This study tackles the issue of how consumers might perceive luxury products' sustainability‐focused communication. We compare consumers' reactions when luxury brands communicate their focus on either product sustainability or product excellence (i.e., a sustainability‐ vs. excellence‐focused communication strategy, respectively). We predict that consumers perceive the former as more atypical for a luxury brand, which renders the communication more effective at enhancing consumers' willingness to buy the brand's products. Across six experiments, we demonstrate that perceived atypicality mediates the effect of luxury product communication strategy on consumers' willingness to buy; that perceived atypicality increases willingness to buy by increasing consumers' perception about the uniqueness of the communication strategy; that the effect of perceived atypicality is stronger for consumers with a higher chronic need for uniqueness; and that the greater effectiveness of a sustainability‐focused communication strategy on atypicality and willingness to buy is peculiar to luxury products (i.e., it does not manifest for mass‐market products). From a managerial perspective, our findings demonstrate that luxury brands may innovate their communication strategies by leveraging sustainability rather than product excellence.

Purpose: The objective of the present research is to identify the impact of food-related and packaging-related eco-labels on consumers' perceptions of food quality and safety when an ecological claim, which explains the eco-label meaning, is provided.Design/methodology/approach: One survey (N = 472) plus one experimental lab study were used to test the hypotheses drawn from the elaboration likelihood model. The research employed a 2 (eco-label: MSC vs FSC) × 2 (ecological claim: present vs absent) between-subjects design plus a control condition (i.e. absence of eco-label).Findings: When the ecological claim is absent, only food-related eco-labels were found to generate a higher food evaluation. However, when the ecological claim is present, both eco-label types (i.e. food-related and packaging-related) increased food perceptions of quality and safety because of higher feelings of pride.Originality/value: From a theoretical perspective, this research identifies both food- and packaging-related eco-labels as extrinsic cues able to affect consumers' perception of food quality and safety. Moreover, the findings of this study present practical implications for package design and health policymaking.

Purpose: This research investigates the influence of package sustainability on food satiation perception.Design/methodology/approach: Research hypotheses were tested through three experimental studies.Findings: Three experimental studies show that food quality is associated to higher perceived food satiation (preliminary study); that a food packaged in a sustainable package is perceived as more satiating than the same food packaged in a non-sustainable package and that this effect is explained by the higher perceived quality triggered by the presence of a sustainable package (Study 1); and that the positive relationship between higher perceived quality and perceived satiation is verified only for healthy but not for unhealthy foods (Study 2).Originality/value: The present research advances knowledge on the highly debated issue of sustainable food packages. By proposing that consumers might perceive a healthy food presented in a sustainable package as more satiating, the authors show another extrinsic packaging cue modifying consumers' perception, namely package sustainability.