New insights into unethical counterfeit consumption

Abstract

Consumer demand for counterfeit luxury brands is unethical, but it is also robust and growing. The aim of this exploratory research, which employs in-depth interviews, is twofold: 1) to identify the psychological and emotional insights that drive and result from the consumption of higher involvement counterfeit goods; and 2) to uncover the coping strategies related to unethical counterfeit consumption. This research reveals new psychological motivations (e.g., "thrill of the hunt", being part of a "secret society" and genuine interest) underlying counterfeit consumption and the associated emotional outcomes (e.g., embarrassment, shame and positive hedonic gains). This research is also one of the few studies to identify cognitive moral logics by disclosing the neutralization techniques (specifically denial of responsibility and appealing to higher loyalties) that consumers adopt to cope with the cognitive dissonance associated with debatable counterfeit consumption. The paper contributes to scholarly, managerial and policy conversations.

Is buying counterfeit sinful? Investigation of consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions of counterfeit products in a Muslim country

“…Counterfeits are defined “as products that bear a trademark that is identical to, or indistinguishable from, a trademark registered to another party and that infringe the rights of the holder of the trademark… A counterfeit is a direct copy, whereas an imitation is an indirect copy” (Bian et al, , p. 4250).…”

“…Blackstone, Fuhr, and Pociask () add that counterfeiting may even pose health hazards, such as in the case of counterfeit drugs. Despite consumers being often aware of the serious social and economic damage caused by counterfeiting (Bian et al, ), governments’ legal enforcements, and companies’ branding efforts, sales of counterfeit products are not slowing down (Kapferer & Michaut, ).…”

“…First, researchers argue that one of the drivers of counterfeit purchase behavior that needs to be further developed is a person's value system (Furnham & Valgeirsson, ). The present study focuses on two personal values, ethics and religiosity, which have received only limited attention in explaining the purchase of counterfeit products (Bian et al, ). For instance, and as reported by Syed Shah, Rohani, and Badrul (), religion, as an intrinsic human value, has received scant attention from consumer researchers and therefore there is a dearth of research on the role of religiosity in explaining consumer behavior.…”

Trade in Counterfeit Goods and the Italian Economy

“…Sources: Bian, Haque and Smith (2015); Bian et al (2016); Eisend and Schuchert-Güler (2006) The methodology used to calculate the share of primary and secondary markets in Italy is presented in Step 2 of Annex A.2, while Table 2.4 below identifies the secondary and, consequently, primary markets for counterfeit products sold in Italy by sector. This shows that 51.1% of imported counterfeit and pirated products sold in Italy in 2013 were sold to consumers who actually knew they were buying fake products, with the remaining share purchased unwittingly.…”

Ethics of Fallibility

“…666). Their theoretical framework has been adapted in different settings, to explain tax evasion (Thurman, John, & Riggs, 1984), normalization of corruption (Anand & Ashforth, 2003), insurance customer dishonesty (Brinkmann, 2005), software piracy (Bhal & Leekha, 2008;Siponen, Vance, & Willison, 2012), consumption of counterfeit luxury goods (Bian, Wang, Smith, & Yannopoulou, 2016), misconduct in marketing (Vitell & Grove, 1987), and unethical behavior intended to benefit one's own organization (Umphress, Bingham, & Mitchell, 2010). All of these studies focus to some extent on moral fallibility, and attempt to explain it as an outcome of a process of moral neutralization.…”