The idea of being discovered for consuming counterfeits is deeply unpleasant for status consumers, as it may reveal them as being in a lower social rank than they had displayed.
However, counterfeits could function as a shortcut for social climbing — without really being able to spend money on expensive, prestigious items, individuals could gain the same social benefits without being at a high level economically. The final influential personality factor is novelty-seeking. As readers may guess, this is the drive for individuals to continually consume new products. Individuals such as these would have a more positive attitude towards counterfeits, since they are a cheap way of satisfying curiosity of products and their need for experimentation.
The technology used in product manufacture is constantly improving, and many are becoming more affordable. This is great news for counterfeiters — the items they make are becoming higher quality, and more similar to the original item as time goes on. This is particularly influential for people with status-consuming attributes. If a counterfeit can provide the same influence to social standing and face as the authentic product, with a near-zero risk of discovery from peers, then the risks are hugely mitigated and consumers may be more motivated to purchase a counterfeit.
What this means for brands is that they cannot afford to rest on their laurels and trust that the superior quality of their products protects them from ruin by counterfeits. Taking these findings into account, a solution for discouraging consumers from purchasing counterfeits appears. Consumer education can be wielded to great effect to help people understand the true social harms the black-market industry causes.
When consumers grapple with the balance between value-consciousness and their sense of justice, reminding them of the harms caused by counterfeiting, including causing mass loss of employment, refugee enslavement and links to terrorist groups, this can influence them away from supporting illegal activity.
After all, the more consumers know about the damage done by counterfeiters, the harder they find it to rationalise purchasing fake products.
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This is something we care a lot about here at Wirecutter. Over several months of research, we were able to purchase items through Amazon Prime that were either confirmed counterfeits, lookalikes unsafe for use, or otherwise misrepresented.
We talked with many brands about the rise of fakery and their efforts to combat it. And we tried to understand the new landscape of counterfeits and how to navigate it , so that you can as well. Amazon, too, is clearly aware of the problem and is taking plenty of measures to combat counterfeits on its site. But critics say its efforts are not nearly enough. In this decade, as e-commerce sites increasingly become our go-to for nearly every purchase we make, the proliferation of fake products—and fake reviews—will similarly train a generation of consumers to be skeptical and careful about what they buy.
The heat-proof glove, made of meta-aramid fibers and cotton, with strips of silicone that can withstand temps of degrees Fahrenheit, made its name in the early s with funny, easy-to-mock ads.
It was a highly unique product, and the company took steps to protect itself with a design patent D, and a trademark. Despite those efforts, the small, San Francisco—based company has had to contend with counterfeit sellers on its own product pages on Amazon and other sites. Michael Hirsch, vice president of Joseph Enterprises, told us that the process of getting fraudulent third-party sellers removed can take months and involves painstakingly buying suspected fakes and documenting the problem for Amazon.
Because there are rarely consequences for selling fakes, beyond a seller disappearing from a site, the seller can just reestablish its presence to continue to move its inventory. He laments not just the loss of customers but the danger posed by fakes.
The seller was removed from the site shortly after we purchased the fake glove. The patented and trademarked harness is made by AmSafe , an aviation manufacturer that specializes in building restraint systems for commercial aircraft.
AmSafe told us that it has put hundreds of thousands of dollars into testing the safety of its product, running more than sled tests with crash test dummies to simulate flight conditions. We reached out to Amazon and the FAA about this knockoff. As The Washington Post and CNN have recently reported, kids car seats and strollers have also been copied and knocked off by counterfeiters.
Amazon relies on third-party sellers to self-certify that a product complies with all safety laws. But as Inc. Jon Sumroy is the inventor of the Mifold travel booster, a patented, Indiegogo-born car seat that folds up smaller than an iPad for easy transport from one car to another.
The listing has since been removed. The fake is worrying—it looks about as sturdy as a flimsy toy you might buy at a swap meet. The social risk of being detected as someone who wears fakes does not seem to be a big issue for consumers, while functional risks such as health concerns are taken into consideration. As to managerial implications, consumers cherish and value brands particularly Adidas.
So if they had money and would have the trust in the sales outlet they choose to buy an original not a fake, they would select the original. Therefore, selling original brands through authorized dealers AND keeping tight control of them would instill confidence in consumers. Health concerns were quite prominent in our interviews, offering another starting point for a communication campaign of brand manufacturers to counter fakes in these markets. While consumers cherish the German origin of Adidas, they at the same time realize that Adidas products are made in China etc.
This undermines their confidence in the brand promise and may decrease their brand loyalty to the original. Skip to main content. This service is more advanced with JavaScript available. Advertisement Hide. Why buy the Original, If the Fake can do the Same? Can it?
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