Environmental Identity and Cognitive Dissonance in Sustainable Luxury: A Mixed‐Methods Analysis of Symbolic Conflict in Consumer Behavior

ABSTRACT

In a landscape where sustainability has become both a normative expectation and a symbolic resource, understanding how consumers navigate the tension between ecological values and aspirational consumption is crucial, particularly in luxury markets. This study investigates how cognitive dissonance mediates the relationship between environmental identity and the intention to purchase sustainable luxury products, while also identifying the symbolic, psychosocial, and contextual factors that shape the experience and resolution of such dissonance. Adopting a sequential explanatory design, the research combines structural equation modeling (SEM) with in‐depth qualitative interviews to capture both the structural patterns and the interpretive logics that underlie consumer decisions. Quantitative findings reveal that cognitive dissonance functions as a significant partial mediator, indicating that perceived conflicts between self‐image and consumption do not necessarily inhibit purchase intentions. Rather, they may activate symbolic mechanisms that allow consumers to integrate these decisions into a coherent self‐narrative. Qualitative insights further illuminate this process, showing how individuals engage in moral legitimation, narrative reframing, and rationalization to align luxury consumption with ecological self‐concepts. Factors such as perceived agency, brand credibility, and social validation are found to modulate the emergence and intensity of dissonance. Practically, these insights offer valuable guidance for branding and sustainability professionals aiming to design communication strategies that accommodate and support identity‐based tensions. The study's originality lies in framing cognitive dissonance not as a barrier to ethical consumption but as a dynamic psychological mechanism through which consumers symbolically negotiate their environmental identity in ethically ambivalent contexts like sustainable luxury.