The Real Thing?: Comparing The Role of Brand Identification for Authentic and Counterfeit Luxury Brands

Abstract

This research seeks to identify the purchase motivations behind authentic and counterfeit luxury consumption. A 473 questionnaire survey was conducted in Hong Kong, a major Asian shopping hub for both authentic buyers and counterfeit buyers. The results of the hypotheses testing indicated that authentic and counterfeit luxury buyers are motivated by different factors: authentic brands buyer are most strongly influenced by emotional factor such as self-directed pleasure and brand identification, whereas counterfeit buyers are actually de-motivated by these emotional factors, so the lower the brand identification, the more the commitment to counterfeiting buying. Instead, counterfeit buyers are motivated by rational factors such as product factors (price, quality, material, design) as well as social factors (brand status, popularity) which have little influence over authentic buyers. The results were compared by the level of consumption of luxury brands (non-user, light user, and heavy user) using an ANOVA test. Finally, luxury brands are recommended to devise marketing strategies pertaining to how to engage the heavy authentic brand users in fun-seeking experiences and sensory pleasures; how to take care of their emotional needs, to pamper, reward and console themselves via the purchase of self-gift; and how to enhance emotional attachment all of all users.