Takawira Munyaradzi, Ndofirepi, Chuchu, Tinashe, Maziriri, Eugine and Nyagadza, Brighton ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7226-0635 (2022) Examining the influence of price-quality inference and consumer attitudes on the inclination to buy non-deceptive counterfeit goods: evidence from South Africa. European Journal of Management Studies, 27 (3). pp. 317-339.

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Abstract

Purpose
The market for counterfeit goods worldwide has continued to grow significantly over the years, attracting the curiosity of researchers in the marketing field. This study aimed to analyse the influence of price-quality inference and attitudes towards economic rewards of purchasing counterfeit products on the intentions to purchase non-deceptive counterfeit products.

Design/methodology/approach
The research adopted a quantitative methodology and utilised the cross-sectional survey method to collect data from a sample of 381 respondents comprising university students. The data was then analysed using the computer software Smart PLS 4.

Findings
The results established that the respondents’ price-quality inference of counterfeit products was positively associated with the attitudes towards economic rewards of purchasing counterfeit products and intention to purchase counterfeit products. Furthermore, the study revealed that attitudes towards economic rewards of purchasing counterfeit products partially mediated the influence of price-quality inference on customer intention to acquire non-deceptive counterfeit goods. A multigroup analysis of the proposed relationship did not find any statistically significant differences in the pattern of results concerning the gender groups.

Research limitations/implications
The significance of the study findings is hampered by the singular focus on university students as a reference point for young people’s perceptions of counterfeit goods in South Africa. The study, however, presents verifiable evidence that marketers and brand managers of genuine products may utilise to develop intervention measures to sway young African consumers away from counterfeits and towards genuine brands.

Originality/value
This is one of the few studies in the literature that addresses young adults’ deliberate purchasing of non-deceptive counterfeits in South Africa, an important consumer market in Africa.

Item Type:	Article
Status:	Published
DOI:	10.1108/EJMS-04-2022-0026
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HF Commerce H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > HF5410 Marketing. Distribution of products
School/Department:	London Campus
URI:	https://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/10313

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