MANAGING SUSTAINABILITY COMMUNICATION TO BUILD BRAND REPUTATION IN THE LUXURY FASHION INDUSTRY: THE CASE OF LVMH GROUP

Details

Supervisors

Miglė Šontaitė-Petkevičienė

Faculty

Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [120] en sciences de gestion, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

In recent years, sustainability has become a defining factor in shaping stakeholder expectations in the luxury fashion industry. Despite significant institutional investment in sustainability governance, consumer trust in luxury sustainability communication remains critically low and a gap with direct consequences for brand reputation. The problem of the research addressed in this paper is how luxury fashion brands can manage sustainability communication to build their brand reputation. The object of the paper is sustainability communication management for building brand reputation in the luxury fashion industry. The aim of the paper is based on the theoretical and empirical research results, to provide sustainability communication management solutions for building a good brand reputation in the luxury fashion industry. Research methods: theoretical literature analysis; qualitative content analysis of brand sustainability communications; expert interviews; standardised online consumer survey. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation in Jamovi. Results: the empirical research confirmed that consumer scepticism is the dominant orientation toward luxury sustainability. The study identified that consumers consider sustainability reputationally important, yet reject current sustainability communication as failing to deliver a prestige premium. 64.8% of respondents had never heard of LVMH's LIFE 360 programme, confirming that the Group's institutional sustainability communication does not reach consumer audiences. Conclusions: based on the empirical findings, a two-track model of sustainability communication design was developed for LVMH Group, integrating an Accountability management track - external verification, and honest gap acknowledgement - with a Communication management track covering social-media LIFE 360 campaigns. This paper is a practical solutions oriented final master thesis.