Constructing Personas: How High-Net-Worth Social Media Influencers Reconcile Ethicality and Living a Luxury Lifestyle

Drawing from a multi-sourced data corpus (in-depth interviews and Instagram posts) gathered from high-net-worth (HNW) social media influencers, this article explores how these individuals reconcile ethicality and living a luxury lifestyle through the enactment of three types of personas on Instagram: (1) Ambassador of 'True' Luxury, (2) Altruist, and (3) 'Good' Role Model. By applying the concepts of taste regimes and social moral licensing, we find that HNW social media influencers conspicuously enact and display ethicality, thereby retaining legitimacy in the field of luxury consumption. As these individuals are highly influential, they could leave a potentially significant mark on public discourse and, consequently, on their audiences' construction of ethically responsible luxury consumption. In this vein, this article offers significant managerial insights into professional influencers and discusses ethical managerial practices to ensure ethical collaborations between influencers and managers.

Automated summary

This study explores how high-net-worth social media influencers reconcile ethics and luxury lifestyle through different personas on Instagram, and how they conspicuously display ethics to maintain legitimacy in luxury consumption. These influencers have significant influence on public discourse and can impact their audiences' perception of ethical luxury consumption, highlighting the importance of ethical practices in collaborations between influencers and managers.