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CONSUMERS’ ATTITUDE
source: www.inta.org/membersonly/bulletin/
special/2004/09_section02.html
www.aim.be/docs/look-alikes/
AIM%20Position%20misleading%
20copying.pdf
www.legalmediagroup.com
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Consumers of counterfeit goods can be categorised into two types. The first is the conscious consumer…- such a consumer is likely driven by a variety of motivations, such as cost and availability (if a counterfeit product is readily available on the street, it is more likely to be purchased). Another trait of the conscious consumer is the feeling of getting a ‘bargain’, whether real or imagined. Some consumers may desire the sense of style or status conveyed by an item, regardless of whether it is real or counterfeit;
- according to a British poll, in 2003 the top three products which consumers would knowingly purchase as counterfeit are: clothing/footwear 27%; watches 15% ; perfumes 13%; (1)
- not by chance, the main target customers of counterfeit sportswear are youngsters: a 1997 poll on public attitudes to counterfeiting in the United Kingdom showed that 40% of consumers knowingly go shopping for fakes and of these more than 50% were between the ages of 15 to 24; (2)
- according to a research commissioned by the Australian Toy Association (ATA) in 2003, around 18% of Australians would knowingly purchase pirated goods if they were slightly cheaper than the original product, rising to about 40% if they were 75% cheaper and almost 50% if the product were free. Up to 17% of households interviewed had knowingly purchased pirated computer or video games; (3)
- whatever the size of their purses, consumers no longer seem to regard buying counterfeit luxury goods as a crime. According to a survey of 500 Japanese schoolteachers by the government-funded Consumer Education Help Centre, 20% had bought counterfeits. Of those, 63% bought them because they were cheap, 36% for fun and – significantly - 25% because they were of high quality; (4)
- according to a poll carried out by Gallup in the United States and published in March 2005, 13% of Americans have bought or downloaded counterfeit goods, and more than 50% of those did so knowingly. The poll found that 5% of adults admitted buying, copying or downloading counterfeit music CDs or audiocassettes, while 3% admitted buying counterfeit movies. In addition, 3% admitted buying counterfeit brand name fashion clothing, and 3% said they had bought counterfeit pharmaceuticals;
- the most popular reason for buying counterfeit goods was that they are easily available – a reason given by 78% of those who bought fakes. More alarmingly for brand owners, 73% of purchasers said they could “buy the same quality at a better price”, while 68% said the genuine product price was too high;
- the poll also suggests that American consumers are aware of the implications of buying counterfeits: 83% of those polled believe organised crime is involved in making and distributing counterfeits while 48% think terrorist organizations are involved;
- product piracy in China is a serious problem for multinationals wishing to do business there. In 2004, a comparative study conducted in Hong Kong and Shanghai - among consumers who knowingly buy pirated products - revealed that in both cities pirated products are identified mainly by their price and buying location; (5)
- Pirated VCDs, clothing and accessories were the products at the focus of this study: 42.8% of the Hong Kong sample of pirated VCD buyers described themselves as heavy buyers. This was a significantly lower proportion than in Shanghai. 30.5% of the Hong Kong sample described themselves as heavy buyers of pirated clothing and/or accessories, compared with 49.6% of the Shanghai sample. Consumers of fakes, especially those in Shanghai, clearly believe that brands and image are essential to “the good things in life”, and remain to be convinced that functionality is more important. They persist in buying pirated products because they look good, fully realizing that they may not work effectively; (5)
The second type of consumer of counterfeit goods is the unaware consumer… - this consumer purchases products that are often sold and installed by service providers. The service providers’ motivation for supplying counterfeit goods is often the lower cost that allows them to remain competitive. In this case, the consumer is completely unaware of the use of counterfeit products. They are uninformed of any reduction in quality or defects in the products;
- misleading copying ranges from near identical reproductions through to those versions that take many - but not all - of the marketing properties of a brand. These look-alikes are a problem because by reason of their deceptive nature, they are likely to affect the economic behaviour of the consumer. In other words, the consumer purchases a copy in the belief it is something else. Are consumers really misled in this way? Several surveys say yes.
- a survey of 2000 shoppers - done by RSL for the UK Consumers Association - showed that 27% of shoppers bought or lifted from the shelf a product they did not intend to because they thought it was something else; (6)
- shown four different pairs of brands and look-alikes, 30%, 42%, 50% and 52% respectively of consumers thought wrongly the four brand manufacturers also made the four look-alikes. Moreover, another survey shown that 59% of consumers believe competing products should be distinctively packaged. (7)
Consumer demand drives counterfeiting, which in turn harms numerous industries… Is there any room for change? - in a Mori survey of 2,000 people, carried out in UK in 2004, 66% said they were against any form of counterfeiting, but 1/3 would knowingly buy a fake item if the price and quality was right. A further 29% stated they saw no harm in fake goods as long as it did not put them at risk; (8)
- more than 88% of Moscow residents believe that corrupt government officials play a role in the trade in counterfeit goods, according to a survey carried out by The Gallup Organization published in May 2005. The figure is the same as that for organized crime gangs, who are believed by 88.5% of respondents to be involved in the country's counterfeiting business. And 1/3 of Muscovites believe that the Russian government has little or no commitment to tackling the makers and distributors of fakes. Gallup's survey also reveals that more than 50% of Muscovites believe terrorist groups are involved in producing and distributing fakes. (9)
(1) Survey from UK's Anti-Counterfeiting Group (ACG) and corporate fraud consultants Maxima Group Plc.
(2) Anti-Counterfeiting Group, “The Costs and Dangers of Buying Fake Products. MORI Survey on Public Attitudes to Counterfeiting”.
(3) The Australian Toy Association (ATA), the Business Software Association of Australia (BSAA) and the Interactive Entertainment Association (IEAA) commissioned The Allen Consulting Group to conduct research into the effect of counterfeiting on the industries as well as consumers and Government: [ www.bsaa.com.au/downloads/findings.pdf]
(4) Velisarios Kattoulas, “Bags of Trouble”, article first appeared in the Far Eastern Economic Review, March 21, 2002.
(5) Wah-Leung Cheung and Gerard Prendergast, “An exploratory study of the materialism and conformity motivations of consumers who knowingly buy pirated products: a Hong Kong and Shanghai comparison”, Hong Kong Baptist University, China, December 2004.
(6) UK Consumers Association, “Confusion in the supermarket? Consumer reactions and attitudes”, 1998.
(7) A survey of 3800 shoppers conducted by RSGB for the British Brands Group, 1998.
(8) [ www.fashionunited.co.uk/news/counterfeit.htm]
(9) Managing Intellectual Property (MIP), Weekly News, May 24, 2005. Gallup carried out its survey in Moscow as part of a global investigation into consumer attitudes towards counterfeiting. The survey company – which released the results of its US study at the beginning of 2005 - intends to question people from 18 European countries about their attitudes to fakes, and the people who make them, in the last months of 2005. Consumers in Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Korea, and India will be surveyed in early 2006.
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