Implicit and explicit identification of counterfeit brand logos based on logotype transposition
| Published date | 16 September 2019 |
| Pages | 747-757 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-06-2018-1921 |
| Date | 16 September 2019 |
| Author | Abhishek Pathak,Carlos Velasco,Gemma Anne Calvert |
| Subject Matter | Marketing |
Implicit and explicit identification of
counterfeit brand logos based on
logotype transposition
Abhishek Pathak
School of Business, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK
Carlos Velasco
BI Norwegian Business School, Oslo, Norway, and
Gemma Anne Calvert
Division of Marketing, Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Abstract
Purpose –With trade amounting to more than US$400bn, counterfeiting is already affecting many successfu l brands. Often, consumers are
deceived into buying fake products due to the visual similarity between fake and original brand logos. This paper aims to explore the varying forms
of fraudulent imitation of original brand logotypes (operationalized at the level of logotype transposition), which can aid in the detection of a
counterfeit brand.
Design/methodology/approach –Across two studies, this research tested how well consumers can differentiate counterfeit from original logos of
well-known brands both explicitly and implicitly. Seven popular brand logos were altered to creat e different levels of visual dissimilarity and
participants were required to discriminate the logos as fake or genuine.
Findings –Results demonstrate that although consumers can explicitly discriminate fake logos with a high degree of accuracy, the same is not true
under conditions in which logos are presented very briefly (tapping participants’implicit or automatic logo recognition cap abilities), except when the
first and last letters of the logotype are substituted.
Originality/value –A large body of research on counterfeit trade focuses on the individual or cross-cultural differences behind the prevalence of
counterfeit trade. There is limited research exploring the ability of a consumer to correctly identify a fake logo, based on its varying similarity with
the original logotype; this paper addresses this gap. Given that many of the purchase decisions are often made automa tically, identifying key implicit
differentiators that can help a consumer recognize a fake logo should be informative to both practitioners and academics.
Keywords Counterfeit trade, Fake logos, Look alike logos
Paper type Research paper
Counterfeit goods are a common sight in many Asian
markets and countless consumers are often duped into
buying fake goods due to their inability to distinguish fake
products from genuine ones (Clear, 2013;Falkowski et al.,
2015;MarkMonitor Research, 2015). Recent research has
demonstrated that consumers’ability to recognize and recall
the details of a brand logo (even of well established brands
e.g. Apple) is rather limited (Blake et al., 2015). To date,
much research has been conducted on the counterfeit
product culture (i.e. why people buy counterfeit goods)
(Eisend and Schuchert-Güler, 2006;Staake et al., 2009;
Wilcox et al., 2009) that is prevalent in many countries.
However, the predominant focus has been on both
individual and cross-cultural differences (Staake et al.,
2009) that may explain when and why people buy
counterfeit goods even when they know they are fake
(Eckhardt et al., 2010). Despite the fact that counterfeiting
is widespread in many markets, the research available on the
objective measures of similarities or dissimilarities between
original and counterfeit brands is rather limited (Satomura
et al., 2014). In this paper, we add to the literature on
counterfeiting by examining the ability of consumers to
discriminate real brand logos from counterfeits at different
levels of visual and semantic similarity. The rationale behind
ourinterestisthatalthoughsomeconsumersactivelyseek
out counterfeit products, many others who are looking to
purchase the genuine article, are often deceived into
purchasing fakes due to the similarity of the counterfeit
products’logo with that of the original brand (Falkowski
et al., 2015). Here, we investigate whether and to what
extent consumers can recognize differences between real
and fake logotypes[1] both explicitly (i.e. at the conscious
level) and implicitly (i.e. at the subconscious level). Images
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) 747–757
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/JPBM-06-2018-1921]
Received 29 June 2018
Revised 17 November 2018
25 January 2019
3 February 2019
Accepted 4 February 2019
747
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