity dilute the relationship between brand hypocrisy and brand distance. Originality/value: The findings show that, standing in a contradictory position, brands can still reduce the consumers’ perceived brand distance by building a strong consumers’ trust toward the brand. At the same time, relating the luxury consumers’ yearning for the exclusive products and services, the findings show that the consumers with a strong desire for exclusivity feel a lower level of brand distance even if the brand gets involved in misconduct. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:46:28Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-96366 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:46:28Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-963662025-01-09T03:32:58Z Sustainability claim, environmental misconduct and perceived hypocrisy in luxury branding Cheah, Isaac Shimul, Anwar Sadat Teah, Min Purpose: This paper aims to examine consumers’ evaluation of and reaction to the coexistence of brand misconduct and sustainability claims through a series of studies. Design/methodology/approach: The research questions are examined across three studies. Consumer’s scepticism of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is considered the driver of brand distance. Brand hypocrisy is postulated to mediate the relationship between scepticism to CSR and brand distance. Furthermore, brand trust and desire for exclusivity are tested as moderators of brand hypocrisy and brand distance. Findings: The findings showed that environmental misconduct leads to perceived brand hypocrisy and brand distancing. When luxury brands take action to remedy their actions, the perceived brand hypocrisy and brand distancing decrease. In addition, brand trust and desire for exclusivity dilute the relationship between brand hypocrisy and brand distance. Originality/value: The findings show that, standing in a contradictory position, brands can still reduce the consumers’ perceived brand distance by building a strong consumers’ trust toward the brand. At the same time, relating the luxury consumers’ yearning for the exclusive products and services, the findings show that the consumers with a strong desire for exclusivity feel a lower level of brand distance even if the brand gets involved in misconduct. 2023 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/96366 10.1108/SJME-02-2022-0012 http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/ fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Cheah, Isaac Shimul, Anwar Sadat Teah, Min Sustainability claim, environmental misconduct and perceived hypocrisy in luxury branding |
| title | Sustainability claim, environmental misconduct and perceived hypocrisy in luxury branding |
| title_full | Sustainability claim, environmental misconduct and perceived hypocrisy in luxury branding |
| title_fullStr | Sustainability claim, environmental misconduct and perceived hypocrisy in luxury branding |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sustainability claim, environmental misconduct and perceived hypocrisy in luxury branding |
| title_short | Sustainability claim, environmental misconduct and perceived hypocrisy in luxury branding |
| title_sort | sustainability claim, environmental misconduct and perceived hypocrisy in luxury branding |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/96366 |