The Relationships Among Counterfeit Users' Social Class, Perceived Counterfeit Proliferation, Luxury Brand Values and Patronage Intention: A Moderating Effect of Need For Status

Abstract

Literature reviews have shown that three main gaps prevail in literature of counterfeit luxury brands. First, there is a mixed result regarding the effects on counterfeits. Second, past studies did not explore the interaction effects of consumers’ need for status with the relationships between counterfeit product consumption and luxury fashion brand values. Third, past studies that explored the effects of counterfeits on original luxury brand values did not clearly define the dimensions of the value being studied. To address the gaps in the literature, this research studies the relationships between the social class of the counterfeit luxury fashion brand users, perceived proliferation of counterfeit luxury fashion products, and the brand values of the original luxury fashion brand and how these relationships will be different for consumers with high need for status and low need for status. Moreover, this research also studies the relationships between the original luxury fashion brand values and the consumers’ intention to patronize the original brand. Two hundred and twenty-four samples were collected, divided into 138 samples with high need for status and 116 samples with low need for status. PLS-SEM technique was used to analyze the data. Results were reported and discussed. Also, directions for future research were suggested.