Luxury customization and self-authenticity: Implications for consumer wellbeing

Offering customization services via online toolkits has emerged as a growing trend among luxury brands. Previous studies in this domain have largely focused on how customization influences product evaluations and purchase intentions. Our research identifies a novel effect of luxury product customization by showing that customized luxury offerings can positively affect subjective well-being. Three experimental studies provide empirical evidence for this prediction and establish the underlying process driving the effect. Specifically, Study 1 shows that the heightened feelings of self-authenticity drive the effect of luxury customization on subjective well-being. Extending the results of Study 1, Study 2 further demonstrates that the experience of luxury customization influences actual well-being behavior. Notably, this effect is unique to luxury brands and does not occur for non-luxury brands (an ancillary study). Important implications for the theory and practice of luxury branding and consumer well-being are discussed.