Tasting responsible luxury: eco-branded fine dining in Macao

Purpose Drawing on norm focus theory in conjunction with the norm activation model, this study aims to examine how social and personal norms shape consumers’ behavioural intentions towards responsible luxury consumption within the experiencescape of eco-branded fine dining. Design/methodology/approach A two-stage research design was adopted. The ecobranding fine dining (E-BFD) experiencescape construct was first developed on the basis of a field survey conducted at a Michelin Green Star restaurant in Macao; a series of quasi-experiments was subsequently carried out to examine its direct influence on responsible luxury behavioural intention, alongside the mediating role of social norms and the moderating effect of personal norm. Findings Results show that the E-BFD experiencescape exerts an indirect influence on responsible luxury behavioural intention through injunctive and descriptive norms and that personal norm moderates both of these indirect relationships. Practical implications Findings offer fine dining operators practical guidance for encouraging responsible luxury consumption among their guests. Originality/value This study identifies four dimensions underlying the E-BFD experiencescape, namely service quality, food sensory appeal, interaction with other guests and dining atmospherics and links these dimensions to responsible luxury behavioural intention through social norms, thereby extending experiencescape and norm-based research into a new hospitality context. Its principal contribution lies in bringing established norm-based perspectives to bear on eco-branded luxury fine dining, thereby moving hospitality scholarship beyond the conventional focus on green purchase intention.