Driving Consumer Engagement for Circular Luxury Products: Two Large Field Studies on the Role of Regulatory Mode Language

Abstract

This research investigates the effect of language on the marketing of circular luxury products. Circular economy principles are becoming important for luxury brands as consumers demand more circular and sustainable alternatives to traditional products. However, luxury literature is divergent on whether communicating circular economy principles with luxury products leads to positive or negative consumer outcomes. This is due to the perceived incompatibility of sustainability and luxury. This research investigates the influence of language used with circular luxury products in sales descriptions of second-hand circular luxury products (Study 1) and language effects of sustainability communication on social media (Study 2) to establish impact on consumer engagement. Our analysis of combined N = 921,939 observations demonstrates that product descriptions and social media posts communicating circular principles lead to decreased consumer engagement. This is a major problem for the marketing of circular luxury products. However, this effect can be overcome by using predominant locomotion, progress-focused language that creates a regulatory fit with circular luxury products, increasing consumer engagement. Theoretically this study shows the importance of predominant locomotion language in the marketing of circular luxury products. Luxury marketers can utilise predominant locomotion language in their brand communication to increase consumer engagement with these products.