From devil to angel: How being envied for luxury brand social media word of mouth discourages counterfeit purchases

Abstract

Luxury brand social media word of mouth (SWOM) often induces audience envy, which can be revealed to brand users and trigger their perceptions of being envied. Recent studies have demonstrated the influence of being benignly envied or maliciously envied on the purchase of genuinely branded items. We propose that this influence has spillover effects on counterfeit consumption. The results of four studies indicate that the perception of being maliciously envied rather than benignly envied induced brand users’ anxiety, increasing their perception of psychosocial risk and reducing their counterfeit consumption intention. Furthermore, the effects of being maliciously envied on counterfeit consumption are enhanced when brand users’ SWOM features high brand conspicuousness either by mentioning the brand directly or by displaying the brand logo prominently. Our findings have implications for practitioners, who could leverage envy on social media to deter counterfeit consumption.