POSITIVE EFFECTS OF THE EXISTENCE OF A COUNTERFEIT ON THE GENUINE BRAND

Document Type:Research Paper

Subject Area:Marketing

Document 1

Generally, production of the counterfeit products has threatened companies’ efforts in establishing and developing successful brands (Gino, Norton, Ariely, (2010). Most researchers assume that the production of fake products poses harmful impacts on the original genuine brands but most of them fail to verify how these products threaten the genuine brands negatively (Archibald et al. They are also not in a position to prove how these products negatively affect the consumers’ decisions on the purchase of the genuine brands. Thus, suggesting possible positive impacts from this phenomenon. This paper addresses the question of when having a counterfeit brand helps the genuine brand, using experimental research. The ability for them to put on expensive counterfeited products enables them to belong to the same social group with those who buy luxury genuine clothes so long as their fake products cannot be identified.

Sign up to view the full document!

The price of luxury counterfeit products is usually just a portion of the price of the in genuine commodities The theory also assumes that these products deliver a better value for the money despite the fact that they are of low quality (Bian, 2011). They usually offer other utilities like personal status to consumers interested in the consumption of luxury brand products. Some theorists like Gistri et. Al. Brand equity mainly refers to brand liabilities and assets, which are, connected to a particular brand for instance symbols and name which increase or reduce the value delivered by a given commodity (Aaker, 1991). In this review, brand equity has been assessed from the consumer’s perspective. According to researchers like Aaker, the liabilities and assets associated with a particular brand usually differ based on the background.

Sign up to view the full document!

They can be classified into four major categories, which include; brand awareness, perceived quality and brand loyalty (Kim, Park & Kim 2014). The four can be viewed based on the perspective of consumers/customers (Aaker, 1991). Brand awareness According to researchers like Keller and Aaker, brand awareness enables the consumer to be in a position to recognize a particular product form others. Brand awareness forms the anchor of CBBE, as customers are required to have knowledge of a brand for them to be able to associate with it (Erdem & Swait, 1998). It usually occurs when customers are exposed to a particular brand through hearing, thinking and seeing. This enables the consumer to establish various connections with the products that enable him/her to recognize the brand in future.

Sign up to view the full document!

According to Keller, product awareness can be categorized into product recognition and product recall. This enables them to establish the idea that true relationships are only established with the original genuine brand but not the fake ones (Caves & Greene, 1996). Thus the more consumers are aware of the counterfeited products, the more they are in a position to appreciate the initial relationship with the original genuine products. They are also likely to protect the uniqueness and authenticity of these genuine products. How consumers’ judge and purchase of counterfeit products Existing research suggests that customers, especially when they cannot observe the quality of a brand or product, will use other information to infer the quality. The concept of this inferential process is called “quality signaling” (Kirmani & Rao, 2000).

Sign up to view the full document!

There is a conscience issue here, (Cushman, Young, & Hauser. , 2006), and social and cultural considerations also come into play (Baek & King, 2015; Stravinskiene, Dovaliene, & Ambrazeviciute, 2013). That is, the purchase of counterfeits is perceived quite differently in different cultural contexts, generating more or less opprobrium depending on the social context in which the purchase is made. Finally, the scarcity (Eisend & Schuchert-Güler, 2006), ephemerality (Janssen, Vanhamme, Lindgreen, & Lefebvre, 2014), and the personality, or image of the genuine brand, all play a part in the complex decision the customer makes (Bian & Moutinho, 2011). In general, the purchase of a counterfeit has an adverse impact on governments, genuine brands, and consumers. In addition, many customers are aware of the key characteristics and qualities of the genuine brand names (Nia & Zaichkowsky, 2000) which, interestingly, suggests that perhaps counterfeit products might not always have a negative effect on the genuine brand.

Sign up to view the full document!

Although research to date shows that past experiences with counterfeit merchandise are not significantly related to intention to acquire the genuine brand (Yoo & Lee, 2012), counterfeits could help the improvement of the brand’s market penetration and brand awareness (Qian, 2011). This results in the research question, "when does the counterfeit of a brand help the genuine brand?” According to Kirmani & Rao (2000), many business firms use quality signals to increase perceptions of their product quality. Business entities may use controlled signals that influence consumer preference on the brand quality (Baek, 2015). The multiplication of non-promoting controlled signals which counterfeit brands provide presents another layer of the multifaceted nature of a customer's inference process. Findings from the study From the feedback given by various respondents, it was discovered that the total effects of the awareness of the consumer on the brand that was counterfeiting on the advocacy behavior of the consumer were significant although the direct effect was not that significant when considered from the statistical perspective.

Sign up to view the full document!

From this research, it was also discovered that when the consumers' awareness of the counterfeit brand increased, there was a possibility that the consumers developed much confidence in the original genuine products. The increased awareness of the counterfeit products simply resulted in the positive perceptions of the consumer in relation to the original products. This, in turn, increased the consumer’s intention to engage in advocacy behaviors that favored the original genuine products. These results confirm the relevance of the past researches on the effects of the awareness of the consumer of the counterfeiting brand on the original genuine brand Where their advocacy behavior has been discovered to be favoring the original genuine brand. This, in turn, led to an increased intention of the consumer to engage in advocacy behaviors that favored the original genuine brand.

Sign up to view the full document!

Implications of the review The review was much significant in determining the positive effects of the fake products on the genuine products. Personal comments. The review has fully utilized the past research materials to address the topic under consideration. References Archibald, R. Baek, T. H. , & King, K. W. When comparative valence frame affects brand extension evaluations: the moderating role of parent-extension fit. Bian, X. , Wang, K. Y. , Smith, A. , & Yannopoulou, N. International Journal of Industrial Organization, 14(1), 29-52. Cushman, F. , Young, L. , & Hauser. The role of conscious reasoning and institution in moral judgments: Testing three principles of harm. , Norton, M. I. , & Ariely, D. The counterfeit self: The deceptive costs of faking it. Psychological Science, 21(5), 712-720. , & Book, A. S. Faking does distort self-report personality assessment.

Sign up to view the full document!

In New perspectives on faking in personality assessment (pp. New York: Oxford University Press. , & Lefebvre, C. The catch-22 of responsible luxury: Effects of luxury product characteristics on consumers' perception of fit with corporate social responsibility. Journal of Business Ethics, 119(1), 45-57. Kelley, C. A. , & Park, J. Effects of cognitive resource availability on consumer decisions involving counterfeit products: The role of perceived justification. Marketing Letters, 23(3), 869–881. Kim, K. , Park, J. Determinants of consumer's willingness to purchase gray-market smartphones. Journal of Business Ethics, 114(3), 409-424. Marticotte, F. , & Arcand, M. Schadenfreude, attitude and the purchase intentions of a counterfeit luxury brand. J. Counterfeit anti-infective drugs. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 6(9), 602-613. Nia, A. , & Zaichkowsky, J. A. , Norwinski, E. , & Franze, A. J. Brand integrity: Strategies for fighting contraband and counterfeit goods.

Sign up to view the full document!

From $10 to earn access

Only on Studyloop

Original template

Downloadable