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This paper introduces a unified conceptual framework for deliberate counterfeit purchase behavior by combining its diverse economic, ethical and socio-psychological perspectives using cognitive dissonance theory. Specific hypotheses are put forth about the interrelationships among counterfeit proneness, ethical judgments, subjective norms, counterfeit product evaluation and purchase intentions.

A field-survey with 380 shoppers (who had ever purchased a counterfeit product) in Hong Kong across four frequently counterfeited product categories (backpack, luxury watch, software and movie DVD) with varying levels of involvement, usage context and purchase motivation.

As hypothesized, counterfeit proneness positively influences ethical judgments and subjective norms about buying a counterfeit product, which in turn positively affect counterfeit product evaluation and purchase intentions. All these effects are fairly stable across the four product categories, which suggests robustness of the proposed unified model.

Using Hong Kong as the research setting and a relatively younger sample of ethnic Chinese consumers helps ensure high internal validity but it may also restrict the generalizability of the findings. Future research with a more diverse sample of consumers would help replicate the results reported in this paper. The conceptual framework may also be extended by including variables such as consumer innovativeness, risk-taking and change-seeking as antecedents of counterfeit purchase behaviour and usage.

Findings show that consumers are influenced by a combination of individual and sociological factors when they decide whether to buy and use counterfeit products. Hence, marketers and authorities need a multi-pronged strategy to curb the growing demand and usage of counterfeit products, especially among ethnic Chinese consumers. These results may also help identify consumer segments more prone to counterfeit purchase behavior and to develop special communication to target them more effectively.

Past studies mostly explore the ‘direct’ and ‘independent’ effects of consumer attitudes, ethical judgments and subjective norms on their counterfeit purchase behavior, ignoring their impact on each other and the roles of ‘counterfeit proneness’ and ‘product evaluation’. This paper addresses all these gaps with a unified conceptual framework that incorporates all these constructs using cognitive dissonance theory and provides useful insights about their direct and indirect effects on each other.

To identify ways for business managers to reduce consumer complicity with counterfeit products by better aligning their actions with consumer beliefs of complicity.

A mall intercept methodology was used to interview 54 US and 48 Brazilian business managers' understandings of consumer complicity with counterfeit products. A parallel web survey containing the questions in the interviews was used to assess 401 US and 390 Brazilian consumers' perceptions of what is important to them in determining that a product is counterfeit, the reasons why they were willing to acquire counterfeits, and the perceived effectiveness of anti‐counterfeiting actions.

Managers in both countries held beliefs that ran counter to those of the complicit consumer, particularly in the areas of understanding the reasons for consumer complicity and the perceived effectiveness of anti‐counterfeiting actions to reduce that complicity. Several anti‐counterfeiting actions considered to be of little use by managers were reported to be important by consumers regarding their intended complicity.

As the different motivations of consumer complicity with counterfeit products in different country markets become better known, managers can reduce their loss of business to counterfeiters by directly targeting those factors each country's consumers believe affect their complicity.

Comparing manager and consumer views of complicity with counterfeit products and the anti‐counterfeiting actions that can reduce that complicity in two country markets.

The continuous evolution of e-commerce with young consumers’ growing interest in online shopping has transformed the retail landscape across the world. With the surge in online sales, counterfeits of luxury goods have also found themselves from brick-and-mortar shelves to online e-commerce sites. Against this backdrop, this study aims to understand and analyse young consumers’ online counterfeit purchase behaviour (OCPB). Additionally, it also aims at identifying the determinants that influence their purchase decisions.

Following an extensive review of the literature, the present study pursued a quantitative approach in exploring critical demographic, psychographic, behavioural and situational factors influencing OCPB. The study was conducted in India through an online survey using a structured questionnaire.

The findings indicate that young consumers’ OCPB is significantly related to influencing factors like brand consciousness, fashion involvement, face consciousness, impulsive buying tendency, acquisition centrality and utilitarian shopping values. Furthermore, moderating effects of perceived anonymity (PA) and moral disengagement (MD) on OCPB were also observed and validated.

The study examined the critical factors and their linkages while building upon a structural framework on OCPB, keeping India as a representative sample. The proposed framework will bring more clarity and further insights that will help scholars expand the research domain with more cross-cultural studies and aid brand e-marketers to strategize their action towards developing strong brand aesthetic values.

The study contributes towards the literature by introducing PA and MD vis-à-vis building a framework for studying young consumers’ OCPB.

This study aims to examine the role of face consciousness, materialism and risk of embarrassment in determining consumer purchase intention toward counterfeit luxury brand. In addition, the authors explore boundary conditions of these relationships.

