Reasons to counterfeit: Supply, demand and distribution of counterfeit goods

This research empathizes with the opportunities that drive demand for counterfeit goods. Governments, organizations and rights holders struggle to regulate the distribution and consumption of counterfeit products, so that consumer awareness has emerged as to what goods people counterfeit, and most importantly, why people intentionally buy counterfeit items. This article illustrates the incentives that inspire buyers to purchase counterfeit products, tactics that brand owners use to fuel their interest. It involves the development of demand, marketing tactics, and the implementation of consumer approach strategies by brands. It also reveals the complicated logistics and transporting routes creating manufacturing and transit hubs for counterfeiting,; it also demonstrates the lack of government intervention as well as the desperate need for policy revision. This article shows counterfeiting is phenomenon that governments, organizations, and most importantly, consumers all have equal interest in fighting against.

Impact of consumer Attitude towards purchase intention of the counterfeit products: a multigroup analysis between the user and non-user

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors which influence a consumer’s decision to buy counterfeit products. The factors are Attitude towards counterfeits by economic benefit, Attitude towards counterfeits by Hedonic benefits, Subjective norm and Perceived behaviour control and their impact on the purchase intention of the textile/clothing counterfeit product was analysed. A total of 120 questionnaires were distributed. Data was analysed using IBM Statistics 3.0. and SMART PLS. Attitude towards counterfeits by economic benefit and Perceived behaviour control had strong relationships with purchase intention of counterfeit products. Attitude towards counterfeits by Hedonic benefits didn’t show any significant relationship with purchase intention. Subjective norm had strong positive relationship with purchase intention of counterfeits. This study is useful for Developing Countries, especially in Impact of theory of planned behaviour on the purchase intention of the counterfeits and is examined on the user and non-user of the counterfeit product.

Quality control of butter

The most common problem among ready-made foods is the adulteration of butter, which is replaced by margarine or vegetable spreads. Milk and other dairy products made from raw milk are not left out. The production and sale of low-quality, counterfeit products poses a direct threat to human health and affects the competitive environment among producers. As a result of research, it should be noted that the raw milk market is not fully saturated, so improving the quality of cream production and processing of milk products, namely butter, competition for suppliers, microbiological improvements, as well as improvements to plants and systems – remains relevant. During the analysis, some physicochemical parameters of butter were studied, namely: acidity of the fat phase, mass fraction of moisture and fat. The acidity index was within the norm, although it differed in all samples: the lowest was found in sample № 1 (1.1 °K), and the highest was in sample № 2 (1.6 °K). As for such an indicator as the content of table salt and the content of fat and pH of plasma, the oils Sweet cream “Selyanske”, 72,6 % TM “Svoya Liniya”, Sweet cream, 73.0 % LLC “Eney”, “Poltavske”, 62.5 % LLC “Techmolprom” do not meet the requirements of DSTU 4399:2005. The mass fraction of fat in butter brands PJSC “Dubnomoloko” and “Pryvat-Fud” – was lower than indicated on the package, by 1.4 % and 2.6 %, respectively, and brands “Svoya Liniya”, LLC “Eney” and Techmolprom LLC on the contrary – by 18.0 %, 18.4 % and 12.5 % more. According to the results of microbiological studies, it was found that the number of mesophilic aerobic and facultatively anaerobic microorganisms, yeasts, fungi and bacteria of the Escherichia coli group in the studied samples of butter of all brands does not exceed the permissible norms. This fact testifies to the relative “purity” of the raw material from which the butter was made, as well as to the observance of veterinary and sanitary and hygienic norms during the production and storage of butter. Summing up the research, it should be noted that, despite the identified physical and chemical shortcomings of all samples of butter, preference should be given to sour cream butter “Selyanske”, 73.0 % of PJSC “Dubnomoloko” and “Selyanske” sweet cream, 73.0 % “Privat- Fud”, as none of them exceeded such indicators as fat content and plasma pH of oil, which may indicate the absence of impurities in vegetable fats in this product.

Counterfeit? I don’t mind

The purpose of this study was to determine how the influence of Fashion Consciousness, Subjective Norm, and Hedonic Shopping Motivation on Purchase Intention of counterfeit fashion products. This study used a quantitative approach that targets youth consumers in Denpasar City. Data was collected through an online questionnaire using a google form involving 100 respondents. The data were analyzed using SPSS software version 26.0. This research provides evidence that purchase intention is influenced by fashion consciousness and hedonic shopping motivation, while the subjective norm has no significant effect on the purchase intention of counterfeit fashion products. This research has implications for fashion product entrepreneurs, both original and counterfeit products, regarding the internal factors of consumers that influence purchase intentions on fashion products, especially counterfeit fashion products.

