New insights into unethical counterfeit consumption

Consumer demand for counterfeit luxury brands is unethical, but it is also robust and growing. The aim of this exploratory research, which employs in-depth interviews, is two-fold: 1) to identify the psychological and emotional insights that drive and result from the consumption of higher involvemen...

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Main Authors: Bian, Xuemei, Wang, Kai-Yu, Smith, Andrew, Yannopoulou, Natalia
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/39125/
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author Bian, Xuemei
Wang, Kai-Yu
Smith, Andrew
Yannopoulou, Natalia
author_facet Bian, Xuemei
Wang, Kai-Yu
Smith, Andrew
Yannopoulou, Natalia
author_sort Bian, Xuemei
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Consumer demand for counterfeit luxury brands is unethical, but it is also robust and growing. The aim of this exploratory research, which employs in-depth interviews, is two-fold: 1) to identify the psychological and emotional insights that drive and result from the consumption of higher involvement counterfeit goods; and 2) to uncover the coping strategies related to unethical counterfeit consumption. This research reveals new psychological motivations (e.g., “thrill of the hunt”, being part of a “secret society” and genuine interest) underlying counterfeit consumption and the associated emotional outcomes (e.g., embarrassment, shame and positive hedonic gains). This research is also one of the few studies to identify cognitive moral logics by disclosing the neutralization techniques (specifically denial of responsibility and appealing to higher loyalties) that consumers adopt to cope with the cognitive dissonance associated with debatable counterfeit consumption. The paper contributes to scholarly, managerial and policy conversations.
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spelling nottingham-391252017-10-12T21:55:57Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/39125/ New insights into unethical counterfeit consumption Bian, Xuemei Wang, Kai-Yu Smith, Andrew Yannopoulou, Natalia Consumer demand for counterfeit luxury brands is unethical, but it is also robust and growing. The aim of this exploratory research, which employs in-depth interviews, is two-fold: 1) to identify the psychological and emotional insights that drive and result from the consumption of higher involvement counterfeit goods; and 2) to uncover the coping strategies related to unethical counterfeit consumption. This research reveals new psychological motivations (e.g., “thrill of the hunt”, being part of a “secret society” and genuine interest) underlying counterfeit consumption and the associated emotional outcomes (e.g., embarrassment, shame and positive hedonic gains). This research is also one of the few studies to identify cognitive moral logics by disclosing the neutralization techniques (specifically denial of responsibility and appealing to higher loyalties) that consumers adopt to cope with the cognitive dissonance associated with debatable counterfeit consumption. The paper contributes to scholarly, managerial and policy conversations. Elsevier 2016-10-01 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en cc_by_nc_nd https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/39125/1/JBR%20Submission%2008_15%20AS_XM_KW_NY%20edit_230116.pdf Bian, Xuemei, Wang, Kai-Yu, Smith, Andrew and Yannopoulou, Natalia (2016) New insights into unethical counterfeit consumption. Journal of Business Research, 69 (10). pp. 4249-4258. ISSN 0148-2963 Counterfeit; Luxury brand; Consumer ethics; Motivation; Moral logics; Neutralization http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296316300030 doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.02.038 doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.02.038
spellingShingle Counterfeit; Luxury brand; Consumer ethics; Motivation; Moral logics; Neutralization
Bian, Xuemei
Wang, Kai-Yu
Smith, Andrew
Yannopoulou, Natalia
New insights into unethical counterfeit consumption
title New insights into unethical counterfeit consumption
title_full New insights into unethical counterfeit consumption
title_fullStr New insights into unethical counterfeit consumption
title_full_unstemmed New insights into unethical counterfeit consumption
title_short New insights into unethical counterfeit consumption
title_sort new insights into unethical counterfeit consumption
topic Counterfeit; Luxury brand; Consumer ethics; Motivation; Moral logics; Neutralization
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/39125/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/39125/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/39125/