Study 1, a survey research (N = 321), examines the mediating role of risk of embarrassment between face consciousness on the purchase intention toward luxury counterfeits. Study 2 (N = 345), an experimental study, examines the moderating role of brand prominence of counterfeit (i.e. whether it contains prominent brand signals). Study 3 (N = 315) explores how the above-mentioned relationships are moderated by consumers’ moral rationalization (i.e. whether consumers seek rationalization when behaving unethically).

First, this research shows that risk of embarrassment mediates the negative relationship between face consciousness and Chinese consumers’ purchase intention toward luxury counterfeits, whereas this relationship was not found between materialism and counterfeit purchase intentions. Second, this negative mediating effect holds only when the counterfeit brand is highly prominent. Third, the mediating effect depends on consumers’ moral rationalization, with a positive impact on the purchase intention toward luxury counterfeits, regardless of brand prominence.

This study represents a preliminary inquiry into the dynamics between face consciousness and materialism in influencing Chinese consumers’ purchase intention toward counterfeit luxury products. Unlike their Western counterparts, whose materialistic views of possessions predict their counterfeit luxury consumption (Davidson et al., 2019), Chinese consumers are more likely to be driven by the social implications of counterfeit luxury to communicate a prestigious social image to others on account of genuine luxuries’ high social recognition.

While Chinese consumers are one of the most potent global luxury buyers, they are immersed in the world’s biggest counterfeit luxury market. By digging into the core value of Chinese consumers (i.e. face consciousness), this research provides a number of managerial implications for luxury goods companies to engage in international efforts to educate consumers against counterfeit luxury.

This study makes at least three contributions to the counterfeit consumption literature. First, this study represents a preliminary inquiry into the dynamics between face consciousness and materialism in influencing Chinese consumers’ purchase intention toward counterfeit luxury products. Second, this research identified the complex mechanism of face consciousness as an independent variable on consumers’ purchase intention toward luxury counterfeits. Finally, the authors examined the boundary conditions of brand prominence and consumers’ moral rationalization. The findings may help luxury brand managers identify strategies to discourage counterfeit consumption.

This study aims to assess both internal and external factors that impact consumer attitudes and intentions with regard to the purchase of non-deceptive counterfeits. More specifically, this study examines the impact of integrity, brand consciousness, performance risk and social risk on the attitude and in turn on the purchase intention of consumers towards non-deceptive counterfeits.

A total of 679 valid responses from the university students in two different Gulf countries, namely, Oman (264) and Qatar (415) were gathered through a self-administered structured questionnaire and analysed through partial least square‐structural equation modeling.

All the predictors of consumer attitude appeared significant in both country samples except integrity. However, brand consciousness appeared insignificant in the sample of Oman. In addition, Purchase intention towards the non-deceptive counterfeits was significantly predicted by attitude and subjective norm in both samples.

In the domain of non-deceptive counterfeit literature, the findings of the study will substantially add value. Particularly, in the Gulf country context, the impact of internal psychological and external risk factors on the attitude and purchase intention of non-deceptive counterfeits will enhance the insights of existing literature and extend and proof the robustness of the theory of reasoned action.

Product counterfeiting has been ubiquitously observed in various segments of the supply chain. The intrinsic values of brands create more opportunities for counterfeiting. The damaging reputation of such brands leaves them to deal with the fallouts of counterfeits. Hence, such companies address them mainly through legal action, price and quality strategy. However, consumer characteristics and the random distribution of counterfeit products to the consumer types affect the effectiveness of a counter strategy. This paper aims to generate insights on how to leverage digital technology to curb counterfeit entities with consideration of consumer characteristics and the random distribution of counterfeits to them.

The authors used game theory and vertical differentiation model to understand and encounter deceptive counterfeiting of brand products. The study understands the economic relationship between a brand product manufacturer and consumer types based on their awareness. Further, the authors have considered different cases in the model to gain useful insights.

The results reveal that when the consumers are proactive, informed and value-conscious brand product manufacturers take digital technology counterstrategy to earn the maximum revenue. Hence, this analysis highlights that the effectiveness of a counterstrategy critically depends on the consumer characteristics, whether they are proactive, informed or unaware.

The study outlines that brand product manufacturers must emphasize on the digital supply chain, product redesign and product tracking facility to empower informed and value-conscious and proactive consumers. Moreover, the government should take steps to create awareness among uninformed consumers via information campaigns.

This paper incorporates the role of consumers and brand product manufacturers to understand and address the deceptive counterfeiting issue.

This paper aims to theorize that millennials' counterfeit buying behavior is partly driven by perceived peer counterfeit consumption – the perception that counterfeit luxury consumption is a norm within members of their own generation.

The research is based on two survey-based studies: Study 1 investigates the phenomenon on young millennials (n = 438) and Gen X (n = 374) using moderation analyses in PROCESS Macro; and Study 2 is based on young millennials (n = 643) and runs a partial least squares structural equation modeling model.

