<\/p>\n
Most people know that buying counterfeit knock-offs of luxury products is unethical and even illegal, but that hasn\u2019t stopped the soaring demand for cheap fakes of high-end brands of shoes, golf clubs, perfume, clothes, sunglasses and countless other consumer items.<\/span><\/p>\n The manufacture and sale of fake brands is a $1.77-trillion global industry, and it shows no signs of slowing down.<\/span><\/p>\n New research by Kai-Yu Wang, associate professor of marketing at Brock University\u2019s Goodman School of Business, looks at what motivates people to intentionally purchase counterfeit products even when the act doesn\u2019t align with their personal morals.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe demand for counterfeit luxury brands is robust and growing, although the consumption of counterfeit goods is viewed as unethical,\u201d says Wang. \u201cIf saving money is the main reason for counterfeit goods consumption, why don\u2019t consumers simply choose cheaper generic brands instead?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The research shows that beyond the obvious money-saving tactic, people are motivated to buy counterfeit items by wanting to enhance their self-image and because they enjoy the \u201cthrill of the hunt\u201d or feeling as though they are part of a \u201csecret society\u201d of discerning shoppers who know just where and how to spot good deals on luxury brand knock-offs.<\/p>\n \u201cWe also wanted to find out how consumers cope with cognitive\u00a0dissonance associated with their unethical counterfeit consumption behaviour,\u201d says Wang.<\/p>\n Counterfeit luxury in hand, consumers may feel guilty after their purchase but deal with these feelings by denying responsibility or by identifying with loyalty to something else \u2014 for example, reasoning that they actually prefer the counterfeit design to the real thing.<\/p>\n The research also shows that people who buy counterfeit items do not get embarrassed or feel ashamed of their purchase, but instead can experience these feelings if their deception is exposed to their social circles.<\/p>\n Through in-depth interviews with counterfeit-savvy consumers, Wang and his co-authors discovered a range of personal morals \u2014 from recognizing the damage they were doing to the brand to rationalizing that the fakes were good for the brand, embodying the saying \u201cimitation is the sincerest form of flattery.\u201d<\/p>\n