When High-Similarity Copycats Lose and Moderate-Similarity Copycats Gain: The Impact of Comparative Evaluation

Abstract

Copycats imitate features of leading brands to free ride on their equity. The prevailing belief is that the more similar copycats are to the leader brand, the more positive their evaluation is, and thus the more they free ride. Three studies demonstrate when the reverse holds true: Moderatesimilarity copycats are actually evaluated more positively than highsimilarity copycats when evaluation takes place comparatively, such as when the leader brand is present rather than absent. The results demonstrate that blatant copycats can be less and subtle copycats can be more perilous than is commonly believed. This finding has implications for marketing theory and practice and trademark law.

A typology of brand counterfeiting and imitation based on a semiotic approach

“…Recently, Zaichkowsky (2006) provides a comprehensive cover of the topic of counterfeiting. Regarding imitation, authors focus on confusion between leading brands and imitators (Kapferer, 1995;Loken, Ross, & Hinkle, 1986;Miaoulis & D'Amato, 1978) or on similarity (Howard, Kerin, & Gengler, 2000;Van Horen & Pieters, 2012a,2012b. Although the literature covers counterfeiting and imitation (Hilton, Choi, & Chen, 2004;Lai & Zaichkowsky, 1999;Zaichkowsky, 2006), the definition of what is a counterfeit or an imitation, their forms, characteristics and boundaries, are still far from obvious.…”

La carte mentale pour favoriser l’apprentissage du Business Model et susciter la créativité des apprenants

“…Il s'agit d'ailleurs d'un choix très courant en sciences de gestion, notamment en marketing. Recourir à un plan d'expérience avec mesures répétées est une méthode efficace qui permet de récréer les conditions réelles de l'achat d'un produit (Van Horen et Pieters, 2012a, 2012b) ou d'exposition à la publicité (Mitchell et Olson, 1981). En effet, dans la majorité des cas, un consommateur est exposé simultanément à plusieurs marques ou plusieurs spots publicitaires différents.…”

Preference reversal for copycat brands: Uncertainty makes imitation feel good

“…Recent research has demonstrated that when the imitation is very obvious and blatant, however, copycat evaluation is negative instead of positive (Van Horen & Pieters, 2012a, 2012bSteenkamp & Geijskens, 2013;Warlop & Alba, 2004). Van Horen and Pieters showed, for instance, across various product categories and imitation tactics (brand name, packaging), that people preferred a more differentiated brand to a copycat brand when the similarity to the leader brand was high and comparison was made easy.…”

“…When consumers are certain and aware that an imitation strategy is being used, similarity may be perceived as an intentional ploy to mislead consumers about quality (Campbell & Kirmani, 2000;Friestad & Wright, 1994;Warlop & Alba, 2004). Then, consumers may correct for the positive feelings stemming from similarity (Martin, 1986;Van Horen & Pieters, 2012a, 2012b. A copycat may then be seen as just an ''impersonator'', and familiarity might feel bad, instead of good, resulting in a negative evaluation.…”

“…Recent research has provided evidence that such copycats are evaluated negatively, because of psychological reactance to imitation (Steenkamp & Geyskens, 2013;Van Horen & Pieters, 2012a, 2012bWarlop & Alba, 2004). But does this mean that people generally dislike blatant copycats?…”