Give me a second life! Extending the life-span of luxury products through repair

Abstract

Despite the rise in luxury organizations’ efforts to embrace the circular economy and offer more sustainable options to consumers, research on luxury goods in the circular economy remains limited and primarily focused on “closing loop” strategies––mainly second-hand and rental business models that challenge the traditional concept of luxury. By contrast, there is a complete paucity of research on luxury product repairs that represent a “slowing loop” strategy that aims to prolong the lifecycle of the luxury good. To investigate this phenomenon, we employed a methodology involving 40 interviews with luxury consumers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a significant luxury goods market. The findings distinguish between different types of repairs (i.e., luxury brands, luxury department stores, or independent services) and reveal three key barriers to repairs (i.e., the time frame required for the repairs, perceived inconvenience, and lack of experience/awareness). The results further point to three rational (e.g., investment value) and three emotional (e.g., inheritance value) drivers of repairs, as well as positive (e.g., pleasure or pride) and negative (e.g., compromised brand relationship) outcomes. This study contributes to the emerging literature on luxury in a circular economy by specifically examining luxury product repair context and the outcomes of luxury repairs by demonstrating that these outcomes can be either positive or negative.