Counterfeit brands and Machiavellianism: Consequences of counterfeit use for social perception

Despite efforts to study counterfeit consumption, little is known about consequences of such behavior for social perception, particularly how consumers who purchase counterfeit products are perceived by others in terms of their morality. Across two experiments (N1 = 182, N2 = 337) employing different stimuli (brands and models), we tested the effect of counterfeit consumption on the perception of a consumer in terms of Machiavellianism trait. Additionally, we explored the boundary conditions and mechanisms underlying this effect. The findings reveal that the effect of counterfeit consumption on perceptions of consumer Machiavellianism is not universal. Specifically, we discovered that individuals with high (vs. low) levels of brand engagement in self-concept (BESC) tend to perceive individuals using counterfeit brands as more Machiavellian (Study 1). Furthermore, our findings suggest that this negative social perception is driven by an increase in the perception of consumers’ inauthenticity, especially in observers with high levels of BESC (Study 2). This research contributes to the understanding of how users of counterfeit brands are perceived in terms of their morality, shedding light on the underlying factors that influence these perceptions.