Social Media and Luxury: A Systematic Literature Review.

01 Why it matters.

The most comprehensive synthesis of academic research on luxury brands and social media available: 134 studies reviewed across all major platforms, brand types, and consumer segments. The finding most directly relevant to luxury strategy in 2026: visual showcasing of heritage and speciality — what the paper calls “non-personal luxury characteristics” — elicits stronger consumer affect on social media than hedonic or personal content.

This finding matters especially now, when most luxury brands face pressure to adopt social media tactics optimised for reach and engagement at the cost of brand integrity. Creevey, Coughlan and O’Connor provide the empirical counter-argument: what works best on social media for luxury brands is not volume or personality, it is heritage being demonstrated and craft being shown. The social media strategy that feels most like Chanel is also, empirically, the most effective.

02 Key takeaways.

1. 01 Heritage and speciality content (non-personal luxury characteristics) produces stronger consumer affect than hedonic or personal content for luxury brands.
2. 02 Luxury brands’ social media strategies diverge significantly from non-luxury brands — tactics effective for the latter can be actively harmful for the former.
3. 03 Consumer-generated content (UGC) can amplify luxury brand desirability when it showcases craftsmanship and aspiration — and can undermine it when it commoditises access.
4. 04 The tension between exclusivity and social media visibility is real and manageable — the resolution is content strategy, not presence or absence.
5. 05 Luxury brands that show heritage being practised — not merely claimed — see the strongest engagement-to-desirability outcomes.

03 Used in our research.

1. 01 InsightLuxury in the Age of the Algorithm: Can You Be Exclusive on TikTok?Coming soon
2. 02 InsightHeritage vs. Hype: How Luxury Brands Balance History and Now
3. 03 Case StudyChanel: The Paradox of the Open Secret
4. 04 Case StudyBottega Veneta: The Disappearing ActComing soon