Essay On Market Research

Counterfeiting in  marketing products and services is a practice of selling something which is not genuine, is of low quality, is not reliable, and is not durable for a long time. It is considered to be a fraud practice of the marketeers, which deceives the customers of the quality of the products which they purchase. Consumption of counterfeit products occurs when there is social status insecurity, contradicting customer value consciousness (Kassim et al. 2020). Sometimes the customers understand the perceived risk involved in purchasing counterfeit products. This is through exercising the purchasing decisions. Here, luxury reflects convenience through the utility of the goods, which is not fully received as the goods are not genuine, and of low quality. 

The purpose of the research study is to assess counterfeit luxury consumption contradicting the efficacy of marketing. The research study aims to look into counterfeit marketing practices, which adversely affect consumer buying behavior. The focus of the research study is on the motivations and circumstances influencing the customers to consume counterfeit products, as a part of examining customer buying behavior (Rahimnia and Arian 2021). 

Marketers adopt unethical marketing practices by selling counterfeit products, which are not genuine, are of low quality, not reliable, and not durable for a long time. This is a negative issue, as it affects the consumers' purchasing decisions and intentions. This affectation degrades the individuality of the consumers, as they realize that they have been deceived when they purchased the products. This research study sheds light on the strict implementation of an ethical code of conduct, quality assurance, and quality control, which could be beneficial in reducing the sale of counterfeit products (Wang 2021). 

1. To review the marketing practices of the brands and analyze whether it is ethical or not

 

 

2. To assess how counterfeit consumption affects consumer buying behavior

 

 

3. To analyze the impact of counterfeit consumption on luxury branding

 

 

4. To examine the importance of an ethical code of conduct, quality assurance, and quality control in marketing for reducing the instances of counterfeiting practices

 

 

Khan, Fazili, and Bashir, (2021) stated counterfeit luxury consumption has certain implications for luxury brand management. Through the counterfeiting practice, the relationship between buyers and sellers is complex and has less satisfactory results in terms of customer satisfaction. The study proposed an anti-counterfeiting strategy for luxury brands. This strategy could be implemented through four perspectives, which are cultural, functional, Robin Hood, and ethical. A cultural perspective is necessary to restore morality in marketing, which could be effective in restoring trust, loyalty, and dependence from the customers. A functional perspective indicates quality assurance and controls, which could reduce counterfeit production. However, the research proposed the benefits of counterfeit production in terms of significant quality improvements. Countering this, Goor et al. (2020) state that counterfeit production can never foster quality improvement, as the products are not genuine. Therefore, an effective marketing agenda is needed, where the sellers inspect the quality of the products in presence of the quality inspectors. This could reduce the unethical practices of counterfeiting. On the functional level, the brands could organize training, which could enhance awareness of the sellers on differentiating between genuine and counterfeit products.

 

 

Wiedmann, Hennigs, and Klarmann (2017) attempted to analyze luxury consumption in trade-offs between genuine and counterfeit products. This is through the speculation on the underlying consumer motives and value-based drivers towards making the purchases. In the initial stages of the study, the counterfeit has been related to crime, causing harm to product development through marketing. As the research develops, luxury goods consumption is made clearer to the readers. Within this process, counterfeiting has evolved as one of the intellectual property rights infringements, along with piracy, imitation, and gray marketing. At this stage, it becomes clear that through the purchase decision stage of information collection and evaluation, consumers differentiate between genuine and counterfeit products. The value drivers, that the consumers consider for differentiating are price, quality, utility, materialism, and social status as a whole, from the purchase of the product. Price has also been considered a trade-off between genuine and counterfeit products. Here, the driver and underlying motivation are that of unaffordability, which compels the consumers to switch towards low-priced counterfeit alternatives.

 

 

Wilcox and Zaichkowsky (2020), to have a clear picture, traced the evolution of counterfeit luxury consumption. In the search, it came out that counterfeiting has been considered the oldest crime in history. The governmental efforts to reduce counterfeiting have been in vain, as it has and is increasing. This is in consideration of the shifts which came in consumer purchasing decisions. Cross-disciplinary approaches provide a broader insight into the effect of counterfeiting on brand management. The research study possesses flexibility for enhancing the knowledge and skills of the students aspiring to advance their careers in luxury brand marketing. This is because they could get a clear picture of counterfeiting, and its evolution, and could apply the learned skills in exercising appropriate marketing to get trust, loyalty, and dependence from consumers. () states that the evolution of counterfeiting is beside the transformations, which are coming in the consumer purchasing patterns. Now, most consumer purchase is online, where also counterfeiting prevails. In online purchasing, counterfeiting could be more deceiving, as the consumers cannot touch the product and see it. On the contrary, counterfeiting in traditional marketing could be somewhat acceptable as the consumers could differentiate between genuine and counterfeit products by touching and inspecting them.

 

 

Shan, Jiang, and Cui (2021) inspected how dual characteristics of the face motivate and prevent counterfeit luxury consumption. A double-edged sword has been used for inspecting the dual characteristics of the face. Dual characteristics are that of desire to win through the purchase of genuine products and losing by getting that they have purchased a counterfeit product. Brands, while making a marketing strategy, identify cues from customer purchasing behavior. This reflects the socialization skills of the brands, which enhances customer relationship management. Dual characteristics indicate different shades of the consumers which unleash upon the circumstances and experiences, that they have. When it comes to purchasing, this duality is very much prevalent in terms of getting the right product after speculation of price, quality, benefits, and utility value among others.

 

Goor, D., Ordabayeva, N., Keinan, A. and Crener, S., 2020. The impostor syndrome from luxury consumption. Journal of Consumer Research, 46(6), pp.1031-1051.

 

 

Kassim, N.M., Zain, M., Bogari, N. and Sharif, K., 2020. Why do consumers buy counterfeit luxury products? A tale of two major cities in two different countries. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics.

 

 

Khan, S., Fazili, A.I. and Bashir, I., 2021. Counterfeit luxury consumption: A review and research agenda. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 20(2), pp.337-367.

 

 

Rahimnia, F. and Arian, N.H., 2021. Luxury consumption and the moderating role of attitude toward counterfeits: The case of an emerging market. Journal of General Management, 47(1), pp.41-55.

 

 

Shan, J., Jiang, L. and Cui, A.P., 2021. A double-edged sword: How the dual characteristics of face motivate and prevent counterfeit luxury consumption. Journal of Business Research, 134, pp.59-69.

 

 

Wang, Y., 2021. A conceptual framework of contemporary luxury consumption. International Journal of Research in Marketing.

 

 

Wiedmann, K.P., Hennigs, N. and Klarmann, C., 2017. Luxury consumption in the trade-off between genuine and counterfeit goods: What are the consumers’ underlying motives and value-based drivers?. In Advances in Luxury Brand Management (pp. 85-122). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

 

 

Wilcox, K. and Zaichkowsky, J.L., 2020. The evolution of counterfeit luxury consumption. In Research handbook on luxury branding. Edward Elgar Publishing.