Consumers' awareness of luxury brand counterfeits and their subsequent responses: when a threat becomes an opportunity for the genuine brand

Purpose - Taking the consumer perspective, this paper aims to investigate the effect of counterfeiting awareness on consumer advocacy behaviour towards the brand in a specific context, that is, the luxury brand context. Design/methodology/approach - The authors conducted two surveys among actual and potential consumers of the original brand. Study 1 demonstrated the mediating role of customer-based brand equity between the consumers' awareness of brand counterfeits and their advocacy behaviour towards the genuine brand. Study 2 showed the moderating role exerted by consumers' emotional attachment to the brand in this framework. Findings - This work showed specific mechanisms underlying consumer responses to counterfeits, revealing a wide framework able to uncover important positive spillover effects on counterfeited brands. Research limitations/implications - This framework should be tested on additional brands and integrated with further processes and individual variables to extend our knowledge about consumer responses to counterfeits. Originality/value - This research recognises counterfeiting as a consumer-led process. The results showed the ambivalent nature of counterfeiting, that is, a threat and an opportunity for the counterfeited brand. In fact, actual and potential consumers are prone to protect the genuine brand. The consequent advocacy behaviour is stimulated by the attempts of consumers of fakes to take possession of the brand experience, and these activate actions of self-protection among consumers of the original brand. Interesting managerial implications are drawn.