Does advertising appeal type make a difference? A new sustainable fashion product by a luxury and mainstream brand

Sustainability is not only at the forefront of the mainstream brands‘ agenda. Many luxury brands already engage in sustainability actions, either launching sustainable versions of their products or develop “responsible luxury” strategies and policies. This chapter explores two types of advertising appeals for sustainable new products communications: those that deliver consumer benefit (i.e. self-benefit) and those that deliver societal benefit (i.e. others-benefit). Furthermore, this research investigates whether the advertising appeal types moderate the effect of brand types, namely mainstream versus luxury, on consumers’ reactions toward new sustainable products. The results of the experiment indicate that consumers’ purchase intention increases when a new sustainable product is produced by a mainstream brand rather than a luxury one when advertising communicates self-benefits. When the message is focused on “others-benefit” instead of “self-benefit”, consumers’ attitude toward a new sustainable product increases for a luxury brand. On the other hand, consumers’ attitude toward a new sustainable product decreases when the message is “others-benefit” for a mainstream brand.