Understanding the effects of counterfeit quality on consumer attitudes toward genuine brands: An associative judgment model

Using an associative judgment framework, the authors examine the implications that negative feedback about counterfeit performance can have on subsequent evaluations for both the imitated genuine brand and competing genuine brands. Findings from two studies suggest that poor-quality counterfeits can carry over to produce negative evaluations for the target brand and closely associated competitors, but not to weakly associated competitors. These negative carry-over effects were qualified by country-of-origin differences and increased cognitive elaboration. These findings have important theoretical and managerial implications for the problems that counterfeits pose to genuine brands.