Counterfeit product purchase: what counts—materialism or religiosity?

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the effect of materialism and religiosity on attitude as well as behavioral intention of counterfeit products purchase among Malaysian consumers. The study also sets out to examine the mediating effect of attitude towards counterfeit product purchase between ‘materialism and behavioral intention’ and between ‘religiosity and behavioral intention.’ A survey of 400 respondents was conducted in the Malaysian counterfeit market in China Town, Low Yat plaza and ‘Pasar Malam’ since these are the most famous centers for selling counterfeit products. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 21 was used to analyze the data. Pearson correlation, and multiple regressions were used to test the research hypotheses. It is found that materialism positively and religiosity negatively affects attitude and behavioral intention to buy counterfeit products. Attitude towards counterfeit product is also found significant in influencing consumers’ behavioral intention. Additionally, attitude towards buying counterfeit product mediates the relationship between materialism, religiosity and behavioral intention. It is expected that, by having a better understanding of the consumers’ behavioral intentions of buying counterfeit products, the manufacturers and marketers of the genuine brand products can make better marketing strategies to entice the consumers to buy the original product instead of the fake one.