The Affect of Counterfeit Products on Luxury Brands : An Empirical Investigation from the Consumer Perspective

Introduction: Counterfeiting is considered as the crime of the 21st century. A highly affected market of counterfeits is the market of luxury branded goods. These goods are bought by consumers who want to express their social class and belonging by being admired, recognized and accepted by other people. The counterfeits of luxury brands that flourish on the market makes it possible for anyone to be a luxury brand user which is against the core of luxury brand, which strives for a low distribution to keep the demand high to be able to keep the consumer associations of luxury brands. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to create knowledge of how counterfeit products affect the consumer perception of luxury brands. Methodology: The research approach was a deductive, quantitative research and the data was collected through a questionnaire distributed through Facebook and the internal e-mail of the Linnaeus University. The sample frame was generation Y in Sweden. A total of 432 completed questionnaires were collected and was the foundation for the analysis and result. Conclusion: The consumers' perception of counterfeit products have a negative effect on the consumer perception of luxury brands. Both the consumer's brand associations and how consumers perceive the quality of luxury brands are affected by counterfeit products. However, what the consequences are of this negative relationship cannot be answered by the result of this thesis