It Is Counterfeits that Consumers Love!? Exploring the Phenomenon in the Digital Environment

Abstract

The Internet has revolutionized the way consumers shop, also for buying counterfeits (MarkMonitor 2013). Accessing these products with a simple mouse click has dramatically aggravated already rampant offline purchases of fakes (Guarnieri and Przyswa 2013; Radón 2012). Purchasing fakes online has attracted only scant research attention, thus, we aim to shed light on the purchase behavior of counterfeits online (e.g., awareness and knowledge; drivers and obstacles of purchasing fakes online); this allows us to evaluate potential communalities and differences between offline and online purchase and to develop avenues for future research. To get rich insights, we interviewed 15 Italian and 15 Austrian consumers (similar in access to counterfeits, different in terms of sophistication of the fashion industry) with past experiences in buying fakes either offline and/or online (a detailed sample description can be provided upon request). The interviews covered five main areas: online shopping in general; perceptions of counterfeiting on the internet; attitudes, motivations and previous experiences with counterfeits (offline/online); risks associated with online purchases and pertinent coping strategies.

Buying fakes online differs from buying counterfeits offline, as deception is much easier. Sellers and buyers usually have low familiarity with each other, reside in different locations and have one-time interactions; there is a high information asymmetry between seller and buyer, since consumers have very little knowledge and must rely on text-based descriptions, pictures and videos provided by the seller to evaluate the product. Moreover, counterfeiters tend to manipulate information either through masking (i.e., not providing important content, such as the real quality/origin of the product) or mimicking tactics (presenting false information as if it were true) (Mavlanova and Benbunan-Fich 2010).

When asked, almost all respondents in the sample indicated experience with buying counterfeit products online, with some of them having unknowingly bought fakes. Not surprisingly, and comparable to the offline context, the attractive price/performance ratio primarily triggers behavior. Overall, it turned out that the Internet as a purchase context offers unique advantages (ease, time saving, product variety, anonymity), but is also less controllable (e.g. evaluation of seller, product quality). Therefore, respondents develop several coping strategies such as price benchmarks, word-of-mouth information on the seller, payment modes available, or a non-professional web design.

Taken collectively, consumers seem to be lured into and more easily deceived by fakes online by well-informed counterfeiters using different masking and mimicking approaches. These two aspects – consumer confusion about the true origin and the multi-faceted risks entailed requiring sophisticated mitigation strategies – are two key aspects which distinguish offline and online counterfeit purchases. In terms of managerial implications, this calls upon original brand manufacturers to take up the challenge and not leave the Internet to the counterfeiters only.