Impact of the awareness of brand-related CSR activities on purchase intention for luxury brands

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of luxury buyers' awareness of a luxury brand's corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities together with its individual brand-related sustainable dimensions (in terms of economic, societal and environmental) and luxury values on purchase intention for luxury products and, as a result, highlight the potential implications of these relationships for the luxury industry. Design/methodology/approach A luxury purchase intention model, which assumes an impact from traditional luxury values and CSR, was indicated based on the authors' previous qualitative research and corresponding literature review. To validate the model by proving that the suggested relationships are statistically significant, (1,100) luxury customers over the age of 18 were approached, and (253) valid responses were entered and analyzed using SEM to confirm the indicated theoretical model's hypothesized causal relations. Findings The findings suggest a positive and significant relationship between buyers' awareness of a specific luxury brand's CSR-related activities and their purchase intention; however, certain demographics and gender both moderate this relationship. The moderating role of general attitudes toward CSR and sustainability on this relationship was not confirmed. Furthermore, awareness of the brand's CSR positively mediates the relationship between both the societal/environmental and economic parts of the brand-related individual sustainable dimension and purchase intention. Originality/value The results of this study are based on actual purchases of branded luxury items and validate the authors' indicative model based on earlier qualitative research by claiming a significant relationship between the purchase intention for a brand and awareness of its CSR activities amongst luxury shoppers.