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Shame or Pride? The moderating role of self-construal on moral judgements concerning fashion counterfeits

What are counterfeits? Counterfeits according to authors Kim and Johnson (2014) are unauthorized identical copies of an original brand-name product. Usually their price and quality are much lower than those of originals. When thinking of counterfeits, apparel and accessory items come to mind, but counterfeiting is not limited to fashion-related categories only. The most interesting two facts is that the buying and selling of counterfeit items is a billion dollar industry and most consumers do not always knowingly purchase these items.

Even though there are many organizations trying to regulate against anti-counterfeiting, counterfeiting is such a big business around the world that it makes it hard to keep it under control. Because counterfeiting is fueled by consumer demand, a large amount of research has looked into consumers' purchasing of counterfeits as an instance of moral decision making, and this creates a limitation.

The actual focus of this study is on the moderating role of individuals' self-view (interdependent, independent) in the relationship between moral emotions and moral judgements made concerning the purchase of fashion counterfeits. According to the authors, previous research has taken a rationalist approach, which is a belief or theory that opinions and actions should be based on reason and knowledge, on cognitive processes involved in moral decision making rather than including the influence of consumer emotion. So, the authors hoped that the research and findings for this study would possibly be a major contribution to the literature.

Based on reviewing previous literature, this article conducted two experimental studies to test formed hypotheses and operationalize self-construal, ego-focused emotion and other-focused emotion in multiple ways. There are four hypotheses have made by the author; H1,H3,H4 were completely supported, and H2 was supported only for pride. The study 1 proved that moral emotions will influence moral judgment concerning the purchase of a counterfeit, and the influence of moral emotion on moral judgment will be moderated by self-construal; specifically for pride, the influence of the association of ego-focused emotions with a moral judgment will be higher for the independents versus interdependents. On the other hand, study 2 proved that individuals whose independent self-construal is primed are more likely to judge the counterfeit as more morally wrong to purchase when pride is induced than when shame is induced; however, the individuals whose interdependent self-construal is opposite.

For the limitations of this research, first, the emotions which in studies 1 and 2 are not identical to experienced emotions. Second, there are just only two emotions: shame and pride, which were selected to represent ego-focused or other-focused. Third, the findings are not viewed cautiously enough. Finally, the sample of participants was not diverse.

QUESTIONS - Do you think the counterfeit market will decline or completely disappear in the future by the strong intellectual property protection from the government?

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Analysis of counterfeit fashion purchase behavior in UAE --Cedwyn Fernandes

Fernandes (2013) introduces us to the issue of counterfeiting in the marketplace of the United Arab Emirates. United Arab Emirates (UAE) has an open economy where counterfeiting takes place often because it happens to be a mecca of international trade which includes auto parts, beauty and fashion products. UAE has an estimated total of $1.02 billion of counterfeited merchandise per year.

The UAE has held a steady marketplace for high-end retail shoppers, making it a zesty attraction/destination for the luxury market.

Due to this fact, the UAE government has taken measures to halt counterfeiting-especially of fashion/beauty merchandise through Dubai's customs and the Department of Economic Development.

However, according to the author there is still the issue of the demand side that has yet to be resolved. In order to alleviate the demand of counterfeit products, it is stated that one should understand the consumer's behavior and reasoning behind purchasing counterfeit items.

The author defines counterfeit as "products bearing a trademark that is identical to, or indistinguishable, from a trademark registered to another party" resulting in a violation of the original trademark owners' rights.

Several studies have covered this counterfeit issue of luxury good items within a global context. This particular paper focuses on UAE because there has yet to be any revealing studies that touch on the UAE demography.

Therefore, the purpose of this study is to find out what influences the demand for counterfeit products in the UAE market in order to assist with future attempts of reducing counterfeit trading in the UAE.

The author has identified factors that motivate consumers' voluntary purchase intention of counterfeits: fashion consciousness, subjective norm, ethical judgment, value consciousness, self-ambiguity, and demographic factors (age, education, income).

The author also defines the terminology to help readers better understand the variables that motivate the behavior of purchases.

· Fashion consciousness is when the consumer is aware of new trends in fashion and up to date with all the styles.

· Subjective norm is when an individual is subject to societal pressures, such as gain acceptance or approval by peers.

· Ethical judgment is when an individual carefully evaluates and makes decisions based on one's defined morality.

· Value consciousness is when the consumer is capable of understanding perceived price points for quality merchandise.

· Self-ambiguity is derived from the concept of self-identity. It is defined as the belief or confidence in one's own individuality or the "self."

Thus the following theoretical framework have been proposed based on the Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior:

H1: Fashion consciousness is positively related to the intended purchase of counterfeits.

H2: Subjective norm is a significant factor in the intended purchase of counterfeits.

H3: Ethical judgment is negatively related to the intended purchase of counterfeits.

H4: Value consciousness is positively related to the intended purchase of counterfeits.

H5: Self-ambiguity is positively related to the intended purchase of counterfeits.

From the results of the study, the LLPC (less likely to purchase counterfeits) sample indicated that ethical judgment and value consciousness are the only significant variables having an impact on the counterfeit purchase intention.

Whereas, the MLPC (more likely to purchase counterfeits) sample indicated that ethical judgment, subjective norm, value consciousness and self-ambiguity are significant to intent purchase of counterfeits.

REFERENCE: Fernandes, C. (2013). Analysis of counterfeit fashion purchase behavior in UAE, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 17(1), 85-97.

QUESTIONS: 1) What factors do you think would influence the attitudes of counterfeit purchasers in another country? (specify which country).