Marketing sustainability within the jewelry industry

Abstract

This study investigated how brands' sustainability-related marketing messages impact consumers' word of mouth and brand loyalty within the jewelry industry, using a Brazilian context. It also investigated the mediating roles of sustainability awareness of consequences, ascribed responsibility of sustainability, and personal norms, in the relationships using the norm activation model. Implementing an experimental design, data were collected from 300 Brazilian consumers. The results showed that the presence of sustainability information in marketing messages significantly but indirectly impacts consumers' behaviors. Sustainability marketing messages appealed to consumers' underlying sustainability-oriented awareness, responsibility, and obligations to predict their behavioral responses. This study is the first to respond to the scholarly need of jewelry brands effectively market their sustainability initiatives to improve their consumers' reactions. These findings add knowledge to the literature on sustainable luxury marketing and guide jewelry brands’ marketing communications.