This manuscript reviews and synthesizes most of the major research studies in the area of consumer ethics that have appeared since 1990 It examines both conceptual and empirical works with an objective of encouraging researchers to pursue research in the consumer ethics area Toward this end, the paper also suggests directions for future research

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/25074974.pdf

Consumer Ethics Research: Review, Synthesis and Suggestions for the Future

Purpose – This paper sets out to examine how social and personality factors influence Chinese consumers' attitudes towards counterfeits of luxury brands and how these two sets of variables influence purchase intention. It provides a profile of buyers and non‐buyers of counterfeits of luxury brands.Design/methodology/approach – A self‐administered questionnaire was designed using established scales. A survey was conducted in downtown Shanghai through the “mall intercept” method. A variety of statistical techniques were used to analyze the data.Findings – Status consumption and integrity are strong influencers of purchase intention, whereas normative susceptibility, information susceptibility, personal gratification, value consciousness, and novelty seeking had weaker influencing relationships. The attitude towards counterfeits of luxury brands is found to influence purchase intention. Collectivism does not influence attitudes nor purchase intentions towards counterfeits of luxury brands.Research limitation...

/pdf/devil-wears-counterfeit-prada-a-study-of-antecedents-and-4okf6x6xbo.pdf

Devil wears (counterfeit) Prada: a study of antecedents and outcomes of attitudes towards counterfeits of luxury brands

Purpose – Counterfeiting has become a significant economic phenomenon. Increased demand for counterfeit branded products (CBPs) makes the study of determinants of consumers CBPs purchase behaviour more worthwhile than ever before. Existing studies have largely neglected brand influence on consumer purchase behaviour of CBPs. This research seeks to examine the impact of perceived brand image, direct and indirect effects (mediator and moderator effects) of product involvement and product knowledge on consumer purchase intention of counterfeits in the context of non‐deceptive counterfeiting. Design/methodology/approach – The current study tests the conceptual model and hypotheses developed based on the existing literature. Four focus groups (ranging from six to eight participants in each group) are used to construct the research instrument. The conceptual model and hypothesis are tested using hierarchical regression analyses with survey data from 321 consumers in the UK. Findings – This research is the first in the literature on counterfeits to establish that perceived brand personality plays a more dominant role in explaining consumers' purchase intention of CBP than other influential factors (e.g. benefit and product attribute). Involvement/knowledge has no significant influence on counterfeit purchase intention. Evidence of involvement as a moderator does not exist. Brand image is not a mediator of the effects of involvement/knowledge on purchase intention. Research limitations/implications – This research only investigates one brand of one product category (watches) in the context of non‐deceptive counterfeiting, although this has not prevented the emergence of significant results. Practical implications – The results of this study hold important implications for both practitioners and academics. They help to alert practitioners to the factors that truly affect consumer proneness of CBPs, for example, brand personality. For academics, they demonstrate that brand influence should not be further ignored in the study of consumer behaviour in relation to CBPs. Originality/value – This research is one of the few which investigate CBP not only as a product but, more importantly, also as a brand – a counterfeit brand.

/pdf/the-role-of-brand-image-product-involvement-and-knowledge-in-5dl6cic6ve.pdf

The role of brand image, product involvement, and knowledge in explaining consumer purchase behaviour of counterfeits: Direct and indirect effects

– The purpose of this research is to propose and test a model that integrates the main predictors of consumers' attitude and behavioral intentions toward counterfeits; to help companies understand the main factors influencing consumer behavior toward counterfeits and create effective anti‐piracy strategies., – An integrated model is proposed following the studies by Ang et al. and Huang et al. A survey with 400 consumers was conducted in the Brazilian market and the Structural Equation Modeling technique was used to test the hypothesized relationships., – The main contribution of the paper is to show that consumer intentions to buy counterfeited products are dependent on the attitudes they have toward counterfeits, which in turn are more influenced by perceived risk, whether consumers have bought a counterfeit before, subjective norm, integrity, price‐quality inference and personal gratification. The paper reinforces the mediator role of attitude in the relationship between these antecedents and behavioral intentions. Moreover, previous experience with counterfeits consumption does not have a direct effect on behavioral intentions, but only an indirect effect through attitude., – The paper contributes to inform policy makers and managers of brands about the main predictors of consumer's attitudes toward counterfeits. In this way, ads intended to discourage consumption of counterfeits could use the perceived risk as the main message appeal., – This paper investigates the key antecedents and consequences of consumer attitudes toward counterfeits by integrating and testing two recent models dealing with this subject in the marketing literature.

