The Luxury of Sustainability: Examining Value-Based Drivers of Fair Trade Consumption

Green consumption has evolved into consumption that also addresses ethical factors. The twenty-first century is perceived to reflect the emancipation of the ethical consumer, who is “shopping for a better world” (Low and Davenport in J Consum Behav 6(5):336–348, 2007). The rising consumer demand for ethical alternatives is present in all product categories, and—reasoning that the concept of sustainability with aspects such as exclusivity and rareness shares similar values with the concept of luxury—the aim of our study is to examine the luxury of sustainability against the backdrop of the research questions concerning a proposed similarity of consumer associations between luxury and ethical products. As specific context, we have chosen the orientation to and acceptance of Fair Trade products. In detail, the present study empirically investigates a multidimensional framework of intrapersonal Fair Trade orientation, fair-trade-oriented luxury perception, and fair-trade-oriented customer perceived value with reference to the recommendation of Fair Trade products. The first contribution of our research is to provide a conceptual framework of value-based drivers of Fair Trade product perception against the backdrop of the luxury concept. Second, the empirical findings of the applied partial least squares equation modeling (PLS-SEM) contribute to the understanding of consequences of Fair-Trade-based perception. Customers who reveal a high luxury perception of Fair Trade products are strengthened in the Fair Trade idea which results in higher customer perceived value as well as the willingness to recommend Fair Trade products. Third, the data analysis of the applied PLS-SEM approach demonstrates that positive Fair Trade behavior is influenced by direct and indirect effects. With reference to the conducted study, being an active promoter of Fair Trade products is directly determined by the customers’ perceived product value (benefit in relation to cost), but also directly and indirectly affected by the overall luxury product perception as well as the intrapersonal level of Fair Trade orientation.