Outreach: Culture Shock - Comparing Consumer Attitudes to Counterfeiting
| Author | Jo Bowman |
| Position | Counterfeit in the fashion industry is rife the world over |
Take two identical Louis Vuitton bags. Both are counterfeit, and both were picked up by fashion-savvy shoppers out for a bargain. Yet for the buyer of one of them, their designer fake is a badge of honour; for the other it's a tightly held secret.
What's the difference? One was bought in Italy, where looking good is numero uno and breaking the rules is often seen as harmless fun. The other in Hong Kong, where consumerism and Confucianism fuel a desire for luxury goods which bring their owners dignity and respect.
Stereotypes certainly. But which reflect two very different markets, and two very different consumer mindsets to work with if you're trying to determine what sort of message would convince one or other of them not to buy fakes.
In Italy, home of countless world-leading luxury design houses, fashion is a mainstay of the national economy - and a way of life.
"Fashion is very, very important to Italians," says designer Gabriella Tinelli from Milan. "It's in our blood to want to look good." The traditional evening passeggiata down the main street of even the smallest of Italian towns is all about dressing to impress; throwing on an old tracksuit to drop the kids at school is a definite no-no.
What consumers are prepared to pay to look stylish is another matter, complicated by the notion of being furbo, or cunning, an attribute that is admired. A perceived bargain, therefore, is a magnet for "smart" shoppers, hence the brisk trade for beachside peddlers of copycat bags and belts.
So how do you deter the bargain hunters? Buyers of counterfeit goods in Italy are liable for a fine of up to Euro10,000. But no-one believes they will ever face it. Nor do messages that counterfeit is a crime hold much sway. For many Italians - as for other Europeans -buying a fake is seen as providing the same "harmless" kick as speeding or under-declaring on a tax return.
"We park where there are ‘No Parking' signs," Silvio Paschi, secretary-general of the Italian anti-counterfeit trade association Indicam, says of his countrymen. No one wants to buy what they think is the real thing and discover it's a fake. But knowingly buying a cut-price designer knock-off can make people feel clever. "They know the quality is poorer, but it's a way of pretending. That's not particularly different from other parts of Western Europe."
Price is only part of it. A Prada spokesman says while...
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