The Relationships between Attitude and Social Influence on Purchase Behaviour of Counter feitproducts among Malaysian Consumers

Counterfeiting has been found to be a serious problem around the world since the last few decades where counterfeiting is associated with many problems that causes havoc not only in economic activities but also affect social life as well. This paper sets out to examine how attitude and social influences influence Malaysian consumers’ purchase behavior towards counterfeit products. A mall intercept survey involving 390 respondents was conducted in major shopping malls in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A self-administered questionnaire was designed using established scales. A variety of statistical techniques were used to analyze the date. Analyses conducted shown that attitude and social influences have positive influences on the purchase behavior of counterfeit products regardless of the level of purchase; i.e. high or low purchaser. The findings are limited to Malaysian consumers in Kuala Lumpur and cannot be generalized across the whole of Malaysia or other international markets. The research provides an understanding of Malaysian consumers’ counterfeit product purchase behavior. The research findings can be used by policy makers and genuine product producers to formulate strategies to curb counterfeiting activities.