Exploring Subjective Happiness, Life Satisfaction, and Sustainable Luxury Consumption in China and Japan Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

Kyung-Tae Lee () and Hiroyasu Furukawa
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Kyung-Tae Lee: Department of Marketing and International Trade, Faculty of Commerce, Chuo University, Tokyo 192-0393, Japan
Hiroyasu Furukawa: School of Business Administration, Meiji University, Tokyo 101-8301, Japan

Administrative Sciences, 2023, vol. 13, issue 7, 1-17

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted societies worldwide, leading to challenges in ensuring well-being and sustainability. In this context, it is essential to better understand consumer consciousness of pro-environmental products from the perspective of well-being. Therefore, our cross-national investigation aimed to explore the relationship between subjective well-being (SWB) and sustainable luxury consumption during the pandemic. We analyzed data from 800 respondents in China and Japan during the pandemic. Our findings, obtained through partial least squares structural equation modeling, reveal novel insights. First, SWB positively influences pro-environmental behavioral intentions, even in luxury fashion consumption. This highlights the potential for individuals to make sustainable choices, while indulging in luxury products. Additionally, we observed variations in the impact of subjective happiness and life satisfaction on luxury consumption between China and Japan. Specifically, the influence of subjective happiness was more pronounced in China than in Japan, indicating cultural distinctions in the relationship between well-being and luxury consumption. Moreover, our study identifies consumer novelty seeking as a mediator linking SWB to sustainable luxury consumption. This discovery provides a further understanding of the relationships explored in our study. These findings deepen our understanding of the interplay between well-being and sustainable luxury consumption, thereby informing strategies to promote pro-environmental behaviors in the luxury fashion sector.

Keywords: subjective happiness; life satisfaction; subjective well-being; consumer novelty seeking; purchase intention of sustainable luxuries; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L M M0 M1 M10 M11 M12 M14 M15 M16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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