“…Furthermore, previous research on SR theory has employed SR theory in contexts such as tourism development, energy management, and public transportation management (Ho & Tan, 2023; Suess & Mody, 2016; Zhou & Li, 2022), this article extends prior work by broadening its relevance to the realm of brand imitation management. Finally, this article departs from the conventional approach of relying on legal measures to combat counterfeit brands (Cheng, 2023; Pathak et al, 2019; Wong, 2015) and introduces an innovative solution from the perspective of original product advertising. By building an additional bridge between two popular advertising appeal types (value‐expressive vs. utilitarian) with two common types of lookalike competitors (copycats vs. counterfeits) in the market, this research effectively addresses the issue of lookalike products in a precise manner.…”