ESCP Europe

Langue

English

Publication year

01/08/2026

Luxury brands must reconcile heritage with innovation. We test whether matching influencer type to consumers’ implicit self-theories improves brand responses. Across two pretests and four experiments, we manipulate mindset (fixed vs. growth) and influencer type (human vs. AI) in luxury context (Louis Vuitton) and add a non-luxury boundary (H&M). Study 1 (female endorser) and Study 2A (male endorser) demonstrate a robust interaction: human influencers elicit more favorable attitudes among fixed-mindset participants, whereas AI influencers are more effective for growth-mindset participants. Moderated-mediation analyses reveal two mechanisms: status pursuit strengthens the human–fixed pathway, and novelty pursuit strengthens the AI–growth pathway. Study 2B directly tests alternative stimulus-selection explanations, confirming that the mechanisms reflect consumer-state activation. Study 3 shows the interaction is absent for a non-luxury brand, underscoring the luxury-specific nature of these processes. We contribute by linking implicit self-theory to influencer effectiveness and by offering a practical, segmentation-by-mindset strategy that helps luxury brands balance heritage signals with innovation cues in the marketplace.