Abstract

The present study addresses the issue of consumer intention to buy original brands and their counterfeits in the Indonesian fashion product market. Specifically, it examines the impact of past purchases (of original brands and their counterfeits), consumer attitudes (toward the economic benefits of counterfeit purchase and hedonic benefits of counterfeit purchase), and personal characteristics (i.e. self-image, materialism, and perceived future social status) on consumer intention to purchase original luxurious fashion brands and their counterfeits. Based on a preliminary study, five brands in five different fashion product items were selected and used for the study. About 170 females aged between 15 and 50 years old living in Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta (DIY) province participated and filled in the self-administered questionnaires for the current survey. Multiple regression analyses were employed to test the research hypotheses.

The results indicated that past purchases and personal characteristics were significant predictors of consumer intention to buy counterfeits, while consumer attitudes toward the hedonic benefits of counterfeit purchase were not related to the dependent variable. Most antecedents (except materialism and self-image) had significant influences on purchase intention of original brands. Meanwhile, consumer intention to buy counterfeits and consumer intention to purchase original brands have positive reciprocal influences.

The main findings suggest that Indonesian consumers are simply willing to buy both originals and counterfeits. It seems that consumer affordability is a real issue to be solved. However, further studies with bigger sample sizes and broader geographical scopes are needed to clarify these findings.

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