Purpose This paper aims to examine how socio-economic status (SES) shapes consumers’ purchase behavior of genuine brands and counterfeits. It also forms a typology based on the decision-making processes of these two groups by exploring neutralization processes and emotional outcomes related to their behaviors. Design/methodology/approach Data are collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 42 users and non-users of counterfeits from different SES groups. Findings This paper develops a consumer typology based on the customer behavior of counterfeit and genuine brand users, as well as emotional outcomes and neutralization strategies used to justify their actions according to their SES group. These categories are defined as the black chameleons, the counterfeit owners, the genuine brand owners and the authenticity seekers. Originality/value This paper contributes to the counterfeit literature by examining the consumption practices of each SES group of users and non-users of counterfeits by focusing on motivations, emotional outcomes and neutralization processes. The study shows how consumers’ end consumption practices and their SES group explains the mix findings on the counterfeit literature.

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Social media has been widely used by businesses nowadays. Although in B2B industry, social media marketing isn't grown up as fast as it was in B2C market, many businesses begun to develop social media strategies and reach to new and existing corporate customers via social media recently. In this study, the main purpose is to examine social media usage patterns of Turkish maritime transportation companies through Facebook. In order to identify the social media usage habits of Turkish maritime transportation companies an exploratory study was conducted. In the period between January-November 2018, the maritime companies existing in Facebook are analyzed with a content analysis in terms of contents of the posts and stakeholder engagement levels. The findings show that posts on corporate image and special days are highly re-shared and taken positive reactions by followers. At the end of the study, suggestions for practitioners and direction for further studies are presented.

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