Launch of sustainable plastic apparel: Effects of brand luxury and experience on consumer behaviour

Since plastic waste is a serious social issue, fashion companies are attempting to develop sustainable apparel made from post-consumer plastic bottles. This social issue is relevant to every company regardless of the level of brand luxury. However, previous literature has not examined the effect of this sustainable product type on consumer behaviour, whereas comprehensive sustainable development is widely discussed in luxury branding research. Consequently, this study investigates how the launch of sustainable plastic apparel affects consumer brand attitude and purchase intention. According to the 440 samples collected via an online survey in Japan, moderated mediation analyses reveal that the launch of sustainable plastic apparel positively affects brand attitude contributing to purchase intention indirectly, while it also contributes to purchase intention directly. In addition, brand luxury and brand experience are found to weaken the effect of this sustainable product launch, whereas the influence of sustainable product experience is insignificant. To launch this type of sustainable apparel effectively, luxury companies are advised to redesign their current marketing to promote sustainable products more effectively and adjust their branding tactics to align with sustainability. Otherwise, their brand luxury may lead to a disadvantage, since plastic recycling is increasingly becoming a social requirement.