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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.

This systematic literature review used bibliometric and science mapping as a means of exploring and understanding the evolution and landscape of research in the counterfeiting of products and goods. The review sought to document the size, growth trajectory and geographic distribution of counterfeiting research, identify high-impact scholars and documents, and explore the intellectual structure of the field. We identified 403 peer-reviewed articles published in the SCOPUS database, within subject areas of business, social sciences, economics, decision-making, arts and humanities, and psychology. We used VOSviewer software to analyse the data set of SCOPUS-indexed articles. Using citation analysis, the review identified the most cited scholars, documents, journals and most productive countries publishing research on counterfeiting. Aiming to identify highly influential documents whose impact in counterfeiting research has been sustained over time, we conducted a co-citation analysis. Apart from identifying main aspects of knowledge production through citation and co-citation analysis, we employed keyword co-occurrence analysis to illuminate research fronts in counterfeiting research, notably: anti-counterfeiting strategies for combating crime; counterfeiting and intellectual property rights; counterfeiting of luxury products; consumer ethics; consumer psychology and brand protection. We conclude that bibliometric analysis and science mapping offer a novel and useful means of investigating the development of this field of study.

Trade in counterfeit products has been expanding continuously. The emergence of the internet, the process of globalisation as well as the increase of digitalisation have enabled counterfeit products to infiltrate legitimate supply chains, causing harm not only to national economies but also to holders of intellectual property rights (IPR). In this chapter, we analyse the possible solutions that holders of IP rights and their legal representatives have in their fight against the online sale of counterfeit products. To elaborate on this issue, first, we explain the legislation on an international level for IPR protection and its specific characteristics. We explain the conventions on the protection of IPR that are governed by the World Intellectual Protection Organisation (WIPO) and the provisions of the TRIPS (Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights) Agreement governed by the World Trade Organisation (WTO). We also analyse the national legislative procedure of protecting and enforcing IPR in North Macedonia to explain a possible solution to fight online counterfeit trade. As a case study of this chapter, we explain the work of the Online Enforcement Programme of REACT as a not-for-profit organisation with over 30 years of experience in the fight against counterfeit trade and the challenges that they have in fighting against the online sale of counterfeit products. Since IP law is territorial in its nature as a conclusion, we suggest that a more centralised approach is needed in the fight against the online sale of counterfeit products.

Counterfeiting is an increasing global problem, which affects a wide spectrum of industries – fashion, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, electronic, food processing etc. Globalisation, growth of the world commerce, new markets and technology development have contributed to the growth of the phenomenon of counterfeiting. Besides, counterfeiting has an unfavourable effect on legitimate manufacturers, consumers, as well as on national and international economy.

This chapter is aimed at presenting attitudes of consumers in Bosnia and Herzegovina toward counterfeit products. The intention was to examine whether and why consumers buy counterfeit products, which counterfeit products are purchased most frequently, consumers' attitudes toward counterfeit products and the degree of awareness of the risk of using counterfeit products.

Results of a research conducted on the sample of 427 respondents in Bosnia and Herzegovina reveal that 78.2% of them have bought a counterfeit product, while the most frequently purchased kinds of products include clothes and footwear. The results show that consumers typically buy counterfeit products over the internet or in the local marketplaces, and that the most frequent reasons for buying counterfeit products include lower prices, impossibility to buy the original product and the impossibility to recognise a counterfeit product. The research has also showed that most respondents agree that product counterfeiting affects both manufacturers and the national economy. It was also revealed that the respondents are aware of the risks that counterfeit products may cause.

The purpose of the present chapter was to answer the research question which states; what are the factors that influence consumers to buy counterfeited smartphones in developing economies with the case of Tanzania. The study employed a convenience sampling technique and collected 200 questionnaires in Dar es Salaam region, Tanzania. The study employed Sharma and Chan (2011) previously developed Scale on consumers' preference to counterfeited products and 20 itemised Likert scale was used. Data were analysed by using confirmatory factors analysis (CFA). In general, the models were rejected, which suggest that factors such as ethics, social status and attitude are not significant in influencing consumers to purchase counterfeited mobile phones in developing economies. Areas for further research were provided.