A Study on Online Shopping Scams

Online shopping is becoming increasingly popular though there are several risks. Hence, this study investigates the language used by an international e-commerce platform customer to voice out their dissatisfaction, types of online shopping risks on the international e-commerce platform, and strategies acquired by the platform in addressing scamming issues on their site. A qualitative approach was used to analyse the data gathered from consumers’ feedback and review of the product they purchased on the international e-commerce platform. Data were analysed thematically. The study’s findings revealed that delayed delivery and receiving counterfeit products were the most frequent complaints reported. The shopping risks identified were quality of product and delivery risks. Furthermore, the findings also revealed that the international e-commerce platform used negotiation, mediation, confrontation, and litigation strategies to combat scamming issues on its platform. The study concludes with recommendations.

O Risco da Utilização de Produtos Cosméticos Falsificados / The Risk of Using Counterfeit Cosmetic Products

Resumo: A indústria de cosméticos possui grande destaque na economia brasileira e mundial. Esse setor está crescendo em ritmo exponencial e no ano de 2018 faturou 109,7 bilhões de reais. O Brasil ocupa o quarto lugar no ranking de países que mais consomem produtos e serviços de beleza. Devido ao custo dos produtos comercializados por grandes empresas, uma parcela dos consumidores opta por comprar produtos falsificados disponíveis no mercado paralelo, expondo a sua saúde a riscos, uma vez que os produtos vendidos de forma ilegal não são fiscalizados pelas agências sanitárias e estes podem conter desde microrganismos patogênicos a produtos tóxicos. O presente estudo tem por objetivo realizar um levantamento bibliográfico sobre a segurança e os riscos associados a produtos cosméticos falsificados. Para isso foram analisadas publicações na literatura referentes ao tema proposto, com escolhas de artigos nos idiomas português, inglês e espanhol publicados em periódicos como Scielo, Google Acadêmico e PubMed entre os anos de 2005 a 2021. Foram encontrados relatos de presença de microrganismos patogênicos, metais pesados e possíveis reações adversas que os cosméticos falsificados podem causar. Os cosméticos falsificados representam grande risco para a saúde humana, uma vez que não possuem certificação e muitas das vezes o rótulo do produto não condiz com o que realmente é encontrado nos produtos. Abstract: The cosmetics industry has great prominence in the Brazilian and world economy. This sector is growing at an exponential rate and in 2018 it had revenues of 109.7 billion reais. Brazil occupies fourth place in the ranking of countries that consume the most beauty products and services. Due to the cost of products sold by large companies, a portion of consumers chooses to buy counterfeit products available on the parallel market, exposing their health to risks, since products sold illegally are not inspected by health agencies and these may contain from pathogenic microorganisms to toxic products. This study aims to carry out a literature review on the safety and risks associated with counterfeit cosmetic products. For this, publications in the literature referring to the proposed topic were analyzed, with choices of articles in Portuguese, English and Spanish published in journals such as Scielo, Academic Google and PubMed between the years 2005 to 2021. Reports of the presence of pathogenic microorganisms were found, heavy metals and possible adverse reactions that counterfeit cosmetics can cause. Counterfeit cosmetics pose a great risk to human health, since they do not have certification and often the product label does not match what is actually found on the products.

Examining the Relationship Among Counterfeit Product, Consumer Buying Behavior, and Sustainable Tourism Development

The global trade in counterfeit products has a significant effect on the global sales and profits, public health, safety, and security. Meanwhile, shopping at street and night markets is an important tourist activity, which may affect the tourism economy and sustainable tourism development. This study aims to examine the interrelationships among counterfeit products, consumer buying behavior, and sustainable tourism development variables as perceived by tourists in Egypt. Data were collected from 573 tourists in Egypt. Using structural equation modeling with Amos, results showed a positive significant positive relationship between buying counterfeit products and purchase intention and a significant negative relationship between buying counterfeit products and sustainable tourism development. Future research and implications are also discussed.

How do Fines and Their Enforcement on Counterfeit Products Affect Social Welfare?

We consider a differential game which models the competition between a genuine and a counterfeit producer. The genuine manufacturer acts as a leader, first announcing the price of the product and the investments in advertising. After observing the leader’s decisions, the counterfeiter sets the selling price of the fakes. We assume that the demand of the good is driven by the brand-name goodwill. We calculate the Stackelberg feedback equilibria and the social welfare, defined by the unweighted sum of the genuine and fakes consumers, the profit of the genuine firm, minus the enforcement costs borne by the social planner. The purpose of this paper is twofold. Firstly we study the dependence of social welfare on the amount of the fines established in the IPR law and monitoring efforts. Then, we compare prices, profits and social welfare under Nash and Stackelberg framework.