Varumärkesförfalskning - marknadsföring eller snålskjuts?

Sammanfattning: Title: Counterfeit – marketing or free ride? Seminar date: 12 januari 2012 Course: FEKH95, Degree Project Undergraduate level, Business Administration, Under graduate level, 15 University Credits Pints (UPC) or ECTS-cr) Authors: Paulina Andersson, Helena Eriksson and Malin Persson Advisor: Clara Gustafsson Key words: Luxury, counterfeit items, consumers, influence, brand Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the perception of brand image and value of potential customers of luxury products and brands changes negatively, when impacted of counterfeit products. Methodology: A positivism scientific approach has been used. A quantitative method was used and a survey with 100 respondents was conducted, to use as a comparison against the theory. Theoretical perspectives: Mainly Leibensteins theories has been used regarding the "Bandwagon effect" and "Snob Effect", Wood's definition of brands, Heine and Phan´s definition of luxury brands, and Grossman and Shapiro’s definition of counterfeit items. Empirical foundation: A short presentation regarding the luxury brands selected for the survey, namely Burberry, Mulberry, Fendi and Louis Vuitton. Conclusions: The conclusion is that a counterfeit goods partially affects the image of luxury goods, according to Leibsteins theory, because of demand redistribution. Demand is increasing in the lower income groups through over-exposure, which affects the image in a negative way among high earners, leading to lower propensity to buy this. The lower income group is increasing the positive perception of the brand and the propensity to buy, giving a net effect of demand that is zero.