From conspicuous to considered fashion: A harm-chain approach to the responsibilities of luxury-fashion businesses

Abstract

Throughout the marketing literature, little attention has been paid to the responsibilities of luxury-fashion businesses. Harnessing Polonsky, Carlson, and Fry’s harm chain, the extended harm chain, and the theoretical lens of institutional theory, this conceptual paper explores a systematic way to examine the potential for value co-creation, the harmful outcomes linked to luxury-fashion marketing activities, and how those harms might be addressed. Our analysis identifies a number of harms occurring throughout the luxury-fashion supply chain. The paper concludes by urging luxury-fashion businesses to sustain their success through ‘deep’ corporate social responsibility (CSR), adding voice to the developing conversation that seeks to change the scope of the critique of marketing practice beyond the economic and competitive advantages that CSR delivers.

Keywords:

• harm chain
• value co-creation
• institutional theory
• luxury fashion
• corporate social responsibility

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Marylyn Carrigan

Marylyn Carrigan is professor of marketing in the Faculty of Business, Environment & Society at Coventry University, UK. Her research interests include corporate social responsibility, marketing ethics, social marketing, and ethical consumption. She has published her work in several journals, including the Journal of Business Ethics, Psychology and Marketing, European Journal of Marketing, and International Marketing Review.

Caroline Moraes

Caroline Moraes is a reader in marketing at the Centre for Trust and Ethical Behaviour (CETEB) in the Faculty of Business, Environment & Society at Coventry University, UK. Her research interests include ethical and green consumption, consumer activism, power issues in consumer culture, and ethical issues in consumer research. Caroline is on the editorial board of the Journal of Advertising Research and has published her work in various journals, including Consumption, Markets and Culture, Journal of Marketing Management, and the Journal of Business Ethics. Before embarking on her academic career, Caroline worked in market research and held international account management posts in the advertising industry.

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Morven McEachern

Morven McEachern is a reader in marketing at the University of Salford, UK. Her research interests lie primarily in the area of consumer behaviour within the contexts of ethical consumption and human–animal relationships. Documentary film making is another key research interest, and you can see some of her recent work on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/user11027108/videos). She is also on the editorial board of the International Journal of Consumer Studies, and has presented related papers at a number of international conferences and has published in a wide range of academic journals, such as the Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, Journal of Marketing Management, and Consumption, Markets and Culture.

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