Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to create a framework for broadly understanding categories and motivations behind purchasing different counterfeit products. Design/methodology/approach – Focus groups provided qualitative data from 509 counterfeit purchases incidents by 95 informants. Findings – The most frequently mentioned motivation was the utility (35 percent) received from the good over the genuine article. The second, but negative, motivation was the perceived risk involved in the purchase (22 percent), whether it is physical or social risk. Social norms, confusion, and ethical concerns each represented about 10 percent of the motivations toward the purchase of counterfeit items. The least mentioned motivations to purchase, at less than 4 percent each, were culture, habit, and desire to explore. These factors were evident across a variety of 15 product categories, headed by electronics, such as DVDs and computer software. Practical implications – Through targeting negative motivations, such as perceived physical and social risks, businesses can devise strategies from a demand side perspective to overcome the problem of counterfeit consumption. Originality/value – Qualitative responses, over many product categories, provide a unique overview to the perception of counterfeit consumption. The finding that consumer ethics may depend on whether the activity benefits the society as a whole is worthy of additional discussion. The authors learn that when consumers thought their counterfeit consumption caused little or no harm, they do not see much ethical concern in their actions.
Virtue ethics is regarded as the key in search of moral excellence among corporations. Yet, there are limited works to empirically investigate what virtuous character morally good corporations is expected to exhibit in the course of business from the perspective of customers. To fill this gap, we argue that customers are to evaluate firm's virtuous character using Confucian cardinal virtues (ren, yi, and li) and perceived virtuousness determines customer loyalty. We test this argument using a sample of 276 Hong Kong Chinese. The result suggests that a corporation not only has to offer a good value and high quality to customers but also needs to develop and acquire virtuous character in retaining customer loyalty. Firm has to embrace ren, yi, and li as the primary business goal. In fact, they are not the means but the end in themselves. The continuous pursuit of these cardinal virtues at the firm level not only establishes proper corporate values but also enables a firm to act morally in the course of business. Such kind of firm is known as junzi corporation.
PurposeThis paper aims to develop a culturally sensitive model based on the Chinese Confucian philosophy and normative ethics, which emphasizes the wholehearted social responsibility of a Junzi (a noble man). Analogous to the popular marketing concept and strategic marketing orientation concepts, the authors define the Junzi concept as a business philosophy and Junzi orientation as the implementation of this philosophy. It proposes a Junzi orientation has a positive influence on companies' performances.Design/methodology/approachAn 18-item scale comprising five dimensions: (1) Ren – benevolence, humaneness; (2) Yi – appropriateness, righteousness; (3) Li – propriety, harmonious differentiation; (4) Zhi – wisdom, knowledge management; and (5) Xin – integrity, trustworthiness, was developed to measure Junzi orientation. A total of 423 questionnaires were collected from different industries in Hong Kong, and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted.FindingsThe multidimensional behavioral construct of Junzi orientation scale was reliable and valid. The data supported that Junzi orientation has a positive influence on companies' performances.Practical implicationsThe paper suggests that Junzi orientation could enhance a firm's competitive advantage.Originality/valueThis paper develops a culturally sensitive business orientation scale based on Chinese Confucianism and normative ethics.
This research discusses and extends a Confucius-based concept, junzi and its five virtues to explain how Asian consumers may evaluate the actions of a company from five dimensions (i.e., humaneness, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and integrity). It develops a consumer-oriented measurement of junzi orientation in evaluating the actions of corporations. The result of a face-to-face survey conducted in Hong Kong (n=1,114) indicates consumer's assessment of a corporation's junzi orientation significant affects how they evaluate the corporate image of a corporation operating in a Chinese society. Our finding extends Miao's (2004) insight on decision making into the consumer domain; that is, the junzi concept provides a culturally-rooted framework in Asian consumer's purchase decision making process. Our finding also echoes Tian's (2010) concern of whether the five virtues are equally important in the eyes of consumers. Our results suggest that among the five dimensions, humaneness (ren), propriety (li), and integrity (xin) are relatively more important in improving a company's image. Our results on age group differences should also be insightful to marketers in developing segmentation, positioning, and CSR strategies in Asian markets. References available upon request896
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