How should firms deal with counterfeiting? A review of the success conditions of anti-counterfeiting strategies

Abstract

Purpose

The production and sale of counterfeit products is big business in the international economy. Nowhere is this more evident than in China. This paper aims to review the anti-counterfeiting strategies that have been identified in the literature on counterfeiting.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper takes the form of a literature review.

Findings

This paper reviews 11 anti-counterfeiting strategies that have been suggested by relevant literature and has identified some of the success conditions. It also finds that firms should seek to take a longer-term view and to protect their technology-based competitive advantage. This is already happening: Japanese blue chip companies have begun to relocate sensitive R&D and high-tech manufacturing away from risky locations and back to Japan.

Research limitations/implications

The paper shows that the dominant legal enforcement (perspective) approach has been of limited success and explains the reasons for its failure.

Practical implications

The paper concludes that anti-counterfeiting strategies should be seen as complementary rather than as mutually exclusive and that in the long run, as countries get more technologically advanced, governments will develop a strong self-interest in tackling the counterfeit problem themselves.

Originality/value

The paper provides a systematic discussion of alternative anti-counterfeiting strategies that have been suggested by the literature and explores their success conditions in some detail.

Citation

Hoecht, A. and Trott, P. (2014), "How should firms deal with counterfeiting? A review of the success conditions of anti-counterfeiting strategies", International Journal of Emerging Markets, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 98-119. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOEM-02-2011-0014