The findings reveal that perceived counterfeit consumption within own (vs other) generation leads to greater counterfeit purchase intention and this effect is stronger for young millennials (vs Gen X). Counterfeiting values (materialism, counterconformity and morality) strengthen the impact of perceived peer counterfeit consumption on the counterfeit purchase intention of young millennials, thereby establishing counterfeit luxury consumption as a salient norm.

To modify perceptions about peer counterfeiting norms, normative messages must communicate counterfeit avoidance among millennials through social media influencers. Luxury brand managers must focus on the experiential value of luxury and pursue unconventional luxury inspired by a sense of rebelliousness and independence.

This work demonstrates that millennials engage in counterfeit luxury consumption when they perceive it as a salient consumption norm among members of their own generation. It adds a novel construct of perceived counterfeit consumption and demonstrates the role of generation as a normative referent. The article provides a values-based motivational account of conformity to peer counterfeiting norms.

The market for counterfeit goods worldwide has continued to grow significantly over the years, attracting the curiosity of researchers in the marketing field. This study aimed to analyse the influence of price-quality inference and attitudes towards economic rewards of purchasing counterfeit products on the intentions to purchase non-deceptive counterfeit products.

The research adopted a quantitative methodology and utilised the cross-sectional survey method to collect data from a sample of 381 respondents comprising university students. The data was then analysed using the computer software Smart PLS 4.

The results established that the respondents’ price-quality inference of counterfeit products was positively associated with the attitudes towards economic rewards of purchasing counterfeit products and intention to purchase counterfeit products. Furthermore, the study revealed that attitudes towards economic rewards of purchasing counterfeit products partially mediated the influence of price-quality inference on customer intention to acquire non-deceptive counterfeit goods. A multigroup analysis of the proposed relationship did not find any statistically significant differences in the pattern of results concerning the gender groups.

The significance of the study findings is hampered by the singular focus on university students as a reference point for young people’s perceptions of counterfeit goods in South Africa. The study, however, presents verifiable evidence that marketers and brand managers of genuine products may utilise to develop intervention measures to sway young African consumers away from counterfeits and towards genuine brands.

This is one of the few studies in the literature that addresses young adults’ deliberate purchasing of non-deceptive counterfeits in South Africa, an important consumer market in Africa.

This paper aims to investigate the impact of perceived risk, ethical judgement, value consciousness, susceptibility to social influence and neutralisation on counterfeit clothes and accessories purchase intention in Egypt.

A single cross-sectional survey was conducted. Questionnaires were used to collect data from 361 counterfeit buyers in Egypt. To test the hypotheses, partial least squares-structural equation model was applied.

The results indicate that neutralisation, perceived risk and susceptibility to social influence significantly impact attitudes towards counterfeiting and purchase intentions, whereas value consciousness impacts counterfeit purchase intention. In addition, attitudes mediate the effects of perceived risk, susceptibility to social influence and neutralisation on purchase intention.

Brand producers/retailers and the government need to adhere to a number of practices to curb counterfeit demand, mainly by tackling the neutralisation’s impacts, demonstrating various risks of counterfeiting and developing a collective attitude against counterfeiting.

This study contributes to the ethical decision-making literature by empirically testing and quantifying the impact of neutralisation on shaping counterfeit buyers’ attitudes and purchase intention.

The study's objective is to examine the consumers' intention to buy counterfeit brand shoes. A conceptual model is developed to test the risk-taking and word-of-mouth (WOM) as a moderator in the relationship between status consumption, brand image, and consumer intention to buy counterfeit shoes.

Based on the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and signaling theory (ST), this research was conducted in the Indian National Capital Region. Using a structured instrument, the data was collected from 240 respondents. After checking the psychometric properties of the survey instrument using the Lisrel package of structural equation modeling, Hayes's PROCESS macros were used for testing the hypotheses.

The findings from the study indicate that (1) status consumption and brand image are positively associated with purchase intention of counterfeit brand shoes, and (2) risk-taking moderates the relationship between (1) status consumption and purchase intention, and (2) brand image and purchase intension, (3) significant three-way interaction between WOM, risk-taking and status consumption on purchase intention, and (4) significant three-way interaction between brand image, WOM, and risk-taking on purchase intention of counterfeit brand shoes.

As with any survey research, this study has common method variance as a potential problem. However, through the latent variable method and Harman's single-factor analysis, the common method variance was checked. The study has several implications for managers, e-marketers, and consumers.

The study has several implications for marketers selling counterfeit products and managers intending to protect their branded products.

A conceptual model showing two-way and three-way interactions between status consumption, risk-taking, and WOM influencing the consumer purchase intention of counterfeit products was discussed. This is the first of its kind in India to explore such relationships.