Product Counterfeiting: Motivations of Consumers When Purchasing Non Deceptive Counterfeit Goods
Nowadays, luxury brands have become even more prevalent especially in developing countries where economies are starting to emerge.
“Traditionally, luxury goods or status goods are defined as goods for which the mere use or display of a particular branded product brings prestige on the owner, apart from any functional utility”. (Grossman & Shapiro, 1988a)
Long ago, luxury goods were mostly meant for the highly affluent individuals. Today, when we try to walk into a middle class shopping mall, the first thing we will notice are people carrying luxury brands in the form of handbags, gadgets, pens, and so on. As more people aspire to have these luxury brands, but cannot afford or are unwilling to pay for high prices to get one, the next option that comes into mind is purchasing a counterfeit version of the product. Therefore, the desire of consumers to own luxury branded items even though they cannot afford or are unwilling to pay for premium prices lead the proliferation of counterfeit goods.
The primary objective of this literature review is to examine why consumers continue to purchase counterfeit goods and understand why there is demand for such products. So that luxury brand retailers would be able to come up with new strategies to further differentiate themselves from imitators and new strategies to reshape consumer perception towards counterfeits.As a result, they would be able to lessen the detrimental effects caused by imitators. “Counterfeits are reproductions of a trademarked brand, which are closely similar or identical to genuine articles.”
(Cordell, Wongtada,& Kieschnick, 1996)
The act of counterfeiting encompasses various aspects such asthe utilization of packaging, labelling, andtrademarks, to intentionally pass off