Counterfeiting increases interest in genuine products and brand awareness

Counterfeits are illegal and are usually inferior-quality imitations or replicas of authentic goods, typically ones carrying a high brand value (Lai & Zaichkowsky, 1999). They provide benefits to individuals who wish to be fashionable and maintain a positive sense of self but are unwilling to pay for the higher-cost genuine versions. Yet, counterfeit consumption may undermine the image of the authentic brand and decrease sales. However, some counterfeited brands, such as Nike, opt to take a relatively passive role in combating counterfeits; some even embrace them since they believe that the market for counterfeit goods does not cannibalize the market share of the genuine products.

These competing strategies motivate us to explore how counterfeit usage impacts consumers' purchase intention of the original brands. On one hand, counterfeit consumption can reduce demand for genuine products or brands and dilute perceptions of the genuine product (Wilcox et al., 2009). Yet the widespread trade in the counterfeit market might actually help raise brand awareness and even demand for genuine products (Nia & Zaichkowsky, 2000; Wang, Wu, et al., 2023). Wilcox et al. (2011) demonstrated that, under certain levels of construal, the presence of counterfeits increases the desire of consumers for acquiring original brands. So, it appears that there may be situations when counterfeit products may benefit or harm the image and equity of the original, genuine luxury brands. Now, the existing literature (viz., Wilcox et al., 2011) has focused on cognitive or information processing differences such as consumers' level of construal as a moderator which reveals that “when consumers process at a concrete level, they contrast the genuine brand with the counterfeit version, which increases their desire for the genuine version. When consumers process at an abstract level, they assimilate the genuine brand toward the counterfeit version, which reduces their desire for the genuine version.” It is likely that there are situations where counterfeits benefit genuine products and other situations in which counterfeits harm genuine brands.

We focus on situations where individuals are caught wearing counterfeit products. Being caught using counterfeits is usually considered a significant social risk that can remarkably decrease one's purchase intention for such products whether the risked discovery really occurs or not (Tan, 2002). We propose that the extent to which the counterfeit products are relevant to these symbolic characteristics may be a significant factor in influencing one's desire for original brands particularly after the discovery occurs. People may exhibit varying purchase intentions for original products after being caught using counterfeits when these items serve different functions (symbolic vs. utilitarian). Imagine yourself at a party carrying a counterfeit Louis Vuitton (LV) bag, which primarily conveys social meaning. You notice that some people are looking at your bag and are discussing its authenticity in private or even exposing you publicly. You are then likely to feel terrible and motivated to buy an original LV bag or some other genuine product with the same or higher brand value in the future to restore your loss of social identity. On the contrary, if the product is not an LV bag, but a pair of counterfeited Crocs™ slip-ons that mainly provide a utilitarian function, you may not be influenced by the act of being caught counterfeiting and may feel fine or even proud that you were thrifty in your shoe purchase decision. The above different reactions in certain product message appeals may not apply to everyone. In particular, individuals with interdependent self-construal might pay more attention to social evaluations in maintaining their self-images (Markus & Kitayama, 1991). Moreover, these individuals can be more sensitive to social evaluation threat (Kim & Markman, 2006). Meanwhile, people with more interdependent (vs. independent) self-construal are more likely to purchase identity-linked products when their social identity is threatened.