This paper aims to explore the issue of product counterfeiting in Türkiye and assess Türkiye’s role in the global supply chain of counterfeit goods. It sheds light on the supply-side dynamics of counterfeiting in the Turkish context.

Interviews were conducted with 46 key experts, including police officers, customs officers and trademark attorneys. The study also incorporated data from a documentary analysis of counterfeit products seized by the Bulgarian Customs.

The findings of this study highlight the significant role of Türkiye in international supply chains, serving as both a manufacturing hub for a wide array of counterfeit products and a crucial transit point for goods bound for European markets. This study suggests that counterfeiting serves as a source of livelihood for many individuals in Türkiye, with counterfeiters often justifying their activities by claiming they contribute to the country’s economy through job creation and the influx of foreign currency.

While qualitative research is essential for exploring nuanced aspects and gaining in-depth insights, it may not provide the statistical robustness and generalizability associated with larger quantitative studies.

This paper is an original contribution to the understanding of product counterfeiting in Türkiye, a major counterfeit-producing country, with potential implications for the future of consumer protection and market integrity.

This chapter presents a typology, a comprehensive overview and a deconstruction of food counterfeits. In this chapter, common targets, defined by type of commodity, supply chain (node) and location, are identified based on incident reports and vulnerability assessments in global food supply chains. As a second step, the effects of counterfeiting on brand owners, consumers and governments are detailed, which is followed by the characterisation of the groups of buyers and suppliers. To comprehend the counterfeiting process and its most important factors in greater detail, counterfeiting is disassembled into and analysed for existing motivational drivers, opportunities and control measures. Lastly, various strategies are proposed to deter counterfeiting and disrupt these practices.

The aim of this chapter is to discuss the growing trends in the trade in counterfeit products, in the context of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Counterfeiting and sale of counterfeit products is a global economic problem. It covers different sectors of the economy and is present in almost all countries of the world. This is the subject of increased interest, not only of institutions and organisations working on solving this global problem, but also of the scientific and professional community, which seeks to point out different domains of this problem, as well as measures to eliminate its effects. The increased share of trade in counterfeit products in international trade is worrying. New problems arise with the entry of the world economy into the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In such circumstances, or in the so-called new normality or reality, there have been some changes in the field of trade in counterfeit products. So we can talk about the ‘old’ topic in the ‘new’ reality. Thus, numerous questions have been opened about the trends in the trade in counterfeit products. The obtained results of the desk research in this chapter make an attempt to give an answer to these questions. Thus, in addition to the discussion of counterfeiting and counterfeit products as a global economic problem and crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the subject of a special discussion will be trends in trade in counterfeit products, both in the world and in the Republic of Serbia, while pointing to the measures and instruments that can be applied in order to prevent and eliminate the negative effects of this phenomenon.

The dynamic and evolving character of the fashion market, affected by globalisation and technology development, has resulted in complex supply chains. In order to keep costs down, fashion companies have relocated their production facilities to developing countries. At the same time, easing trade restrictions and reducing tariffs have encouraged fashion companies to offer their products all around the world. Accordingly, fashion supply chains have become geographically dispersed, with an increasing number of members, and decreasing traceability and visibility of the chains. As a consequence of that, they face uncertainties and some risks, from stock-outs, late deliveries, over-stocks, to counterfeits etc. This chapter sheds light on counterfeiting as the making of a product that so closely imitates the appearance of the product of another as to mislead consumers that the product is an original. Counterfeiting presents the biggest threat to the fashion industry due to its growing popularity among consumers who were not aware of buying fakes or knowingly bought fake fashion items. This chapter aims to examine the pros and cons of purchasing counterfeit fashion products (CFPs) by Gen Y and Z consumers, as they are more likely to purchase them. The results of the study on a sample of young Croatian consumers show that they prefer CFPs due to functional benefits of price and accessibility, and overestimated originals. The main reasons for young consumers not purchasing counterfeits are the perception of having poor quality relative compared to authentic ones as well as the ethical and legal dilemmas involved.