How counterfeit dominance affects luxury fashion brand owners’ perceptions: A cross-cultural examination

Abstract

Prior literature has provided little insight into how counterfeit dominance—consumers’ perception that counterfeit brands possess over 50% of market share for authentic and counterfeit brands combined—influences luxury fashion brand owners’ perceptions of their brands across cultures. Our research shows that counterfeit dominance negatively affects the perceived quality and purchase intention of luxury fashion brands across product categories for Anglo-American, but not for Asian, consumers. A social-adjustive attitude underlies this difference. Therefore, counterfeit dominance has stronger negative impacts on luxury fashion brand owners’ perceptions of their brands for those with a weak (Anglo-Americans), but not with a strong (Asians), social-adjustive attitude. Perceived quality mediates the effect of counterfeit dominance on luxury fashion brand owners’ purchase intention in different cultures. This investigation contributes to both theory and practice through examining an understudied phenomenon and also offering strategies to offset the inimical effects of counterfeit dominance.