Anticounterfeiting Strategies and Their Influence on Attitudes of Different Counterfeit Consumer Types

Abstract

This article reports the findings of two studies that were designed to determine the effectiveness of several anticounterfeiting strategies on the counterfeit purchasing behavior of the participants, through a mixed methods research approach. In Study 1, in‐depth interviews were conducted with 50 consumers of counterfeit brands in order to investigate their attitudes. Drawing on the results, which revealed four different consumer types (struggle, spurious, indifferent, and liberated), Study 2 was undertaken with a further 128 consumers (32 from each type) to further define each group's type and identify the best anticounterfeit strategies suited to each. The findings suggest that counterfeit purchasing may be reduced if a specific strategy is adapted to suit each typology. Overall, positive rather than negative strategies were found to be more effective for the struggle and spurious consumers compared with indifferent and liberated consumers. The findings also reveal that the acquisition of affordable genuine merchandise may be the key to preventing counterfeit purchasing.

Towards a classification of marine wildlife crime: Marketing strategies to curtail illegal fishing, malicious acts, and waterway pollution

“…Consumers choose brands not only on the functional and emotional criteria but also increasingly, on social responsibility criteria (Kotler, 2011). Furthermore, adopting strategies from the counterfeiting literature may be effective (e.g., Herstein et al, 2015). These include long‐term efforts to warn the public about the health and security risks associated with illegally trafficked seafood, combined with messaging that stresses the moral dissonance surrounding consumers' contributions to species and ecosystem damage.…”

The economic value and determinants of tourists’ counterfeit purchases: The case of Hong Kong

“…Anti-counterfeiting strategies can deter consumers from purchasing counterfeit goods. There are four types of anti-counterfeiting strategies: law, product, pricing, and marketing (Herstein et al, 2015). While IPR laws mainly regulate the supply of counterfeits, the latter three strategies aim to act as effective agents to change consumer demand for counterfeits.…”

A review of counterfeiting research on demand side: Analyzing prior progress and identifying future directions

“…Demand side concentrated on behavior patterns of counterfeit consumers in terms of attitudes (de Matos, Trindade Ituassu, & Vargas Rossi, 2007), intention to buy (Cordell, Wongtala, & Kieschnich, 1996;Eisend & Schuchert-Güler, 2006), characteristics (Cheung & Prendergast, 2006), determinants of overall consumer response (Chakraborty, Alfred, Sukhdial, & Bristol, 1997;Eisend et al, 2017;Eisend & Schuchert-Güler, 2006;Lee & Yoo 2009;Staake et al, 2009), decision making process as for counterfeit products (Gentry, Putrevu, Ii, & University-east, 2001), and consumer typologies (Herstein, Drori, Berger, & Barners, 2015). At first glance, it seems that the main reason behind counterfeit consumption is the low price.…”