Consumer attitudes toward counterfeits: a review and extension

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Introduction Counterfeiting has become an economic problem of international importance and has led to a variety of countermeasures based on lawful, political, administrative, or business techniques In order to develop appropriate countermeasures, an understanding of the general phenomenon of counterfeiting as well as the specific reasons why people purchase counterfeit products seems expedient The purpose of our study is to review a number of existing studies on the determinants of consumers' intention to purchase counterfeit products, and in doing so, provide an overview of the insights on this topic and identify potential gaps Based on the results from one qualitative study, we try to enhance the contribution of previous studies by providing further theoretical concepts in order to explain consumers' motives when purchasing counterfeit products To explain counterfeit purchases we expand on commodity theory, mood-based concepts, and cognitive dissonance Based on these approaches, a model is developed that provides a framework for future research endeavors Previous research For the purpose of this paper, counterfeiting is defined to mean that an original product with a remarkable brand value worth copying already exists on the market Its characteristics are copied into another product, which is indistinguishable from the original, and is sold at a lower price as if it were the original Nevertheless consumers are well aware of the difference between the two products A review of previous research uncovers results that indicate the need for further investigation First, the prevalence of quantitative designs of such studies does not allow for further insights into determinants that were previously unknown to the researcher, nor into possible underlying mechanisms that might explain the intention to purchase counterfeits beyond the mere relationship between variables Due to the apparent lack of a profound theory, previous studies have failed so far to integrate their results consistently into a more general framework Second, most results stem from studies based on consumers in North American or South Asian countries As culture has been seen in existing studies to be an important factor influencing software, music, and movie piracy rates, we expect the same in the case of counterfeit purchases Third, since results differ for various products and presumably also brands, it would be interesting to investigate other counterfeit products as well as the specific brands in those product categories Method The study comprises a first study based on focus groups and a second based on in-depth interviews First, we established two focus groups with a convenience sample of social sciences students between the ages of twenty and forty from a German university Based on the results of the focus groups, we derived specific questions related to the new factors which turned out to be relevant determinants for purchasing counterfeit goods In a second step we carried out in-depth interviews in order to gain further information on the underlying operating mechanisms of these determinants Altogether, twelve interviews were conducted with persons who had already had experience in the purchase and use of counterfeit products Results We discovered further reasons for the purchase of counterfeit products relating to the person, the product, and the situation, that can be summarized under a preliminary framework that allows for possible extensions With respect to the product, we found out that the scarcity of the original product not only influences the value perception of the original brand but also of the faked brand Commodity theory provides a framework for the investigation of scarcity on value perception and for answering the question as to whether and how the loss of the exclusivity of a brand induces a decrease of consumer demand for counterfeits of it …

Explaining Counterfeit Purchases – A Review and Preview

Examines consumers’ motivation for buying counterfeits or pirated goods. The findings indicated that, compared to those who did not buy pirated music CDs, those who bought the counterfeits viewed such purchases as less risky, and trusted stores that sell counterfeits more. They did not see counterfeits as too unfair to singers or the music industry, thought they benefit the society more, and did not see people who buy them as unethical. We also investigated the influence of social, personality, and demographic factors on consumers’ attitude towards piracy. We found that the more value‐conscious and less normatively susceptible one was, and the less integrity one had, the more favorable was one’s attitude towards piracy. Demographic characteristics were also significant in influencing attitude. Males and those from lower income groups held more favorable attitudes. Finally, attitude towards piracy was significant in influencing purchase intention.

Spot the difference: consumer responses towards counterfeits

This study aimed to analyze the cognition, attitude, and willingness to pay (WTP) for imported and domestic human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines in Chinese medical students. Methods Medical students in Eastern, Central and Western China were investigated. We used the HPV cognitive list to measure the cognition of participants and implemented contingent valuation method (CVM) to value WTP. Tobit model was used to analyze the factors associated with WTP. Results The participants' average score for the 21 cognitive questions was 13.05 (±5.09). Among the participants, 60.82 and 88.01% reported that they would wish to be vaccinated and support the partners to be vaccinated. In addition, 92.54% (670) of the participants were willing to pay for HPV vaccines, at mean values (in RMB) of 1,689.80 (±926.13), 2,216.61 (±1190.62), and 3,252.43 (±2064.71) for imported bivalent, quadrivalent, and 9-valent vaccines, respectively, and at 910.63 (±647.03), 1,861.69 (±1147.80), and 2,866.96 (±1784.41) for their domestic counterparts, respectively. The increase in cognitive score has a positive effect on the WTP for imported vaccines (P < 0.05). Conclusions Most of the participants were likewise willing to receive the HPV vaccines. Their perceptions of the HPV vaccines valent and origin may affect their willingness to be vaccinated and pay for the vaccines. Increasing awareness of the HPV vaccines and the inclusion of the HPV vaccines in a Medicare reimbursement policy or immunization program could increase the coverage of the HPV vaccine.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.863748/pdf

On Imported and Domestic Human Papillomavirus Vaccines: Cognition, Attitude, and Willingness to Pay in Chinese Medical Students

Background Inequality in health outcomes in relation to Americans' socioeconomic status (SES) is rising. American Cancer Society depicts that the most common cancers are diagnosed in men and women in 2021. We aim to study socioeconomic inequalities in related cancers to investigate whether the cancer prevalence differs within the family income to poverty ratio (PIR). Methods The study investigated data from adults aged 20–85 years participated in the 1999–2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) who had complete data available on PIR and cancer or malignancy information (n = 49,720). Participants were stratified into 3 categories of PIR: high income (PIR ≥ 4), middle income (>1 and <4), or at or below the federal poverty level (≤1). Results The prevalence of prostate cancer was higher in the middle-income (3.61% [n = 464]) and high-income groups (3.36% [n = 227]) than in the low-income group (1.83% [n = 84], all p < 0.001). The prevalence of breast cancer was higher in middle-income (2.86% [n = 390]) and high-income participants (3.48% [n = 218]) than in low-income participants (2.00% [n = 117], all p < 0.001). Compared with the low-income group in men (0.48% [n = 22]), a higher prevalence of colon and rectum cancer occurs in the middle-income (0.87% [n = 112], p = 0.012) and high-income groups (0.89% [n = 58], p = 0.018). The prevalence of lung cancer in women was lower in high-income participants than middle-income participants (0.10% [n = 6] vs. 0.29% [n = 39], p = 0.014). Conclusions Increasing disparities in cancer prevalence were identified across all socioeconomic categories analyzed in this study. To ensure the sustainable development goals, it is a global health priority to understand inequalities in health and to target interventions accordingly.

Peng Sim Cheng

Papers

Spot the difference: consumer responses towards counterfeits

On Imported and Domestic Human Papillomavirus Vaccines: Cognition, Attitude, and Willingness to Pay in Chinese Medical Students

Association Between Cancer Prevalence and Different Socioeconomic Strata in the US: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999–2018