Ian Phau, Marishka Sequeira and Steve Dix
The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of personality factors and attitudes toward consumers' willingness to knowingly purchase counterfeit luxury brands.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of personality factors and attitudes toward consumers' willingness to knowingly purchase counterfeit luxury brands.
Design/methodology/approach
Convenience sampling method is to be employed and a self‐administered questionnaire distributed to students in a large Australian University. A commonly counterfeited luxury branded product will be used as the stimulus of the study. In total, 202 useable responses have been retained for analysis.
Findings
The findings are that attitudes do not influence consumers' willingness to purchase counterfeit luxury brands. Integrity is noted to be a strong influencer of both attitudes and consumer willingness to purchase consistently. Both buyers and non‐buyers are tested for their attitudinal differences. Status consumption and materialism does not play a role in influencing attitudes or willingness to purchase.
Research limitations/implications
Only one product category is looked at. Other sampling methods can be looked into such as mall intercept. Culture and nationality may also have influences on moral and ethical issues which can be tested in future studies.
Practical implications
Advertisers and strategists should consider putting a more “human face” on the damaging effects of counterfeiting and look into the possible demographic factors. Consumers should be educated on the negative consequences of counterfeiting and effects on economy.
Originality/value
While past studies have delved into examining consumer attitudes towards counterfeit products, a low involvement luxury brand item was not utilized as a stimulus. An Australian context has not been looked into.
Details
Keywords
Ian Phau, Marishka Sequeira and Steve Dix
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of personality factors on consumers' attitudes toward counterfeits and their willingness to knowingly purchase counterfeit…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of personality factors on consumers' attitudes toward counterfeits and their willingness to knowingly purchase counterfeit luxury brands. Product performance and useful life are included to investigate their influence on consumers' willingness to purchase counterfeit luxury brands.
Design/methodology/approach
A self‐administered questionnaire is designed using established scales. Data are collected using a convenience sampling method from a large Australian university. Regression analyses are conducted using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS).
Findings
Integrity is found to be the only factor influencing attitudes toward counterfeits. The useful life of a counterfeit luxury brand showed significant influence on consumers' willingness to purchase. Attitudinal factors and personality factors do not influence consumers' willingness to purchase counterfeit luxury brands.
Research limitations/implications
The findings are limited to an Australian context. Mall intercept method can be implemented for future studies. The paper has only examined a high involvement luxury brand. Other product categories or low involvement products can be further investigated.
Practical implications
It is recommended for government to implement educational programs that are not only limited to schools, but also to multinational companies and domestic businesses. Luxury brand owners are also encouraged to distinguish their products through emphasis on product attributes, such as their product's useful life.
Originality/value
A specific high‐involvement luxury brand is studied as opposed to previous studies only examining counterfeit luxury brands as a whole. Furthermore, this paper has also examined both personality factors and product attributes.