Do product category and consumers’ motivations profiles matter regarding counterfeiting?
| Date | 16 September 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-06-2018-1923 |
| Pages | 758-770 |
| Published date | 16 September 2019 |
| Author | André Le Roux,Marinette Thébault,Yves Roy |
Do product category and consumers’
motivations profiles matter regarding
counterfeiting?
André Le Roux, Marinette Thébault and Yves Roy
Institut d’Administration des Entreprises de Poitiers, Poitiers, France
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of product category and consumers’motivations profiles on the determ inants of
consumers’preferences and purchase intentions of counterfeits and genuine products, through manipulation of product attributes and purchase
situations.
Design/methodology/approach –The study relies on an experimental design involving a questionnaire on a convenience sample with two parts: a
tradeoff model manipulating three attributes, product type (genuine vs. counterfeit), price (high vs. low) and place of purchase (regular shop,
Internet and market) in two product categories, and a scale measuring motivations to purchase counterfeits. Ranking and purchase intentions are
analyzed using conjoint analysis and generalized linear mixed model (GLMM).
Findings –Ranking reveals a dominant pattern of consumer behavior regarding counterfeiting: product type, price and place of purchase. Product
category has a moderating effect on choice criteria: relative importance of place of purchase and price varie s according product category.
Consumers’motivations profiles have also a moderating effect on consumer behavior. Some profiles are more receptive to copies. Consume rs’
profiles exhibit different hierarchies of purchase criteria and may change them depending upon product category.
Originality/value –Results challenge literature on the dominant role of price among choice criteria. Price alone cannot determine a counte rfeit
purchase. It is the interaction of price, place of purchase or product type that explains such a behavior. Product category matters: Price and place of
purchase importance cannot be considered without accounting for product category. Consumers’motivations profile matters. Consumers are not
homogeneous face to counterfeits.
Keywords Counterfeiting, Conjoint analysis, Product category, Product attributes, Experimental plan, Generalized linear mixed models,
Purchase situation, Consumers’motivations profiles
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
According to OECD/EUIPO (2016), imports of counterfeit
and pirated goods are worth nearly halfa trillion dollars a year
and represent around 2.5 per cent of global imports. Up to 5
per cent of goods imported into the European Unionare fakes.
According to a survey fromVDMA, a German association that
represents companies in the mechanical and systems
engineering industry, 71 per cent of machine and plant
manufacturers in Germany are affected by product or brand
piracy. The estimated damage amountsto 7.3bneuros per year
(VDMA, 2018). Counterfeiting undermines the economy
through job losses. For companies, counterfeiting results in
reduced turnover, lower return on investment and innovation,
added costs related to legal actions and intellectual property
rights (IPR) protective devices development and significant
damage to brand equity. From a more global well-being
standpoint, counterfeiting represents a threat for consumers
and citizens through increased risks related to faulty or
fraudulent products and triggersdefiance toward products and
corporations.
Academic research on counterfeiting has addressed various
topics. A first stream of research focuses on the definition of
counterfeiting and its consequences on original brands and on
original brand owners(Bamossy and Scammon, 1985;Yoo and
Lee, 2005;Commuri, 2009;Romani et al.,2012;Baghi et al.,
2016;Le Roux et al., 2016a). Another stream explores the
determinants of counterfeit products purchase (Ang et al.,
2001;Gistri et al.,2009;Wilcox et al.,2009;Bian and
Moutinho, 2011;Viot et al.,2014). A third stream attempts to
model consumer behavior regarding counterfeiting using
theoretical frameworkssuch as the theory of reasoned action or
the theory of planned behavior (Penz and Stöttinger,2005;De
Matos et al.,2007). A fourth stream addresses the managerial
response to counterfeiting(Chaudhry et al., 2005;Staake et al.,
2009;Cesareo and Stöttinger, 2015). Eisend and Schucher-
Güler (2006),Zaichkowsky (2006),Lee and Yoo (2009),
Staake et al. (2009) and Cesareo (2016) provided a
comprehensivecover of the topic of counterfeiting.
Despite important academic contributions, little research on
the determinants of counterfeit purchase has addressed
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on
Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/1061-0421.htm
Journal of Product & Brand Management
28/6 (2019) 758–770
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/JPBM-06-2018-1923]
Received 29 June 2018
Revised 30 November 2018
21 February 2019
Accepted 23 February 2019
758
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