Just in time for the holidays, dezeen.com published a fascinating interview with the CEO of the North American division of luxury goods company LVMH, Anish Melwani. LVMH owns luxury brands including Louis Vitton, Dior, Moet & Chandon and Tiffany & Co. While mainstream consumers are increasingly concerned with product sustainability and social responsibility, luxury consumers are not expressing similar concerns. In the interview, Melwani said:
“‘Sustainability is something we do not because we think our customers care – we do it because it is existential to our business, on top of being the right thing to do for society … We know that today the average customer doesn’t care terribly much about sustainability,’ he continued. ‘They say they do, but when you actually get down to the brass tacks, we don’t have people walking into our stores today and asking us, ‘Hey, is this done sustainably?’ – well, at least not many.'”
This insight has several implications to consumer-facing companies. One arguably contradictory data point to Melwani is the popularity of EVs, which are far more expensive than their internal combustion-powered counterparts. One would expect affluent buyers of EVs to prioritize sustainability attributes of other products, but perhaps that isn’t the case. Consumer actions related to product sustainability and social responsibility buying criteria don’t appear to be consistent when crossing product categories – even for those who can afford higher prices. Companies need to be careful and thoughtful about green/sustainable product pricing strategies – part of that includes questioning data on which you rely in making those determinations. A blog I wrote just last week may be worth a look as well.
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Photo credit: Florence Piot – stock.adobe.com
